all right.

test results for a2 and b2

windows memory diagnostic test reports everything fine.

memtest86 reported no errors.

probably the motherboard that's the issue?

one other thing that struck me as odd. dust on computer parts is normal. top of graphic card has dust. the bottom where the fans are.. the fans do not have dust on them.

???!

could this imply that the graphic card has never run at all? i mean..

Just to check, you are confirming that your exact RAM chips are on this list?

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/X299M-A-PRO/support#support-mem-2

Assuming the RAM is, then I'm not sure that I can add much at this point. The problem could still be with the RAM, it could be with the board, or it could still somehow be PSU related. It might be worth checking temperatures while you're gaming (or running some benchmarks while monitoring temps and seeing whether they spike before it crashes)

The problem is that most of my ideas now would be around buying new RAM or a new board and seeing if that helps. Sadly, you're probably out of warranty (the lesson learned here is that if you have a computer problem, get it fixed when it emerges, don't live with it)

Did you find your specific RAM part/model number listed as compatible by the motherboard manufacturer? pds41 posted the link above.
You didn't mention what RAM you have, so I trust you can find the RAM manufacturer's site to check if your motherboard is compatible with that specific part/model number.
One might not list the other, so it's worth checking both.
No point in doing that when the RAM is either not correctly installed, or not correctly detected. That issue should be resolved first.
Quality RAM tends to come with generous warranties. The PSU apparently comes with a 5-year warranty. The motherboard is probably out of warranty though.
From what I know of warranties in the US, it's generally possible to return items for a replacement with no risk (whereas here, you have to pay a fee if the item is determined not to be faulty). So that's something to consider, if no solution presents itself.

Yeah - the other problem I've had is having to pay the shipping to send the part back to the manufacturer. I had an AMD processor that was overheating; I got lucky as Amazon agreed to take it back and send a replacement - if I had to RMA it myself, I'd have had to pay international shipment to AMD's returns department in the Netherlands. Not cheap.

Oh, that stinks. Over here, returns are made to the store. So thus far, apart from one exception, I've only shopped locally. As a result, the biggest loss was shipping to receive the item + bus tickets to return it personally.

i had windows check my disk drive. no errors.

i'm not sure about using a beta version of that openhardware monitor..

i'm also not sure how that crystaldiskinfo is supposed to help me.

i guess I'm just doomed to suffer. lol.

thanks for your help, guys.

i did the windows check disk program, it reported no errors.

I'm not sure about using a beta version of the openhardwaremontior software.

I'm also not sure about the crystaldiskinfo one too, i don't see how it can help me.

I guess I'm doomed to suffer, lol.

Thanks for your help, guys.

I still think it could be bad/incompatible RAM.

You still haven't confirmed whether your EXACT RAM was on the compatibility list for your motherboard.

Also, when you said only one chip was registering, which slot was it (there's usually a picture in the UEFI that shows you). Might be worth checking whether you still have the issue if you swap the chips over (i.e. the one you put in DIMM-A1 put in DIMM-B1.

Unfortunately, to diagnose and fix is going to take legwork and time from your end now. It won't be easy, especially if it's an intermittent problem.

Ditto.
I'm at a loss as to why you went back to my catch-all suggestions before we identified the likely source of the problem. Anyway,

Open Hardware Monitor -- feel free to check the temperature using another utility you prefer. You might actually want to do that anyway, to see what the temperature is while playing a game. Since you have an AMD graphics card, you should be able to just press Ctrl+Shift+O to bring up the sidebar overlay while a game is running.

CrystalDiskInfo -- you just run it and see if the heath status of your drive(s) is good, or there are signs of impending hardware failure. Screenshot. It also shows you drive temperature.

Did you check both the motherboard's and the RAM's compatibility lists?
You could share the RAM part number, if you don't mind.

no I didn't check both lists.

The RAM part number is TPD416g2400hc16dc01

It was worth a shot, but TeamGroup don't have your motherboard listed as compatible with any of their products:
https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/support/view_device.php

MSI do list some TeamGroup RAM as compatible, but not your model.

yeah. looks like i'm going to have to get a new pack of memory sticks. I guess I just got lucky that this pair even worked.

Hi guys.

I went ahead and ordered a new pair. One that should be compatiable according to the list by ice mage. i got a G skill ripjaws ddr4-3200 8gbx2 (the manual for the mobo says it should be able to run this (overclocked?) so I'm hoping it works.. But..

I've been so focused on the RAM parts, that I didn't check the VGA compatiblity part on MSI's site. it does list my graphic card (radeon rx 570) but only 4 gb, not 8gb which I have. Do you guys think this will also affect things?

this also is why i asked my question (topic title)

i put my computer together with the naive belief that i could trust pcpartpicker when they said there were no compatibility issues.

so I just want to rant but i won't.