Is it possible that my ram is frying the motherboard?

[mulic3]

It all started with me sending my Lenovo 510S-13 to the lab in order to fix an issue with the headphone jack. I replaced the upgraded 8GB ram card to the stock 4GB ram card so they won't claim that I damaged the headphone jack by openning the laptop . I probably did something wrong, and for the first time in my life the computer didn't boot afterwards. Later I learned it was a matter of current flactuation, but the lab probably didn't know it, and were kind enough to replace the motherboard anyway under warranty. I got the laptop back, installed the 8GB card and again the laptop would not boot. So I did some digging and found out that the solution for this current flactuation is to remove the battery and hold the power key for some time. Easy enough, it worked. So I enjoyed my laptop for almost 3 months when I got these colored stripes that ended in a black disply which I posted about here:
https://www.sevenforums.com/general...enly-shows-some-colored-stripes-resets-2.html
So they replaced the motherboard again under warranty, but now I'm worried. Maybe the 8GB ram card (new 8gb ddr4 kingston) is what fried my motherboard out of the blue, and not the bad installation of a technician? What are your thoughts. I need to use the laptop for Android Studio, but if it's a risk I'll keep the 4GB ram (I know it probably isn't because the ram worked fine before the first motherboard swap and after that, but I did change the ram cards back and forth three times).

Please tell me what are your thoughts.

Thanks.

 

[mrjimphelps]

You might have the wrong memory for your laptop. That's what it sounds like.

Go to the Lenovo website, and find out exactly what memory works with your laptop. Then either buy it from Lenovo, or buy that exact memory from somewhere else.

 

[TechnoMage2016]

You really had me going, till you said 'Kingston ram'. Notoriously, they buy second grade ram from major ram makers and put them on their own boards. They might work OK at first and then either die or cause other problems later on.

So the best advise I, as a 30+ year computer tech, can give you is Toss that Kingston ram in the garbage where it belongs. Then go to Crucial US | DRAM, Solid State Drive (SSD) Memory Upgrades and take their ram test. The test will tell them what PC you have and they can recommend the correct ram for that PC. You can even buy the correct ram right there from their web page. I do that all the time, for my customers that want an upgrade or are having ram problems. Crucial uses only the finest ram that money can buy, and they will give you a lifetime warranty.

Cheers Mate!
TechnoMage

PS: OH, and when you see colored bars or wild pixels on your screen, and your PC is using part of its main ram as Video Ram, the problem is in the ram itself, not in the motherboard.

 

[mrjimphelps]

You really had me going, till you said 'Kingston ram'. Notoriously, they buy second grade ram from major ram makers and put them on their own boards. They might work OK at first and then either die or cause other problems later on.

So the best advise I, as a 30+ year computer tech, can give you is Toss that Kingston ram in the garbage where it belongs. Then go to Crucial US | DRAM, Solid State Drive (SSD) Memory Upgrades and take their ram test. The test will tell them what PC you have and they can recommend the correct ram for that PC. You can even buy the correct ram right there from their web page. I do that all the time, for my customers that want an upgrade or are having ram problems. Crucial uses only the finest ram that money can buy, and they will give you a lifetime warranty.

Cheers Mate!
TechnoMage

PS: OH, and when you see colored bars or wild pixels on your screen, and your PC is using part of its main ram as Video Ram, the problem is in the ram itself, not in the motherboard.

Technomage, what do you think about PNY memory?

 

[TechnoMage2016]

PNY?
I don't remember having to deal with any PNY ram, but I did buy a PNY SSD drive that lasted only one month and then refused to boot up one morning. I called PNY, since I had purchased the SSD directly from them, and they gave me the old 'Run Around', and then refused to do anything at all about the failed SSD drive. I tossed that drive in the trash and will NEVER buy anything from PNY EVER AGAIN!
Their product was poor and their service even worse.

I'm not sure if that's what you were wanting, but that's the extent of my own Experience with PNY products.

Let me just say one more time,,,, I will buy NO ram from anyone but Crucial. In all the years I've been doing business with Crucial, I've never had even one stick of ram fail on me. However, if I did, that would have been covered by their Lifetime Warranty.

