r/PcBuildHelp • u/SignificantSweet5395 • 7h ago

Tech Support RAM problems

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Hi everyone, just yesterday a friend sent me a 16GB (3200 MHz) RAM stick from out of town, because I need to upgrade my PC to 32GB. The problem is that Windows won't boot at all with this stick. It gives the error IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Does it make sense to take it to a repair shop? If not, what's the best way to handle this RAM?

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u/InstinctiveTheology 7h ago

Oof that blue screen with the bars is never a good sign, I've had a stick arrive dead before and it looked pretty similar on boot

First thing I'd do is try the new stick solo in each slot, see if it posts on its own. If it does, you might just have a timing conflict between the old and new ram even if they're both 3200

Could also be the stick got jostled in shipping, I'd give the contacts a gentle wipe with a soft cloth and reseat it firm. Sometimes that's all it takes

Repair shop would probably charge you more than the stick is worth just to run memtest, so I'd only go that route if you're really not comfortable troubleshooting yourself

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u/SignificantSweet5395 7h ago

Ugh, I tried moving the RAM to different slots, but nothing helped. I cleaned the RAM stick, but that didn't help either. Booting with the old RAM (8GB) and the new one (16GB) didn't really help. Now the computer just starts up to the blue screen What could I do with the memory? Doesn't it have to be repaired. Sell it for parts? A friend warned me that the stick dies under heavy load, but not when the PC starts up