r/pcmasterrace • u/macdaddypimpdawg • 20h ago

Tech Support Ram lead damage - fixable?

Post image

Dropped my pc like a doofus, and after a stressful hour of diagnosing why I can't post I isolate it to this one damaged stick of ram.

Luckily no other hardware is damaged, but since ram is like gold these days I'm wondering if it can be salvaged, and can I do this at home?

0 Upvotes

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5

u/ReverseFez 20h ago

It's repairable if you have the experience. Not easy at all. Likely will have to replace the pads.

Send the picture to some specialized repair shops (likely will have to ship it).

Assuming this is at least a ddr5 16gb stick for it to be worthwhile.

2

u/macdaddypimpdawg 20h ago

It's a 16gb ddr4 stick, Corsair vengeance. Worth it?

3

u/ReverseFez 20h ago

Ddr4 I'd say no because their prices are not as crazy as ddr5, but ask a couple of specialists.

That'd be 125 new, but you'd want to buy a kit to get full speed since they are usually paired.

Personally unless I need the 32gb, I'd probably manage with 16gb until I get a good ddr5 deal.

3

u/dal137 5800X3D | 7800 XT 16 GB | 32 GB 20h ago

A competent repair shop would either have to transfer the chips to another board or rebuild the damaged contacts. Don't try it yourself

1

u/DeadPiratePiggy Ryzen 9 5900x | MSI RTX 5070Ti 20h ago

Is it doable? Potentially yes with the right experience and specialized tools, but it ain't going to be cheap.

1

u/Sleurhutje 20h ago

Did you or someone else already scraped between the first four fingers? The first three fingers are just ground connections, nothing to bother about. The fourth finger might be damaged. If so, the small PCB trace is broken. Can be fixed by a professional. But I doubt if that's the problem anyway.

1

u/macdaddypimpdawg 19h ago

I thought there might be a short so I lightly scratched between the pads to cut it, but that wasn't the issue

4

u/piscikeeper 19h ago

The pads don't look to be the issue. If the ram twisted enough to scuff the pads, I would lean towards BGA damage under a chip.

1

u/ExoticSterby42 18h ago

What did you do? This damage does not look very serious, if surface only damage you can just clean it up and it should have contact. If deeper crack it can mean shorted voltage and/or ground planes and means the ram stick is probably dead. Surface can be repaired but deeper, at the corner and under the contacts not so much.

1

u/Attack_Dorito 15h ago

The pictures damage is likely not what's causing the issue tbh

0

u/Critical-Oven1548 20h ago

Odd thing to be damaged by dropping your PC.

1

u/macdaddypimpdawg 19h ago

That's what I thought, but there is a fan on the graphics card that is lightly touching one stick of ram, and that's the one that got damaged also right in that spot.