Is my motherboard killing my components or is it something else?

[Gh0stw0lf]

Hello all:

Hardware:

Asus Crosshair 6 on Official bios 1403*
TridentZ RGB RAM CL16 3200 (16gb)
Ryzen 1700 CPU
Corsair CX750M PSU*

*
*Yesterday I was pushing my RAM to its rated 3200 with 16-18-18-38 timings @ 1.35v through Ryzen master which normally I do through the BIOS but Ryzen master has never given me trouble before. However, I also overclockdd my CPU from 3.2 to 3.5 ghz with a voltage increase of 1.08 to 1.1V. Again, never had trouble with this before.

However upon restarting my computer this time, it shut on and off a few times and I suspect it was because during RAM training it didn't like the values I put in for some reason. I expected it to boot to the default values however the QLED displayed a 46 error with an amber status light indicating a DRAM issue. None of the RAM works in any slot and won't boot and shows the same error. This leads me to believe the RAM is fried. So I'm in line at frys right now to test it before I RMA the RAM. However I want to find the cause of this problem. Could the motherboard have killed the RAM during training or was it a power supply issue?

I should mention something similar to this happened before. However the situation was a bit different. The USBs on my C6H stopped working and the RAM also died in a similar fashion. I RMAd the mobo and it worked fine up until about this point.*

Any insight?*

[haihane]

any secondary system where you can test the ram sticks? just to make sure it's okay

[Gh0stw0lf]

haihane wrote:
any secondary system where you can test the ram sticks? just to make sure it's okay

No secondary system. But I just bought new DDR4 ram and it's giving me the same 46 QLED error with an amber light and no boot. *

[haihane]

you mentioned changing RAM slots to make sure it's reseated, expecting the motherboard to revert to default values (both are what i would do too).

i probably worry more about the RAM sticks a little bit more than you do. but seeing that you mentioned you bought another one and same error still occurred; would it be okay for you to use your original ram sticks to test it again? (don't use the new one, i'm hoping the RAM slots aren't actively frying ram sticks).

unplug the main powerplug, push power button, wait a bit for any residual power to leak out.
put your original ram sticks in, then find the jumper to clear CMOS (or take out the battery for 3 minutes).
put CMOS battery back in. replug power, and try and have your fingers crossed 😕

[Gh0stw0lf]

haihane wrote:
you mentioned changing RAM slots to make sure it's reseated, expecting the motherboard to revert to default values (both are what i would do too).

i probably worry more about the RAM sticks a little bit more than you do. but seeing that you mentioned you bought another one and same error still occurred; would it be okay for you to use your original ram sticks to test it again? (don't use the new one, i'm hoping the RAM slots aren't actively frying ram sticks).

unplug the main powerplug, push power button, wait a bit for any residual power to leak out.
put your original ram sticks in, then find the jumper to clear CMOS (or take out the battery for 3 minutes).
put CMOS battery back in. replug power, and try and have your fingers crossed 😕

* Yep just tried this. As well as reflashing BIOS via USB and plugging in ram in each slot one at a time from both sets of sticks, new and old. And still error 46. Looks like I'm going to have to RMA the board a second time. I'll probably try the advance RMA this time around.

[haihane]

sorry i can't be any more help.
wish you luck in your advanced RMA.

[PeZzy]

Did you use Asus Aura?

[Korth]

I'd try cleaning the DDR4 before sending off for RMA. May not accomplish anything, but probably worth a shot.

Electrical contacts on the DIMMs can be scrubbed with a Q-tip and isopropyl. "Electronics grade" isopropyl, anhydrous (>99.9%), not low-percentage drugstore stuff filled with perfumes and additives that'll leave (conductive) residues. Terpenes will work as well, d-Limonene is an aggressive solvent which smells pretty (like oranges, mmmm!) and is safe on many *but not all* PCB plastics. A polymer-based electrical contact cleaner like DeoxIT or Stabilant-22 is even better and utterly guaranteed to be safe on all plastics. The trusty old "pink eraser" trick will scrub away grime very well, it can produce ESD harmful to sensitive devices (which have no real effect on unpowered RAM, though), but beware that it also erases thin layers of (relatively soft) gold plating off the contacts so it should be used only sparingly.

The DIMM sockets can be blasted with compressed air. Or scrubbed with a soft toothbrush. Or both. Isopropyl/etc might be used as well, although it (or even fumes from it) might harm the slot or motherboard component plastics (typically mere surface discolouration rather than serious bulk deformation, but still a risk better avoided). You could meticulously wipe each internal contact with a cleaner-coated wooden toothpick, but it's a tedious exercise in patience which can easily result in bent/damaged pins. You could try dislodging debris with paper edges, although toothbrush bristles tend to work better.

Chamois swabs are preferred over Q-tips and toothbrushes. Lint-free "electronics grade" not-Q-tips are also preferred, as are wooden "electronics grade" not-toothpicks. Even laboratory Kimwipes are preferred over common paper. But the good stuff tends to cost too much for just one little use and we all live in an imperfect world, lol, so just use the best stuff you have on hand which won't make more of a mess than you're trying to clean.

[elguero83]

do you have any aura software installed? I had a ram corruption problem where aura corrupted the spd on my not rgb tridentZ ram.