Possible Ram issue

[Cobelet]

Recently one of my RAM sticks stopped working unsure of why. They are both HyperX DDR3 4gig sticks, i reseated them and got both of them to work again, but when i tried to boot i got an error that windows did not launch proply. Since i got this error my computer is running very slow and every game i try and play gets terrible FPS issues to the point where its nearlly unplayable. I have already tried reseating the RAM again, resetting the BIOS battery, a scan and repair, uninstalling some unused games/programs, checked comp temps. I would like to reset the computer to factory but when i try i get a windows is missing files error. Could this be the cause or is it still the RAM?

[patio]

I would run MemTest on the RAM....1 stik at a time...
Any errors at all = bad RAM.

Let it run at least an hour on each stik.

[DaveLembke]

Stopped working as in your system reported 4GB vs 8GB?

This could be intermittent connection between RAM and then memory slot on motherboard.

I ran into a system a ways back that all was good until playing games I had originally thought. But what it really was that the woofer was under the desk and the explosions in game were rumbling the computer case and RAM/motherboard was vibrating as a result of this and so it really was intermittent connection between gold fingers in the memory slot and not that the RAM stick itself had a physical issue. When i inspected further I noticed that when looking along the motherboard to the 4 memory sticks one of the sticks was leaning up ever so slightly. When I unlocked the retaining wings to eject the RAM stick I found that in the socket at the bottom of it was a dust bunny that must have been knocked free when installing the RAM and it got pressed into the bottom of the memory slot causing the RAM stick to slot 2 to not seat properly flush in the socket. Carefully removed the dust bunny with canned air and installed RAM stick and then all was good after that. The corner of the stick that was raised I guess didnt have a solid connection when the computer was vibrated from explosions in gameplay. 

So make sure the memory slots are clean of dirt/dust/lint and nothing in bottom of memory slots that may cause RAM to not seat properly. Canned Air works best to get dust out of them.

*Vacuum cleaners can be deadly to motherboards and components due to static discharge when vacuuming, as well as can make for fun troubles if a jumper gets sucked up. Fortunately very few motherboards have jumpers all over them anymore as enabling/disabling features and speed settings are mostly in the BIOS now. the CMOS battery though might still have a jumper for Clearing CMOS though which a vacuum could eat.

[Cobelet]

Yea it reported only 4 gigs so i reseated it and it read the 8 gigs again. Thats when i got the windows error and now if i try factory reset i get an error saying im missing window's files. Could that be a cause of fps lag in games etc? Sorry for late reply. Ill try the ram test right now.

[Cobelet]

So i ran Memtest i did a 1 hour test per stick 1 stick at a time and got 0 errors on both. Does this mean it could be a cpu issue?

[DaveLembke]

If not the RAM, then motherboard is next most likely cause with a intermittent connection between the RAM and memory slots. While CPU's do have memory controllers on them, I have yet to see a CPU memory controller fail.

If the motherboard has 4 memory slots 2 used and 2 unused you can try using other slots such as slot 1 and 3 vs 0 and 2. Its best to have RAM in slot 0 and 2 if its a 4 memory slot type board for dual-channel. But if motherboard only has 2 slots this wont help you any unless you test with 4GB in slot 0 and everything is good and then only a stick of RAM in slot 1 to which if it acts up you can try the other stick in slot 1 and if it acts up again then you know something is up with slot 1. Which would be generally to replace the motherboard to correct for a memory slot issue.

[Cobelet]

So my problem seems to be still ongoing. 2 days ago one of my ram stiks completely stopped working i have since replaced it with a new one and my fps seems a little bit better in games but im still getting drops and its not smooth at all. Completely stumped on what it could be

[DaveLembke]

Is the voltage for memory correct in BIOS?

Just curious if you have voltage set wrong in BIOS and roasting them slowly maybe. In the overclock section of your BIOS under memory there is usually an option to overdrive the voltages to RAM. If this was set too high it will roast your RAM and cause issues over driving them.

[Cobelet]

Is that possible to happen on its own. I have not touched any settings in there at all.

Edit: Checked the voltage and it was around 1.500 googled if that was ok and it seems thats normal and not anything high etc.

[Cobelet]

So my computer seems to be running alot better since i installed the new ram stik. It just seems to be an fps issue in games only.

Is it possible that the missing windows files or maybe corrupted windows files could be causing this? Would i benefit from factory resetting or do you think its something else. I'd need to purchase another copy of windows as i don't have access to my product code to redownload so im hesitant in doing that until i know for sure that it would indeed benefit my problem at all.