I bought a used PC from a friend, and it won't start properly. The DRAM EZ Debug LED on the MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus stays lit when I power it on. I tried booting with one RAM stick at a time, switching slots, clearing the CMOS, and updating the BIOS, but nothing changed. The fans on the GPU, PSU, CPU cooler, and case all spin normally. The system uses a Ryzen 7 5700X3D, 32 GB of DDR4 RAM in two 16 GB sticks (Corsair CMK16GX4M2D3600C18), and a GeForce GTX 970 Windforce. What else should I check to determine whether the issue is the RAM, motherboard, CPU socket, or something else?
1 Answer
According to the board’s manual, the DRAM light means the memory isn’t being detected or has failed. Start with one stick installed firmly in DIMMA2, which is the recommended slot. Test each stick separately in that slot, then test the same stick in the other slots. This helps distinguish a bad module from a faulty slot or motherboard. Also reseat the RAM until both retaining clips click, and clear the CMOS using the jumper or by removing the battery briefly. If one stick works and the other does not, the bad module is likely the cause. If neither stick works in any slot, the motherboard or CPU/socket becomes more suspicious.
I already tested the sticks individually in the recommended slot and tried the other slots as well. I also cleared the CMOS by shorting the pins, but the result was unchanged. If the problem is the CPU socket or motherboard, it sounds like I may need to replace the board.