Page 1 of 1
Smoking RAM...
PostPosted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 1:16 pm
by Zilch
Does RAM fry when you put it in backwards? Because...my computer started smoking...
PostPosted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 5:36 pm
by Straylight
With modern RAM, it's impossible to put in backward (it's shaped so it can only go one way round, you might have stuffed it in at a slant tho).. I'd recommend unplugging the computer at least. Does the system function while the smoke is coming out? Might be a bad power supply.
Pull the case open, there's probably a burnt area somewhere... although TBH, I've never had a system overheat like that.
PostPosted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 7:47 pm
by Zilch
Funny thing is, the system still works fine! I haven't figured it out yet, but that's beside the point. I'm running a 1.7 GHz system on 128 megs of RAM. The thing's slower than algebra class.
PostPosted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 7:54 pm
by TheMelodyMaker
Not to sound skeptical, but are you sure it's the RAM? I would try to see where the smoke is coming from with the case off and the power on, but quickly so as to minimize potential damage to the system and surroundings.
PostPosted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 10:56 pm
by LorentzForce
Probably burning dust, or an insect that wanted to find refuge inside the warm computer case but got sizzled from those liquifyingly hot RAM sticks, or got stuck in the CPU fan and gotten killed.
In any case, if it doesn't smell like burning silicon or metal, should be fine. If it smells like burning dust or bug, then just remove it.
/me is a pyromaniac, and knows what things smell like when burnt.
PostPosted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 11:54 am
by Zilch
It was kind of a mettalic smell. If it didn't come from the RAM, it might have been the motherboard...
PostPosted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 12:17 pm
by Link Antilles
Sounds like what happened when I
attempted to over clock my AMD machine, I built.
My guess is a short or insufficient cooling.
PostPosted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 12:22 pm
by Gypsy
As weird as it sounds, he really did toast the RAM stick. Crazy, isn't it?
PostPosted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 12:30 pm
by Link Antilles
Gypsy wrote:As weird as it sounds, he really did toast the RAM stick. Crazy, isn't it?
That is... must have been a faulty stick of RAM......
Yeah, actually, I forgot about this, but, me and friend were trying to fix this really old computer of mine and I installed the RAM in backwards..... yeah, that wasn't a smart thing to say the least....
PostPosted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 2:34 pm
by Zilch
I grabbed the stick(256MB) out of my old computer that it had worked fine on, but it fries when it gets put in this one...
PostPosted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 10:40 pm
by LorentzForce
Then it's probably wrong clock speed.
Modify your BIOS to the correct setting. What frequency depends on your RAM and motherboard's specification.