Can ram damage motherboard?

Muli--

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Jul 9, 2017
18
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510
Is it possible that ram is damaging a motherboard? If so, will it be discovered via memtest / windows memory check?
 
Solution


Buggy, No.
Slower...

Muli--

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Jul 9, 2017
18
0
510
Thanks. I put exactly the same spec ram. 1.2v ddr4 2133 MHz, just 8gb. The only other posibility I see is the built in audio card, that gives a damaged output when the default drivers are in use. Also my power cable has a little tear on it, about 1.5mm. could any of these issues be the cause of a ruined motherboard, only 3 months after it was replaced? Can a memtest ensure that the ram is fine and not damaging anything?
 


Can you please post your full system specs and also what is your problem. You never said what your exact problem is and what happened before you got this problem.
You just said you put some ram, then have audio problems and then a tear on a cable. What are you exactly talking about? Maximum info is needed here.
 

Muli--

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Jul 9, 2017
18
0
510


Thanks so much for taking the time to assist me. I appreciate it very much!

It all started with me sending my Lenovo 510S-13 to the lab in order to fix an issue with the headphone jack. I replaced the upgraded 8GB ram card to the stock 4GB ram card so they won't claim that I damaged the headphone jack by opening the laptop . I probably did something wrong, and for the first time in my life the computer didn't boot afterwards. Later I learned it was a matter of current flactuation, but the lab probably didn't know it, and were kind enough to replace the motherboard anyway under warranty. I got the laptop back, installed the 8GB card and again the laptop would not boot. So I did some digging and found out that the solution for this current flactuation is to remove the battery and hold the power key for some time. Easy enough, it worked. So I enjoyed my laptop for almost 3 months when I got these colored stripes that ended in a black display.
So they replaced the motherboard again under warranty, but now I'm worried. Maybe the 8GB ram card (new 8gb ddr4 kingston) is what fried my motherboard out of the blue, and not the bad installation of a technician? What are your thoughts. I need to use the laptop for Android Studio, but if it's a risk I'll keep the 4GB ram (I know it probably isn't because the ram worked fine before the first motherboard swap and after that, but I did change the ram cards back and forth three times).
As I see it, my laptop has 3 issues that may have caused the problem, and I'd like to know which is probably responsible for my motherboard dying 3 months after replacement:
1. Headphone jack supplying noisy output while using the official audio drivers. Problem gone when using Windows' own audio driver. First colored stripes and restart appeared when using the headphones, with Windows' audio driver.
2. Could it be a faulty ram card? If so, will a memtest / windows memory diagnostic confirm it?
3. I have a very small tear on my power supply cord (maybe 1.5 mm).

Which is most likely to have ruined a new motherboard after less than 3 months, or was it just a bad installation by the technician? I am running Windows 7 (the audio problem I decribed above does not appear in windows 10, even with lenovo's drivers). The laptop is only 14 months old and I don't want to part from it just yet. The one year warranty has passed, but I still got about 3 months warranty on the motherboard if it fails again, which I'm really really trying to avoid.
 
Okay, first of all. That laptop comes in several configurations, so i cannot tell what exactly your configuration are?
Anyway, it comes with a Kaby Lake CPU and Windows 10. Kaby Lake CPUs and their chipsets are not supported by any other than Windows 10. So maybe your problem is just driver issues from using Windows 7.
For the RAM, as long as your RAM is for your specific laptop there shouldn't be any issues. Did you buy specific RAM that are supported by your specific laptop?
 

Muli--

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Jul 9, 2017
18
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510


Thanks again. My laptop is the older skylake edition (i3 6100U). it came without an os, but has full windows 7 support and drivers. my stock ram is a 4gb 2133mhz 1.2v samsung and the new one is a 8gb 2133mhz 1.2 kingston.

 


Okay, then we can rule out the CPU and chipset issue.
Did you check that the specific RAM model you bought are fully compatible with your specific laptop? Laptops are very RAM picky and needs specific supported RAM to work.
 

Muli--

Prominent
Jul 9, 2017
18
0
510


This is the ram I bought, with the specific specs I mentioned above: kvr21s15s8/8
This are the specs from notebookcheck:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/Notebooks/Lenovo/Ideapad_510S-13ISK/cpuz5.PNG

Couldn't it be connected to the other problems I mentioned before?
Is it wise to connect the 8GB ram and start a memtest?
 


That is just screenshots from CPU-Z. They doesn't show if the RAM is fully compatible.
 

Muli--

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Jul 9, 2017
18
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510


Thanks. So I understand it's not enough to know the specs I specified. Which info do I need?
 

Muli--

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Jul 9, 2017
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510


Kingston says KCP421SS8/8 which is not available in my country.
But the one I have also follows the same specs. Anyway, could it be the reason my motherboard fry or are the others more likely?
The 8gb kingston ram worked flawlessly for many months before the motherboard got fried. Will a memtest make us any wiser?
 


It shouldn't fry the motherboard.
 

Muli--

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Jul 9, 2017
18
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510


What about the other info I mentioned?
What do you recommend I do?
 

Muli--

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Jul 9, 2017
18
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510


The Fuse on the adapter or the laptop?
What about the audio card issue I mentioned?
 


If on the AC side, the fuse in your Electrical house installation. The adapter and laptop doesn't have a fuse like that.

The audio card issue sounds more like a driver issue than anything else. Any reason not to run Windows 10?
 

Muli--

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Jul 9, 2017
18
0
510

No, it's not on the outlet side, but at the laptop side. Could it be the reason?
It charged correctly even after the damage.
Why not use windows 10? because it is still too buggy for me. And much slower than 7.
 


Buggy, No.
Slower, No.
Not sure how you got those ideas. Buggy, well maybe a bit when it first came out, but that's more than 2 years ago now. All child deceases are long gone.
Slow, nah it's actually faster than Windows 7.
 
Solution

Muli--

Prominent
Jul 9, 2017
18
0
510


This is my experience.. Any idea about my original query, what caused my MB to failed after less than 3 months?
 


For the faulty mobo, i'm out of ideas for that now.
For audio issues, well that's sometimes what you get from using an old and soon to become obsolete OS.
For the power chord. No issue, as you would just get the adapter to shut down if any problems with that.