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PSA: I ran a full RAM test on a client's PC and it passed, but the real issue was a bent CPU pin
Last Tuesday a guy brought in a Dell Optiplex 7050 that kept blue screening with random memory errors. I ran MemTest86 overnight and it passed all 4 passes, so I figured the RAM was fine and started looking at drivers. After two hours of chasing my tail I pulled the CPU out of the socket and saw one bent pin right in the corner. I straightened it with a mechanical pencil tip and the machine booted clean with no errors. What got me was that MemTest never caught it because the pin was for a secondary memory channel that only flaked under load. I've been doing this 11 years in Dayton and that was a first for me. If you get a machine with weird memory errors that pass every test, pull the chip and look at the socket before you waste a day on software. Has anyone else seen a bent pin slip past a full MemTest run like that?
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nora18419d ago
Bent pin on an 1151 board gave me hell in 2019 too.
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richard61019d ago
Wow, a bent pin took you out for a whole year in 2019? That's wild to me. I always figured a bent pin was like a ten minute fix with a mechanical pencil or a tiny flathead. Maybe a half hour if you're really taking your time and the pin is smashed flat against the socket. You had to deal with that for an entire year though, that's a whole different level of pain. I get that 1151 boards are picky and one wrong move can trash the whole thing. Still, picturing someone fighting the same bent pin for months on end just blows my mind.
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