Weird PC Issue

[PERFORMANCE07]

Hi everyone, I've got some issue with the ram.

I've got 12gb of ram installed and the issue is that each time the PC starts it recognises a different amount of ram installed.

One time it shows 8gb then 10gb then 6gb ect. (There are 6 2gb sticks installed and PC is 3 years old)

I've only noticed this recently.

Anyone have any ideas what's going on?

I'm thinking the mobo is on its way out.

[Chivalry]

The RAM is all the same, right? Have you tried starting it with only one stick installed at a time? Could be a dodgey stick or two of RAM.

[PERFORMANCE07]

Yep, all the same.

The worst I've seen is one time it showed 4gb. Fixed with a restart.

Each stick is only 2gb so would be unusual for 4 sticks to be faulty? Although may be possible as they are a few years old.

[ELUSIV]

Bizarre, but you can troubleshoot like Chivalry said to see if there is a faulty stick.

What board/cpu is it? Sometimes if you don't have the paired sets in the correct slots the mobo can wig out.

Grab Memtest86+ and chuck it on a bootable USB. That will let you know if you are having RAM issues (some can possibly be fixed by changing timings/voltages or may be a faulty module).

[Chivalry]

What OS? The only motherboard things I can think of is a corrupted BIOS or the northbridge is on its way out. I guess the obvious question to ask was if you have OC'd it at all? Have you ever attempted to OC/play with the RAM by itself? If you've had any blackouts or power outages recently that could also have caused damage. I once lost a mobo that was only a few months old because of a power surge which cooked the northbridge.

As Elusiv asked, what mobo have you got? Age of the RAM or build shouldn't matter much, brand of the RAM would be more relevant.

[RICEY]

Northbridge has been fucked for years.

[Phyber]

Good time to mention it's worth having a UPS protecting your gear. I have my LCD TV, lamp, hifi and PC running off a little 650VA unit. Power has gone out here before and I didn't even notice until Windows popped up the low battery warning.

Cheap insurance!

[PERFORMANCE07]

The motherboard is Asus P6T and CPU is i7 930. Ram is Kingston 2093mhz? OS Windows 7 64bit.

I haven't tried overclocking anything on the PC.

Don't think it's power outage damage as only noticed recently.

I removed all the sticks this morning and then put them back in again. After 3 restarts it's showed all 12gb ram each time.

Hope that sorted it but don't think it's going to be that easy.

Will look into Memtest86+. Thanks

[Chivalry]

You might need to go into the BIOS and have a look at the RAM settings, there seems to be quite a few people having issues with 2000MHz+ RAM with the P6T unless getting right into overclocking things, this is one of them http://www.overclock.net/t/745619/solved-kingston-hyperx-ddr3-2000-asus-p6t-se-wont-post-2000mhz-xmp and this is from the specifications tab for your mobo on the ASUS website "6 x DIMM, Max. 24GB, DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333/1066 Hz Memory".

What type of Kingston RAM is it? If you could get the model number off a stick that would be handy to know. Pulling the sticks and putting them all back in again, then having it show 12GB does not sound like problem solved to me. Unless you cleared the CMOS or changed something in the BIOS, I assume you will run into the same problem again soon enough. If (when) the problem comes back I would personally get 3 of these https://www.ple.com.au/ViewItem.aspx?InventoryItemId=609119 though someone more familiar with how triple-channel RAM mobos work might say otherwise. Either way, the motherboard shouldn't be running the RAM at 2000MHz+ unless it is OC'd and voltage has been upped etc etc.


I've not played with computer guts for a while so someone might come and put me in my place, which is fine. But as I understand it, having the RAM running at over 2000MHz with the P6T is most likely what is causing the problem, if you haven't played with BIOS settings since you got the PC the RAM is probably set to auto and the BIOS will have it running as fast as the RAM can go, which I think is the problem.