Cheers Mates!
TechnoMage

 

[Layback Bear]

To the best of my memory 'PNY' is owned by H.P.

I have tried several brands of ram through the years and as of now both of my computers have Corsair and I don't have any problems.

It's possible ram can damage your motherboard but it most likely hasn't.
Anything that is plugged into the motherboard that is bad can cause motherboard problems.


This should help as TechnoMage2016 has suggested.

Crucial US | DRAM, Solid State Drive (SSD) Memory Upgrades


Jack

 

[RoasterMen]

My laptop has a kingston 4GB memory and it's still running fine for 3 years.

 

[Megahertz07]

Most memory brands don't manufacture parts, they just assemble from other manufactures. There are exceptions like Samsung that manufacture all parts and assemble them.
I personally don't think that a memory stick that works can damage a MoBo.

 

[mulic3]

Thanks but the RAM I bought is a 8GB DDR4 2133 Mhz just like what's on the laptop, only 4 GB. How could it be the thing that fried my laptop if it ran fine for months? Could it be connected to a very small tear I have on my charger? I'm really worried of putting the 8GB card back in.

 

[Megahertz07]

Could it be connected to a very small tear I have on my charger?

Please explain.

 

[mrjimphelps]

All: Thanks for sharing your experiences with different brands of memory.

Myself, if I can find memory dirt-cheap on Ebay, I usually go with that. I figure, if it's bad, and I paid only $5 or $10 for it, I didn't lose much. Most of the time, it is good.

 

[TechnoMage2016]

All: Thanks for sharing your experiences with different brands of memory.

Myself, if I can find memory dirt-cheap on Ebay, I usually go with that. I figure, if it's bad, and I paid only $5 or $10 for it, I didn't lose much. Most of the time, it is good.

I spent most of my professional life working on things that absolutely HAD to work 100% perfect or they were 100% wrong and had to be fixed.
So whether I'm working on granny's little home PC, a cash register in a Bar, or a Mainframe Computer that does the payroll for 10,000 county employees, I strive for perfection.

Taking a chance on ram memory from Ebay just doesn't cut it for me. Sorry about that.

I use the same desire for excellence when I advise someone on an Internet Forum, because I know that every word I post, will be read by people all over the world.

Cheers Mate
TechnoMage

 

[mrjimphelps]

TM:

I certainly understand you motive for wanting perfect RAM. I have often used that approach when obtaining RAM for my computers. But I have also gone the Ebay route, and I usually get good memory that way.

There is always value in looking at things from a totally different perspective; that's why I threw that out there.

Jim

 

[mulic3]

If I connect the 8GB ram and run a memtest, will it let me know if there's any indication that the ram is harming the motherboard? I still think it was probably a bad installation by the technician.

 

[mulic3]

You really had me going, till you said 'Kingston ram'. Notoriously, they buy second grade ram from major ram makers and put them on their own boards. They might work OK at first and then either die or cause other problems later on.

So the best advise I, as a 30+ year computer tech, can give you is Toss that Kingston ram in the garbage where it belongs. Then go to Crucial US | DRAM, Solid State Drive (SSD) Memory Upgrades and take their ram test. The test will tell them what PC you have and they can recommend the correct ram for that PC. You can even buy the correct ram right there from their web page. I do that all the time, for my customers that want an upgrade or are having ram problems. Crucial uses only the finest ram that money can buy, and they will give you a lifetime warranty.

Cheers Mate!
TechnoMage

PS: OH, and when you see colored bars or wild pixels on your screen, and your PC is using part of its main ram as Video Ram, the problem is in the ram itself, not in the motherboard.

Thanks for your response! Indeed the colored stripes appeared while the 8gb kingston was inside and afterwards the display became black, but it remained black even after I replaced the 8gb ram with the original 4gb ram. The Motherboard was replaced and now everything is fine, but as I said, I'm worried about putting the 8gb inside, even though it might be ok. Will a windows memory diagnostic tell me if the memory is faulty and might be damaging the motherboard, or is it too dangerous to try?

 

[Megahertz07]

Just to remind:
- When managing memory ALWAYS disconnect the Power cord from the wall. On Laptops, must also take the battery.