RAM / Motherboard issue

plonkyy

Honorable
Nov 27, 2013
12
0
10,510
Hi guys, got an interesting issue that may have a simple answer that I just cannot think of.

Yesterday I was trying to diagnose why my computer was turning on and off straight away, it had shorted out on something, as everytime I turned on the power a small pop would happen. After checking every hardware and all that, it was still turning on and off straight away. Then I unplugged the atx12v 4pin connector next to the cpu and she turned on and didnt turn off, however the hard drives werent being used, so I knew this connector was needed. As soon as i plugged the connector in, it would turn off, so I was guessing a motherboard issue or power supply issue.

Then I reset the CMOS, and plugged the atx12v connector in, and she booted, and the hard drives were going. I then inserted one 2gb ram into the first slot, and was able to get into the bios.
However, when I add a second stick of ram, my computer just gives me a no signal detected on the monitor. Now i have 3x2gb DDR3 1333 ram, all the exact same and exact same brand. So its not a conflict with the ram. I also don't believe that the ram is faulty because when I try other sticks in the first slot, it works. As soon as i add an extra, i get the no signal detected message.

Any ideas guys?
 
Solution
If I am understanding the issue and what you have done correctly, when you use more than one stick of ram, doesn't matter which combo of sticks you use, the system wont start? This would lead me to believe that the motherboard is bad.

If at all possible just to be sure, try the ram in a different machine and confirm all ram is good. If so then the issue would point to the motherboard. If this is the case then an RMA or replacement is in order.
If I am understanding the issue and what you have done correctly, when you use more than one stick of ram, doesn't matter which combo of sticks you use, the system wont start? This would lead me to believe that the motherboard is bad.

If at all possible just to be sure, try the ram in a different machine and confirm all ram is good. If so then the issue would point to the motherboard. If this is the case then an RMA or replacement is in order.
 
Solution

plonkyy

Honorable
Nov 27, 2013
12
0
10,510
'when you use more than one stick of ram, doesn't matter which combo of sticks you use, the system wont start'

correct

You can hear the hard drives still working, but I'm guessing it isn't booting
I thought it may of been the cmos battery, but I left it overnight and turned the computer on and it boots with one stick of ram

However I've tried to instal both xp and 7, and just get problems with that aswell, windows xp instal freezes when copying files to the hard drive, before the actual installation begins, and with windows 7 I'm unable to create any partition, which sounds like a hard drive problem, but could just be the motherboard causing this ?
 

plonkyy

Honorable
Nov 27, 2013
12
0
10,510
Update; I got it to show a display with 2 sticks of ram now, reset the cmos with both sticks in which I tried before, and didn't work. Now attempting another windows instal