New motherboard recommendations?

Hey everyone, I'm currently running an MSI H81M-P33 paired with an Intel Core i5 4460 and an MSI GTX 750 Ti.
Unfortunately, my motherboard seems to have died—if my assessment is correct, the RAM slots are shot—so I need to pick up a replacement. I'm torn between just grabbing the same model again or stepping up to something more modern, maybe in the $167 range. If anyone has any advice, I’d appreciate it 🙂.

So you're just assuming you fried both RAM slots? Come on, man, walk me through what actually happened 🍿

EDIT: Besides, you've got a nearly identical board for $119

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what went wrong here.
I was reapplying thermal paste because my CPU had started overheating strangely, causing the system to shut down. While I was at it, I decided to blow out some dust from the motherboard since it hadn't been cleaned in a while—the buildup was getting on my nerves. I pulled everything out of the slots, cleared the dust, reseated everything, and powered it up; it worked fine initially. But the next time I tried to boot, I got nothing but a black screen. It isn't the GPU, as I tested it on another motherboard, and the RAM seems fine too. My best guess is a memory issue, though I can't even get into the BIOS or see any activity; the screen stays black, and there's no keyboard response at all.

It’s honestly bizarre for both slots to give up the ghost at the exact same moment. They say one is a fluke, two is a coincidence, but three? That’s definitely a conspiracy. xD
Check your monitor and your VGA cable first. If that doesn't work, try clearing the CMOS. If it still won't boot, you might want to look into the power supply. It sounds a bit ridiculous, I know, but back when I was working in service, I dealt with xxx cases where the PC would turn on, yet a multimeter would show the voltages were totally unstable—making the PSU the actual culprit. I'm just suggesting this so you don't go out and drop money on a brand-new motherboard only to find the exact same issue persists.

I've already gone through everything you mentioned, which is exactly why I decided to just pull the trigger on a new one. I'm officially out of ideas. 😅

Have you tried testing them one slot at a time? Usually, if the RAM is the culprit, the PC throws an error code on the screen. It sounds pretty wild that you actually fried both slots; surely you’d remember using that much force just because you tried to shove them in the wrong way or something. Honestly, there's a much higher chance you bent some pins in the CPU socket or just have a loose connection somewhere.

wiredotter14 said:Have you tried testing the slots one at a time? Usually, when the RAM fails, the PC will throw an error code on the screen. It seems highly unlikely that you actually snapped both RAM slots; you'd probably remember applying that much brute force just to try and jam them in backwards or something. There's a much higher probability that you bent some pins in the CPU socket, or perhaps there's just a loose connection somewhere.

Older machines used to beep, newer ones kind of beep, but nowadays most of the time the computer powers on, the fans spin up, and then... nothing. Just a black screen.

Over the last seven years or so, I’ve had over 1,000 broken computers pass through my hands. Even if 200 of those were due to faulty RAM, I have never once seen a machine throw that specific error message on the screen.

Thomas Wells5 said:Old PCs used to beep, and new ones can too; now most of them just power on, fans spin, but you get absolutely nothing on the monitor.

In the last 7 years, I've dealt with over 1,000 trashed PCs. Even with 200 of them having busted RAM, I've never seen a computer throw that specific error on the screen.

Fine, my bad. I guess that only happens when there’s a compatibility issue, not because of the slots themselves or whatever.

Still... I'd say there are at least 3 or 4 other things that are way more likely than two ripped-out slots.
It could be an issue with the CPU, or maybe the PSU is losing contact if the jacks are loose.

crimsonstag84 said:https://www.amazon.com/motherboards/150-0503061090

Why go for $33 a pricier motherboard? There's a specific reason, or just a bad link? 🤔

analogtiger19 said:Why? $33 Buying a motherboard? There's gotta be a reason for that, or you just clicked the wrong link. 🤔

Four RAM slots, a better chipset... basically just a superior board, if that's even true. $33 Differences. Is it worth it? 😁 🙂

wiredotter14 said:Have you tried testing the slots one at a time? Usually, if there's a RAM issue, the PC throws an error code on the screen. It seems unlikely that you actually snapped both RAM slots; you’d likely remember applying that much force, especially if you were trying to seat them incorrectly. It's more probable that you bent some pins in the CPU socket or perhaps there's just a loose connection somewhere.

I've honestly tried everything I could think of or found online, and nothing has worked. 😅

Try swapping in another power supply before you go out and drop any cash...

analogtiger19 said:Try testing another power supply before you go out and buy anything new...

I’m using that PSU on my old rig right now and it seems fine, but I don't want this new processor just sitting around gathering dust. It wasn't cheap, and it won't fit on my old motherboard, haha.

Check the pins on the motherboard. If you didn't bend them yourself, just file a claim—MSI offers a 3-year warranty on those parts.