PC Tower suddently died...! Do you think this is my best approach:

[lister]

My PC kept giving me errors on boot about a memory problem but stupidly, I didnt write them down. The errors on boot only happened twice and then boom, just a black screen of nothing on boot. I do get ONE beep which I am told is good. My very strong suspicion is that the RAM modules have failed. My machine takes DIMM DDR3 RAM (4 slots) so I figure I should just buy another set of 4 which I found on ebay for like $50. Now, I did swap the RAM modules around, and tried to boot from just 2 modules but still nothing. I know its virtually impossible to offer advice with such scant information in this post but would you also think that it is a RAM issue? Worst case it isnt and I just re-sell the RAM on ebay. One beep is a good thing though from a mother board point of view right? Thanks !

 

[Dinesh]

Can you try booting up your computer with only 1 new RAM stick? Try the new RAM stick one by one on all 4 slots to verify if the motherboard slots are working fine. Also, remove the CMOS battery once and reinsert it and then boot up your PC.

 

[lister]

thanks.... Can a pc just boot from one stick of RAM?

 

[Dinesh]

Yes it will boot up.

 

[Dinesh]

Yes it will boot up.

 

[lister]

If my CMOS battery has no charge then would that prevent the machine from booting? - I still get the beep so perhaps my CMOS battery is ok?

 

[Dinesh]

If my CMOS battery has no charge then would that prevent the machine from booting? - I still get the beep so perhaps my CMOS battery is ok?

Yes the pc will still boot even if the battery has failed.

 

[Dwarf]

A dead or missing CMOS battery will not prevent your machine from booting up (my computer at work doesn't even have a battery installed, as one of the terminals has broken off). It will mean, however, that if the mains is disconnected you might need to alter some BIOS settings if you are not using their defaults. The BIOS date/time will certainly need updating.

 

[lister]

I guess i just need to get the new RAM and see what happens..... Ill try and boot from each RAM module individually and report back - thanks!

 

[lister]

How common is it for RAM to fail?

 

[Dinesh]

How common is it for RAM to fail?

Very common.

 

[Dwarf]

It's certainly not unheard of. Like everything else, RAM modules do occasionally fail. However, the typical things which fail in a computer tend to be those which have a mechanical aspect to them, such as fans and HDDs.

 

[Erick Aguilar]

Now as weird and unvelieable as you might think.
It happens, just like with any other hardware component.