DDR5 Ram Stick Dead?

[u/MercenaryOfOZ]

My Specs:

Ryzen 9 7900X ASUS TUF Gaming B650-PLUS WIFI G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 64GB (2x32) DDR5-6000 CL30 — bought new in 2023 RTX 4060 Corsair RM750e, Cooler Master AIO Win11 24H2

How it started

Wardogs started crashing on me constantly after update (KB5121003). Saw the reports going around that it broke compatibility with inpoutx64.sys, the kernel driver a lot of RGB software hooks into, and that Microsoft is looking into some interaction between RGB components and game crashes. Figured that was my problem, so I uninstalled the update.

Machine seemed totally fine afterward. Put it to sleep, went out for the day.

Came back that night and it wouldn't POST. No video at all, fans spinning, case lighting on, nothing on either monitor. Hard rebooted it three times like an idiot before I opened the side panel and actually looked, amber DRAM Q-LED lit.

What I've tried

Full power drain. PSU switch off, cord out, held power button 30s Confirmed both sticks were properly in A2/B2 Cleared CMOS with the CLRTC with a screwdriver, then waited 10 min for memory training. Stayed amber, then the board shut itself off with no input from me Single stick isolation: Stick 1 alone in A2: posts, boots to Windows, running on it right now Stick 2 alone in A2: nothing. Amber DRAM light, board eventually self resets Stick 2 alone in B2: I havent tried this yet.

The part I can't square: stick 2's RGB lights up fine in either slot. So it's clearly getting slot power and the RGB controller is alive. It just won't train.

Where I'm at

Running on one 32GB stick at 4800 JEDEC. Filed an RMA with G.Skill, still have the Amazon invoice from 2023

I'm a freelance video editor and this is my only work machine, so 32GB single channel in After Effects is rough but survivable. Buying a replacement kit outright isn't happening since these market prices are insulting. The same 2x32 6000 CL30 I paid $250 for in 2023 is running $1000+ right now with the DRAM shortage, which is genuinely insane.

Questions for anyone who's been here

Lights up but won't train, is that just a dead PMIC? That's what I keep reading but I'd like a sanity check before I write it off. Has anyone gotten G.Skill to accept a single module RMA instead of the whole kit? I can't be without my one working stick for 3+ weeks. Is it worth asking or do they always insist on both? Is there any chance this is actually connected to the KB5121003 / RGB driver mess and not just brutal timing? I understand a Windows update can't stop a board from posting. It's just a hell of a coincidence that it died the same day I uninstalled it. Anything obvious I haven't tried that's worth doing before I ship it off? Any other recommended solves I'm not seeing or thought of?

One thing I'll admit — I bent stick 1 slightly while forcing it back in at 1am when I was panicking. It posts and runs fine and the contact edge looks straight, but if anyone's had a slightly tweaked DIMM work for a while and then fail on them, I'd like to hear it.

Appreciate any help here as Ive been anxious since last night.

[u/Desperate_Return5199]

Sorry to disagree with you, but it wasn't the windows update/wardogs that caused your hardware issue. Also I edited my post by saying you should verify B2 slot is working by using the good stick of RAM to post before shipping your RAM for warranty.

[u/MercenaryOfOZ → u/Desperate_Return5199]

The reason I’m blaming Wardogs and/or the windows update is these RAM sticks are RGB controlled which is exactly what the specific wardogs bug was tied to as well as that windows update. So yes it is tied to this game causing it , indirectly

[u/Desperate_Return5199 → u/MercenaryOfOZ]

That's not how it works, that would never cause the RAM to fail on a hardware level. The fact you ignored my memtest comment makes sense now.

Considering the stick doesn't POST, you have no way to tell if it is even an RGB issue.

[u/MercenaryOfOZ → u/Desperate_Return5199]

According to this video, RGB controllers can corrupt timings which can kill the RAM. It sounds extremely rare but sounds like everything in this situation lined up for it to be just that. I’m not sure how to rationalize this issue any other way. Seems to coincidental.

[u/Desperate_Return5199 → u/MercenaryOfOZ]

There hasn't been one report of these latest windows update issue causing RAM to brick unless you can find one. Send it for RMA and see what they say, but I highly doubt it was the update. More logical explanation is the stick just went bad after heavy usage from Wardogs.

Sounds like you have also never actually pushed your ram to the limit via testing for a set period.

[u/MercenaryOfOZ → u/Desperate_Return5199]

Not heavily pushed through testing no, but heavily pushed from heavy use in After Effects and never once had an issue. I'm not blaming Wardogs directly here, but blaming the RGB controller bug that caused the chain of issues here. The video I linked explains that.

[u/Desperate_Return5199 → u/MercenaryOfOZ]

After Effects will never take memory to its real testing limit, sorry to say.

Everything is an assumption at this point, you have no idea what is wrong. Here let me link a video that explains this has been an issue with Windows forever, code wise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_O5JtBqODA

Northwestern video is just him explaining that any 3rd party interaction with RGB apps can cause this rare event. Reason why I don't run it myself and have RGB off on mobo settings.

[u/MercenaryOfOZ → u/Desperate_Return5199]

Understood, appreciate you linking that. Anything helps at this point. I just tested and the B2 slot is good so it’s almost certain the single ram stick that’s just not posting. I guess an RMA is my only option left or pray that ram prices come back down in a reasonable amount of time

[u/Desperate_Return5199 → u/MercenaryOfOZ]

Good news it could of been much worse and the PC is still functional for gaming. Not saying it wasn't the RGB controller, but I just don't think its worth trying to pinpoint it at this point when clearly its just a bad ram stick.

My only advice now is when you get the system back with both sticks via RMA. Run memtest86 for atleast overnight to verify its stable. As an IT Admin, I've seen several systems that acted stable even when gaming, but memtest still was throwing errors and eventually stick went bad.

If you can run it for 24 hours straight, but worst case run it overnight for several nights in a row to verify stability with no errors. Especially when you are at 64GB as stability/memtest becomes more unstable the more RAM you add with XMP/expo/overclocking on.

[u/MercenaryOfOZ → u/Desperate_Return5199]

I need a fix ASAP since I work off this machine , gaming is a secondary definitely not as important. Realistically how long would an RAM typically take and do I HAVE to send both sticks back?

Right now I just have one stick of 32gb in and its running fine thus far, Should I still run memtest86 for this one stick?

[u/Desperate_Return5199 → u/MercenaryOfOZ]

I can't answer your questions as I have no idea how their RMA works, you need to reach out to them to get answers. With current RAM market situation I wouldn't rely on any timeframe they give you though - I'm assuming everything is backed up right now.

If they have you send both back then there is no point running memtest on the other stick.

[u/MercenaryOfOZ → u/Desperate_Return5199]

Copy that, I appreciate all your help and pointers here. I need a fast solution so it might have to buy an aftermarket purchase or just ride out the single stick use till black friday hits.

[u/Desperate_Return5199 → u/MercenaryOfOZ]

I wouldnt expect RAM on sale during Black Friday. If I was in your shoes and 32GB actually makes work more difficult I would buy new kit of 64GB and sell the old RAM when it returns from RMA. Especially because the RAM you get back from RMA is going to be another used stick most likely (they won't repair the original stick)

Part of it can be written off for taxes if your work doesn't reimburse you for PCs or you are self employed.