Can RAM fry a mobo?

[sabanknight]

I am trying to hook up a server we could not get any of our mobo's to POST just power up. he brought over his server of similar stats to test the hardware and when we put one of my ram sticks in now his is doing the same thing. there is no apparent damage no burns or blown capasitors nor does the ram seem damaged. However the computer is now displaying the same symptoms as the others powers on but we get no info on the monitor. We have tried clearing the CMOS but still nothing.
We really need help here at first we thought my 4 mobo's were bad as they are old and havnt been used in several years, but then his went down and even though he volunteered I feel bad he is down a server.

 

[Hemantdhyani]

Hello

Yes Incompatible memory Chips can fry the motherboard-

 

[arkantos]

the memory can short circuit the motherboard to fry.

 

[raybay]

Rare, though. More likely the other way...
Generally, a memory module is incorrect inserted, or it is incompatible.
If anything can go wrong, it will.

 

[sabanknight]

we are almost certain it is compatable and it would be odd if we got it wrong with every mobo we have tried. Anyone have any ideas how to fix it?

A side note we are not sure because I have so many sticks of ram but this one that we are using has a red sticker which is fairly distinctive so we think we remember it in my current pc before I upgraded and after that in a friends computer who needed a spare stick all which did not display these symptoms of powering but not POSTing. However I am not sure it was the same stick but likely.

 

[Tedster]

possible? Yes. Likely - hell no.

It just simply won't work.

Read the updating ram guide in the guides forum. https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic65114.html

 

[dmill89]

Verry unlikely. RAM is notched so electrically incompatible RAM will simply not fit the slot (unless you force it but that usually snaps the stick). It sounds like this is a bad (internally shorted) RAM module especially if it the problems occurred on different motherboards (perticuarily if one was known to be good prior to useing the RAM). A bad (shorted) RAM module could certinly fry a motherboard.

 

[sabanknight]

Well the odd thing is there are no blown capacitors or any other physical damage on the mobos. which is why I am not 100% convinced they are bad. I am less looking for a yes or a no and more looking for what went wrong and how the crap do I fix it assuming the mobo's arnt all fraged. I mean I didn't necisarrily pump a lot of quality mobo's into this project but this is three of my mobo's and 2 of my friends which I would not like to throw away unless sure we are just beating a dead horse.

BTW I always have the odd computer problems....

 

[raybay]

Blown capacitors were only a problem for a very short time until all the defective ones were discovered and taken out of the production line.
Motherboards go bad for any reason... with 4000 parts from which to choose... and from the twisting and shrinking as boards age...
Other than that one period when bad capacitors were used in most brands, there is almost no visual detection of bad boards.
But I do agree that good boards seldom fail, and bad boards like PCChips and eMachines boards usually do fail.
So I would look long and hard at every other possibility before tossing a board.