I've Lost My RAM and don't know where to find him

[bonanza2000]

I had 6 GB of RAM when I built this new system and loaded windows 7 64 and I could see it in the Windows computer screen. After I updated the operating system and installed AVG anti-virus I now only have 2 GB. In the BIOS I can see that it is only finding the stick in slot 3 of 1, 3, and 5 (yes this is the recommended slots by the MB maker. So I tried switching the sticks around and it still only sees the stick in slot 3. Any sugguestions to getting my RAM back?

Win 7 home 64
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R ver 2.0
OCR 3 x 2 GB PC3 12800 1600 6-8-6 1.65 V triple channel
latest BIOS FB
Corsair HX750
Gigabyte GTX 460
etc.

[martin_metal_88]

Look with CPU-z, and in bios. Also set your bios to default and reseat the CPU looking for bent pin. You could also try to return back in time with time restore and remove AVG, install Microsoft security essential or Avira.

[chrisk]

A few times I have seen this is when there are bent pins on the mobo cpu socket.

Take out the cpu, and look very closely for bent pins. Maybe a reseat of the cpu will help.

[mkultra]

even without bend pins, sometimes just re-seating cpu will do the trick on i7s

[bonanza2000]

The thing is I haven't touched the CPU since I set it in there and it was working out with 6 GB for a couple of days. I do have a Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus on the CPU and it is heavy / bulky. Maybe when I put the case vertical it puts enough pressure on the CPU to bend something? I will take your advice though and reseat but not tonight.

[odis172]

If even in the bios it is only seeing one stick, It is likely that the OS has nothing to do with it. I would reset the cmos. If that doesnt work, try each stick of ram one at at time, to see if each is working. Also look for a bios update that addresses ram issues.

[bonanza2000]

Hey folks,

I took off the CPU cooler, cleaned up the CPU, looked for anything out of the ordinary but it looked all good to me. I reassembled and I still have the same issue. It only sees 2 Gb in BIOS in slot 3 (out of slots 1, 3, and 5 for 6GB total RAM). If I try to start with just one stick in slot 1 it doesn't even come up. Switching the 3 sticks of RAM around still only shows 2GB up in slot 3 so I think it is obvious that the RAM is fine. The motherboard has the latest BIOS update and I haven't really messed with any of the settings. CPU-Z sees 4 GB of RAM which is interesting but I don't know what to make of that.

What's my next move? Bad motherboard?

[martin_metal_88]

Ok so ram in slot 1-3-5 work ( 2gb visible) but ram only in slot 1 can't even power up? This point to a defectove mobo dude Seriously. I would RMA the board.

[bonanza2000]

Well I had a tech post into Gigabyte but after 72 hours they have not responded to me so I have RMA'ed the board to newegg. There seems to be a strong belief that bent pins are to blame for the missing ram issue. I did not use a magnifying glass and see if there were any bent pins when I reseated the CPU. I don't think bent pins should be an issue (not that they might not be). There is only 1 way to put the CPU in, the latching mechanism requires no user input other than moving the lever, the CPU cooler is bolted to the MB. Where would the pins get bent from? Are ASUS 1366 boards having the same issues?

The CM Hyper 212 plus is a heavy beast of a cooler. Maybe it is putting too much pressure on the CPU when the case is in a vertical position. Maybe I need a different cooler that puts less pressure on the chip / socket?

Grrrrrrrrrr. This isn't rocket science.

[Sagath]

I'd almost guarantee its a bad IMC. Ive seen this exact issue three times now from friends, each time it was the CPU and not the motherboard. That being said, I have seen the motherboard pin issue, but if the pins are fine, its probably the IMC on the CPU.

Dont be surprised if you get back your board with a bill attached, still have the issue, and have to wait on a CPU from Intel