Clean memory card slots?

[NAC]

So, my computer was acting a little funny for a couple weeks. Froze maybe once, sometimes mouse would stop working, or keyboard, or was just slow.

Then one day on boot, my bios gave a memory error. Ugh. My machine is a dual e5-2670 machine with 16*4 gb of ECC memory. Was not looking forward to lots of troubleshooting. I suspect that ECC helped to keep the machine running as well as it did without just constant crashes. I bought 64 gigs partially with the expectation that if something failed, I could go back to 32 gigs and have lots of spare DIMMs. They were so cheap.

Thankfully (in a way), I quickly found the problem: my AIO water cooler leaked! The top DIMM under the cooler was greasy and wet, I found another drop about to fall from the cooler. I assume the leak has gotten worse over time, and perhaps only a few drops have fallen over the last couple weeks. All the DIMMs below the top one look fine (although the error did list the top two DIMMs).

Question is: how to clean? I used a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol to get the dimm clean. a few of the contacts look warn, but hopefully still okay. And I kinda doubt it was the liquid which would degade the gold contacts, but I'm not sure. But can I clean the MB slot for that DIMM? And how? Any extra precautions when I put things back together?

 

[corkyg]

Unless the liquid was distilled water, it could leave solid deposits on contacts. It is also possible, that when wet, one or more circuit contacts could have been shorted so as to cause more permanent damage to the DIMM or the mobo.

 

[NAC]

Thanks, that is what I feared. The liquid is sort of oily. You could see the grime on the DIMM. When I cleaned it, the cotton swap got quite dirty. Now it looks clean and good, other than a few contacts looking less shiny than the others.

The computer worked in Windows up until I found the problem. So hopefully everything is okay. I guess I will plug things back in, and run MEMTEST and then PRIME95 overnight? Any other recommendations?

Worst case is that something is wrong with the DIMM / MB which cause lingering occasional problems but mostly operate fine. I'd rather just replace things than have that happen - but I may never know.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Memtest is a good start, if it were my pc, probaby would just replace the dimm.

 

[Concerned Citizen]

90% alcohol.

 

[NAC]

So I used rubbing alcohol to try to clean the dimm with bad contacts. It seemed to get better, but not great after maybe 20 minutes of scrubbing. 4 of the contacts still looked warn - one especially. It might not be warn out, but corroded - perhaps from being shorted out. I reordered the 4 dimms on that bank (4 of 8 for that CPU - there are 16 slots total). Turned on the PC. That dimm still registers as bad, as does it's partner next door. But - that was a different partner, and different slot, from before. So it must be the CPU reads the dimms in pairs, and the original bad dimm slot is still operational.

I turned it off, took out all 4 dimms. The top slot still had grime - and now the dimm which was in the top slot had some grime. I cleaned everything, including cleaning the dimm slot itself. I used a gift card cut to width, and used it to push in a paper towel, using little force and replacing the area of paper towel each time. After maybe ten inserts it was coming out clean. I reordered the dimms again, and again one dimm and it's partner is bad. So that dimm appears to be shot. But the MB seems ok.

I'm now running with one CPU with all 8 dimms loaded - took a dimm from the partner CPU. I ran memtest overnight with 3 passes. I also ran prime95 for about an hour with success. Once I get a second cooler, I can go back to 2 CPUs, and will have 15 dimms. I need to research how best to use the remaining dimms. The MB is a ASROCK EP2C602-4L/D16

• use 8 of the 16 slots for 32 gigs running quad channel. I believe I'll use all the blue, or all the white slots - not sure if it matters
• or can I use all 8 on one CPU, and 4 on the other CPU, so that one CPU has 32 gigs, the other has 16. Will it still run quad channel and not degrade performance by being misbalanced between CPUs?
• Or use 14 dimms, will one CPU run quad channel and the other tri channel? I doubt it. But that would be 56 megs. Or more likely - one or maybe both CPUs would run single channel - and I think that would be a bigger performance hit than just using 32 gigs
• buy a replacement dimm. it is part SAMSUNG M393B5170FH0-YH9, I see them on Amazon and ebay for about $10. I assume that if I get the same part number it will match what I have? But realistically, I don't need 64 gigs, 32 is plenty.

 

[Elixer]

You don't want to use rubbing alcohol (which is usually 70%), that isn't purified enough.
You need 90% or better.
You can also use those "tape cleaner" swabs that don't leave any residue at all...found them at the dollar store.

 

[shabby]

Did you try blowing? Worked every time...

 

[NAC]

You don't want to use rubbing alcohol (which is usually 70%), that isn't purified enough.
You need 90% or better.
You can also use those "tape cleaner" swabs that don't leave any residue at all...found them at the dollar store.

Ah - thanks. Now I know for next time. Oh well, I used 70% alcohol, I guess there may be a little residue, but so far the computer works fine.

I did blow the contacts some, but blowing alone wouldn't have gotten the grime off from the leak.

 

[nerp]

Ooof. I've seen several people report their AIOs leaking. I'm beginning to think I'm never going to water cool, especially when top end air coolers are just as good. The risk of leaks is just too frightening for me.

 

[techne]

Here's what I have said about this subject (water cooling) a while ago...

 

[denis280]

i don't trust water cooling with expensive electronic parts

 

[BonzaiDuck]

i don't trust water cooling with expensive electronic parts

Well, I don't want to start a club that somehow disses our water-cooled enthusiasts. Over in Cases & Cooling, there are a couple threads with my comments. I had really, really, really planned on a high-end customizable AiO for my system-in-progress. above that as a priority ranking, I spent the $50 for Silly Lotts to relid my chip with CLU. Then at the last minute, I got an LG Macho instead.

When you think about it, you might assume that hose fittings are likely "OK" and sealed when you buy an AiO. With custom -- something more to fret about. Then -- a pump fails. It's less costly and troublesome to have a "backup fan" running for an air-cooler if an important one fails, and it's a lot less money to replace one than a pump in a custom water rig. With an AiO, you're going to RMA the whole enchilada.

Then there's the risk of throwing your computer around with 2 lbs of weight hanging on the motherboard and exerting pressure on the socket.

So I'm wondering -- what can go wrong with a CLU-relidded CPU done by someone who's probably done thousands by now?

Which risks are you going to find more acceptable than other risks?

I'm just surprised at a sudden increase in "leak" threads.

Another way to look at it: eliminate complexity while trying to reach the same objective. Somehow, I just see a water system as more complex, even if it's simplified as an "All-in-one" or "CLC."

I even feel a twinge of pain myself hearing about this episode with the RAM socket.

If TR can make this Macho, somebody will eventually figure out a way to make heatpipes more effective and compact. As far as I'm concerned for its 900 grams (less a fan), it's still one of the more "compact" of the top end air-coolers. Just heavy. And it performs well even without attaching a fan to it or putting a duct behind it ported to exhaust.

I'll still look to see what new AiO-customizable kits arise this year, but seeing the leak threads, I'm glad I don't have to worry about it.