Let us travel back in time when the first Pentium was introduced in the market. Most of you may not be familiar with it but during those days, the Pentium I reigned supreme. Among their competitors were the 396 and 486 processors. I think there was even a 586!
One thing you will note though is that during these times, improvising was the measure of how effective a PC user or technician was. Trying to avoid replacing parts and discovering the tricks of malfunctioning computer parts was the craze back then and it took the help of only one simple item; a pencil eraser.
Yup, that reddish orange tip you see at the end was a very useful tool in making things work. It was recurring though. For example, a memory chip back then could be put to work by simply using the eraser to clean the teeth of the said chip. This even worked for video cards. While we are all past that, today, it does still work.
It cannot be discounted that slots would sometimes gather dust and for sure have a difficult time reading the chips to function properly. But look back again and try this trick out and you can have one last chance to see if the chip or part is indeed damaged and due for replacement.
At least, you have a last option to check if that chip can still be used or not. Rather than quickly buying a new one, at least you save on cost until the time comes it is not longer functional.