RAM causing PC to freeze

[Bruce]

I’ve had, and sounds like you have too with that 3rd slot, slots go bad so yeah, it’s worth changing slots as well.

[Bruce]

games tend to be the best memory testers as they flog the crap out of them.

[CrayJay]

Yeah, the game requires 12GB but I’m on 8GB. I was playing a ton the past couple of days with no issues and now it freezes within 20 minutes
Okay thanks, if it freezes with this different stick in I will try a different slot. The computer did come with the first and third slots filled but the PC isn’t even two years old

[Bruce]

@CrayJay - any progress update?

[CrayJay]

It’s still freezing every other day, especially in the morning when I start using my PC. When I spray it and just reinstall the same stick of RAM in the same slot it will work for the rest of the day and usually freeze the next morning so I have just been repeating the process. I tried different sticks on different slots and it seems like my first slot is the only semi-reliable one. I might test the other slots again because when it froze on those slots I immediately just swapped back so maybe I could test it some more but I think I’m just being desperate at this point

[Bruce]

certainly would point to a memory or motherboard issue.
any chance you trial some other memory for a few days - work, friend, family, neighbour - to at least pinpoint that as either the cause or not?

[CrayJay]

Some different RAM? I have some in my old PC I could try but I’m not sure if it would fit

[Bruce]

yeah, trying some different memory would be a good first step.
but of course, it needs to be compatible. (y)

[Bruce]

@CrayJay - any news?

[CrayJay]

Nothing new yet I haven’t been on the PC that much lately just a few hours here and there. I have to get my other RAM from storage I’ll test it tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Sorry for the delay!

[CrayJay]

Okay well, my old RAM doesn’t fit in my current computer but so far I have tried at least three different sticks in it and nothing has seemed to fix the problem. If it crashes again I have a fourth stick I don’t think I have tried yet. If it crashes again I will try that fourth one but I don’t have a good feeling about it

[Bruce]

keeps us posted.
and check the motherboard’s website to make sure the sticks are compatible.

[CrayJay]

Well I have used four different sticks and I’m still getting the freezes unfortunately

Not sure if I mentioned it but there have been a few times where my computer would physcially move slightly and immediately freeze up. For example, I used to have it on my desk, and if my desk got shook it would freeze up instantly. I just remembered because I moved it on the ground a few months ago and just last night I moved my leg too far and slightly kicked it causing a freeze. I’m not sure if that means anything I have tried to reconnect certain hardware(GPU,CPU) in case something wasn’t installed correctly or I had a loose wire.

Again not sure if I mentioned it but sometimes my monitor would disconnect right before the freeze so I would get a lost signal to my monitor and then I hear my audio freeze a few seconds after. A few times it disconnected I can still hear my audio play without it freezing but nothing brings the connection back so I force restart.

The last thing I can think of is when the computer froze on my less reliable RAM slots it would restart itself and sometimes go into an infinite loop of restarting

I think that’s the last bit of info I could provide at this point

[Bruce]

if you have tried one stick at a time, in each of the motherboard slots, and still get the freeze, it’s unlikely to be all the memory sticks, and also unlikely to be every slot - but stranger things have happened.

more likely, is a faulty motherboard, which are impossible to test.
you need to replace it to be sure, and that involves getting your hands on one temporarily for testing purposes or gambling it’s the issue and buying one.

it may be time to consider a trip to the local PC repair shop.
they’ll have spare parts on hand to swap yours with to at least pinpoint the hardware at fault.

[Bruce]

@CrayJay - any news?