Is My Ram Fried?! Is My Graphics Card To Blame?

My new Ram isn't even here yet. The 1GB that's not found is the original Ram that came with the computer. I bought this computer with 2GB of Ram, now it only recognizes one of them. I'll still do what you suggested just to see if maybe it'll jolt things a bit and fix it. BRB 😀

I did both and neither worked 😟

Ugh, anyone know what to do with bogus hardware? How does Apple handle it? I have an Apple Store nearby where I live, so i'd prefer if I can walk in and walk out again. Any help would be nice with how Apple deals with broken Ram or Graphics Cards.

Ya, I had never even touched the ram before, and yesterday my stats said I had 2GB of Ram, so unless someone knocked my tower over, which they didn't, there's no reason for my Ram to disappear, and I double checked to see if the Ram's set in place, and it is.

Ugh, I HATE stuff like this. There's no need for repair, just give me replacements. My motherboard's not broken, it's tiny sticks that I can install myself. Jeez, 4 of 'em are coming in the mail as we speak, and a graphics card is just, in essence, a bigger stick.

I really hope they don't want me to keep the system there for diagnostics and repair. Unless there's actually something wrong with the Ram boards. But we'll see. I need my computer right now for editing, and I can't be running around for a week hoping Apple was finally able to click in 2 replacement sticks of Ram and a graphics card.

I called Apple tech support this morning, and they told me that I should do the same thing you suggested, but I couldn't at the time because I'm transferring some important files that'll take a day or so. So I gotta do the diagnostics later.

However, I have some new issues. I reseated the Ram, and I didn't move them or anything. I put them each in the same spots I found 'em. Yesterday, when I went to About Mac and saw the specs of my computer, the 1GB of Ram was found in the 1 and 2 slots of what I think is representative of the bottom Ram platform. When I reseated the Ram, putting each stick in the same spot as before and putting the Ram platforms exactly where they were, I went to About Mac and the 1GB of Ram was now showing on the top 1 and 2 slots of the Ram platform. I don't know if that list shown in the memory specs area is indicative of the actual platforms, but the Ram was now at the top of the list instead of half way down the list. I clicked the Ram in there just fine, so I don't know what the issue is. I checked again and there's no looseness in the Ram.

So, beyond the weird switch in where my Mac Pro is seeing the Ram, I am also confused how the diagnostics tool I'm supposed to use to assess damage will be able to see if my Graphics card is screwy. The graphics card obviously still works well enough to display things (I just get random tearing and sometimes a sparkle here or there), yet the guy on the phone said that they won't replace the card unless the diagnostics tool says so. I asked if the tool will show that the card is screwy, he couldn't give me a straight answer. So I just wanna make sure, that when I do run it, the tool will give me something I can tell Apple to replace the card. I know the card's damaged from me playing World of Warcraft. So I just wanna know what I should be looking for in the diagnostics tool to convince Apple my card's screwy. Unless the tool can actually assess that, but I just can't see how the tool can do that.

So, ya, I can't talk to Apple until tomorrow when the files should be done uploading to our servers, but I'm just confused why the Ram switched platforms, according to my Mac Pro, and how the diagnostics tool can assess graphics card damage. I just want this bad boy to get fixed. Any insight would be fabulous.

Save for a hard drive I installed last October, everything in my Mac Pro is straight from Apple.

Yes, only 2 DIMMS appear when there are 4 inside the computer. All identical sticks of 512MB from Apple.

When I get home tonight, I'll swap the risers, and see what happens. At work. But thank you for the help. I'll update as soon as I can.

No I don't have anything that monitors heat or Ram temps.

Ok, so I got off work early today! YAY!

I came home and talked to Apple support. We find that it's a finnicky riser since we swapped them out.

Now I have a new problem. I got off the phone with Apple, after they are now sending me a new Riser, and I restart my computer, and now all the Ram is showing up. WHAT!?

Weird. So, I get my new 2 GB in the mail today, so I just now came back from my mailbox and decided I may as well install the new Ram from OWC, Mac Pro Certified and all that.

Well, now the risers seem to be working fine, but now it can't see my new ram sticks. What is going on!? This is the first time I've had some weird hardware issues with any of my Mac computers. I'm hoping this guy isn't kickin the bucket 😟

I am super bummed. I think it's my riser ports or the motherboard's fried or something. I keep doing all sorts of variations of my Ram, and it's totally random what shows up. Right now I have 4 x 512MB sticks in slots 1 and 2 of risers A and B and I have the 2 x 1GB sticks in slot 3 of risers A and B, and now only 1 GB shows up on my computer total. It says I have 2 x 512MB sticks on riser A only. That's all. It can't see the other 4 sticks.

I tried putting in just the 2 x 1GB sticks alone, and it only sees 1GB yet again. I swap out the Risers, the same problem. It's completely random what shows up and when.

I don't know what to do. I'm pretty sure I have to take it in, but I can't right now since I'm super busy. I'm super upset.

Anyone else have any ideas what I can do to fix the issue? Thanks 😟