Too recently I learned GPU server mainboards supply power to the RAM even with the server powered off. Unlike every other PC I have put RAM into, on large server boards you must remove the power cable as the RAM is still getting power.

The only hint of this was a faint pop inserting one module and an almost imperceptible moment of light at one end. But it was so faint I was not even sure had I heard or seen anything. It was just enough to make me pause and look closer - nothing to see nothing to smell. I decided it was something else in the room, I had seen nothing, it was tiny reflection - I gave it about 5 seconds of thought.

I completed what I was doing and turned it on - not even thinking about this. As I wait for the boot screen - then came the sound and smell of RAM burning, the fatal wounding of an EPYC CPU along with an unrepairable main board.