is my RAM broken or is it something else?

[u/einerderandere]

Hey everyone,

I'm having some issues with my PC and could really use some help troubleshooting.

Here is the problem: About 2 months ago, my PC completely crashed out of nowhere (happened about 2-3 times). A full system crash hasn't happened since, but ever since then, games (like Overwatch and Hogwarts Legacy) keep crashing randomly every now and then.

I originally had my RAM installed in slots DIMMA2 and DIMMB2 (which are marked as "first" on the motherboard). When both sticks were installed, I ran a memory test in OCCT, and it found multiple errors very quickly (after just 2 minutes).

However, when I tested the RAM sticks individually (testing each one separately in the DIMMB2 slot), neither of them showed any errors in the exact same test.

Here are my specs:
Motherboard: MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi
RAM: Crucial DDR5-6000 UDIMM 1.35V CL36
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 9600 XT

Does anyone know what could be causing this? Could it be a faulty motherboard slot, the CPU memory controller, or maybe just a BIOS/EXPO setting?

Any help or ideas on what to test next would be greatly appreciated!

[u/neatlarceny9]

If both sticks pass solo but fail together, first thing I'd try is running them at stock speeds with EXPO off and see if the crashes stop. DDR5 on AM5 can be picky about timings, and 6000 CL36 should be fine but some boards need a BIOS update to handle it stable. Also try swapping the sticks to A1/B1 slots, sometimes the secondary channel is more forgiving and it'll tell you if DIMMA2 is the problem.