If one of the RAM slots on my PC is showing up as empty in the BIOS even though there is a RAM chip in there, what does that mean?
Does it mean the RAM chip is faulty, or could it mean the motherboard is faulty?
Mike wrote
That the motherboard doesn't like it for some reason.
There can be a large variety of reasons for that, everything from it not being a stick that it likes, thru to a bad socket to it just not being inserted properly into the socket etc.
Usually not. Those do usually show as being present in the bios, but just give errors. Some faults can see it not even appearing in the bios, but that sort of fault isnt very common.
Yes, it can be because the socket isnt working properly and there can be a variety of reasons why that can happen.
The easy test for a bad socket or motherboard fault affecting just one socket is to move the ram sticks between sockets and see if the stick that is currently being recognised in another socket is seen when its in the socket that the bios doesn't see a stick in. Best to do that simple socket check with just one stick and try it in each socket in turn. But some motherboards are fussy about which socket to use if only one stick is used etc.
did the stick work before is this a try and see ?
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I moved the sticks across, and it had the same result (1 not recognised), so it must be the slot.
What is the solution? New PC?
Well a bios flash might help although I doubt it , you could introduce a larger stick of the capacity you need
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Mike wrote
Did a stick ever work in the slot ? If it did, the slot has clearly died.
If it didn't, it would be worth trying just one stick in that slot if the motherboard allows just one in that slot.
If that still doesn't work, and its never worked, it might just be that the motherboard doesn't like those sticks much. An updated bios may fix that or a different stick may work.
That varys with the detail of the PC. If its rather elderly and you would prefer a new decent performance PC, that may be be the best approach. If it's a decent modern motherboard that's just failed, it can be worth just replacing the motherboard.
If its in between, and you cant buy a motherboard that will take that cpu and ram anymore, a new PC might be best.
How long should a motherboard be expected to last? Though the warranty may be12 months, surely a PC can reasonably be expected to last a few years?
Clocky wrote
Years.
Yep. Can be tricky convincing the seller tho.
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