Your PC is experiencing major problems following the heatsink reseat.
Your PC is experiencing major problems following the heatsink reseat.
Uncertain about how long the CPU throttled. Last check was three years ago after upgrading; temperatures were normal then. RAM is 3200 DDR4 if that’s the correct speed and timing. Not sure what XMP means. The RAM is in slot 1, so I removed the other stick.
I have four RAM slots available, but I excluded slots 1 and 3. I then tried slots 2 and 4 without success. Eventually, I removed one stick completely and placed the other in slot one, which resolved the issue. I didn’t even remove the CPU from its socket initially. To clean the thermal paste, I used isopropyl alcohol and a paper towel. I’m hesitant to reinsert the CPU just in case things get worse, but I’m prepared to do a full rebuild if necessary. Right now, it’s running with one stick, though I haven’t applied any load yet—I’m just trying to figure out what went wrong online.
Sure, okay. If it does reset, I pulled the motherboard battery three times to get it working again. I didn’t actually use the reset option in the BIOS.
We aim to remove every doubt so you understand the exact problem. If you’re aware slot 4 functions, test both sticks; if they both work, it’s likely not the RAM issue. Replacing a CPU won’t help and might make things worse. It could be that one pin isn’t connecting properly with the CPU, preventing boot. Don’t try to adjust pins—just handle them gently, inspect, and reposition. Clearing CMOS usually resets BIOS settings, but some motherboards retain certain configurations. You might also consider lowering the clock speed temporarily to check stability. Think of it as a reverse flash. A Windows update could be the solution either way. Restore to a stable point or perform a clean install if needed.
Thanks for your support. I plan to check if I can reboot without resetting CMOS first, since I haven’t tried powering off yet. If that works, I’ll swap the RAM and observe the results. Would it be better to clear CMOS each time or is this more about a motherboard problem?
Okay yeah so I just shut it down and tried to turn it back on and it’s not posting again, not getting any display. Should I try the other ram stick and clear cmos again to see if that other ram works or should I go right to reseating the cpu? UPDATE: I got it to post with the other RAM stick but I had to clear CMOS again to get it to boot. Looks like both RAM sticks are fine, but now i know that I can't turn on my PC without clearing CMOS each time. Really weird. Im gonna try both RAM sticks now and clear CMOS again to see I can boot with both sticks in. UPDATE 2: Tried to just see if I can restart normally before attempting to add the other RAM stick and it actually posted for sec before I quickly got a windows blue screen and now it won’t post anymore. Really strange. UPDATE 3: Now it’s running windows fine with both RAM sticks in it. So it’s 100% not the RAM. I just don’t understand why I can turn it on and off without clearing CMOS first.