New build problems

[tonye]

Managed to finally put together the below parts from scan (bar the ram).

Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H F5
AMD Athlon II X2 250
4GB (2x 2GB) ram OCZ3P1333LV4GK
400W Corsair PSU
500GB Samsung HD502HJ Spinpoint F3
Win7 x64

Windows took quite a while to install, which I thought was strange. With win7 booted up and everything updated the system still runs very slow. Opening firefox takes around 40 seconds and I have random BSODs and the system sometimes shows 'an error has occurred..' on startup.

I tested the ram with memtest86+ which shows as one stick having errors. Would I be right in thinking that it would be best re-installing windows using the one working stick to see if that fixes the problem? If this works I'll RMA the ram. If not, any other ideas?

Thanks

[Phage]

RMA the ram. It failed the test.
Whilst waiting for the replacement you should be able to run on one stick until it arrives without a re-install.

[tonye]

RMA the ram. It failed the test.
Whilst waiting for the replacement you should be able to run on one stick until it arrives without a re-install.

Thanks for the reply Phage.

My reasoning about reinstalling whilst using one stick is due to the possible corruption of files during OS installation? I'd be more inclined to RMA both as they came as a kit.

Would a faulty motherboard or CPU memory controller also affect if the memory shows up as being faulty?

Thanks

[lego batman]

I'd be more inclined to RMA both as they came as a kit.

I would like to know this too - is it necessary to return both as a kit or does it not matter?

[Phage]

Raise a webnote with Scan. I don't know if the kit counts as a single component. I suspect that it does.
You may be right, I would re-install to be on the safe side

[tonye]

Well I've just finished testing both sticks for 6 hours and no errors are shown in memtest...any ideas?

[Phage]

Did you test each stick one at a time in the same slot ? If so it may be a dodgy slot. If we assume the ram is ok, then we need to run the test in the other slot.
Did you check the HDD ?

[tonye]

Did you test each stick one at a time in the same slot ? If so it may be a dodgy slot. If we assume the ram is ok, then we need to run the test in the other slot.
Did you check the HDD ?

Yep. Stick 1 in slot 1, then stick 2 in slot 1. Then stick 1&2 in slot 1&2. Just did another few hours with the marked faulty stick, and now it's not showing any errors. arghhh!! lol

Have checked the hard drive using Samsungs diagnostic software. All showed up as normal.

Really note sure what's going on now and what's at fault

[tonye]

After 24 hours of testing both sticks, one is faulty. Re-installed windows 7 with the single 'good' stick and it now runs without a hitch or slowdown.

[vinnyT]

If the ram came as a kit, it must (at least with Scan) be returned as a kit i.e. both sticks.

[tonye]

Well I returned the ram and have a brand new replacement. Just been running through memtest and again more errors?! Surely I can't be unlucky enough to have two bad sets of ram?

[tonye]

Well I purchased some Corsair XMS3 of similar spec and although no errors show up in memtest, I still have random BSODs.

I think I'm just going to have to re-order the same parts again from scan and try out each new component in turn.

Out of interest, when looking in memory problems I did find the following on the AMD site:

Type of Memory Supported

X2 - Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2-8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) -AND- PC3-8500 (DDR3-1066MHz)

X3 and X4 - Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2-8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) -AND- PC3 10600 (DDR3-1333MHz)

Does that mean the X2 250 wont actually support the DDR3-1333Mhz ram?

[ehhhhhhh]

Have you tried to run the RAMs on lower clock speeds (set manually), eg. 533(1066)?

it might be the culprit.

I would also try to restore the default settings in the bios (and update it if there's a newer one), check the temps too.

When you had the Bsods, what was the error message?

[tonye]

Have you tried to run the RAMs on lower clock speeds (set manually), eg. 533(1066)?

it might be the culprit.

I would also try to restore the default settings in the bios (and update it if there's a newer one), check the temps too.

When you had the Bsods, what was the error message?

The memory has been run at 1066 when I updated the BIOS to the latest version (it defaults to this speed).

Temps all seemed fine considering the warmer weather.

The error messages ranged from page file errors to IRQL errors. Not sure of the exact errors as I don't access to the logs at the moment. It just seems that as one error disappears another shows up in its place.

[tonye]

After further testing when running both modules as a pair and a 24hr test they show up as having errors in memtest. When tested individually they have no errors show in memtest.

So now, two motherboards and three sets of RAM show up errors in memtest. Am I just unlucky or is the mobo eating this ram?

[Domestic_Ginger]

using the right voltage for the ram; critters get pretty hungry. get the specs and dial them in if not.