Is this a failing hard drive?

[thomson]

Well got another memory_management BSOD this morning after leaving the computer off overnight, so it's definately not the HDD.

Running another memtest now, so far its at about 20% through the first pass with no errors. Maybe I'll have to run it before I try to boot into anything else next time if I still don't get errors...

Anyway, for tomorrow morning's boot I'll try just using one stick, then the other the morning after. It's a pain I've got to have it turned off so long to test...

Anyway, if by the end of it all its neither of the sticks faults, chances are its either driver problems or a motherboard problem right? Or possibly a PSU problem?

How likely is it to be the PSU? I thought PSUs generally degraded over time, rather that having something wrong with them to begin with...

If its a driver problem, how do I work out which one(s)?

And I take it short of putting my mobo in a different computer, which I can't do, the only way of working out that its not working properly will be to check everything else and find that they are all working?

If I installed Ubuntu on it, and it crashed, that would eliminate driver issues right?

[thomson]

Ok, ran 2 passes of memtest and it turned up 80000 errors this time. So just after a BSOD, which only seem to happen on a cold boot, memtest gets loads of errors but other times it does get any.

Does failing the memtest mean its definitely the ram, or can something else be causing it to get memtest errors?

[danroyle]

Well got another memory_management BSOD this morning after leaving the computer off overnight, so it's definately not the HDD.

Running another memtest now, so far its at about 20% through the first pass with no errors. Maybe I'll have to run it before I try to boot into anything else next time if I still don't get errors...

Anyway, for tomorrow morning's boot I'll try just using one stick, then the other the morning after. It's a pain I've got to have it turned off so long to test...

Anyway, if by the end of it all its neither of the sticks faults, chances are its either driver problems or a motherboard problem right? Or possibly a PSU problem?

How likely is it to be the PSU? I thought PSUs generally degraded over time, rather that having something wrong with them to begin with...

If its a driver problem, how do I work out which one(s)?

And I take it short of putting my mobo in a different computer, which I can't do, the only way of working out that its not working properly will be to check everything else and find that they are all working?

If I installed Ubuntu on it, and it crashed, that would eliminate driver issues right?

are you running memtest in windows??

If yes run it through DOS make a startup cd with it on and run it on there LEave it running for an hour minimum really 2 would be better and see, My son has some g skill ram that does fine for an hour 50 then chucks up errors at 1.9v but if i put it at 2v no problems at all the Ram is rated for 1.9-2.0v

Also i presume you have not overclocked the system.

[danroyle]

Ok, ran 2 passes of memtest and it turned up 80000 errors this time. So just after a BSOD, which only seem to happen on a cold boot, memtest gets loads of errors but other times it does get any.

Does failing the memtest mean its definitely the ram, or can something else be causing it to get memtest errors?

definitely a ram Issue is it overclocked? have you tried increasing the voltage by one notch or so

Set the system back to default speeds and run the test again

[thomson]

No overclocking going on.

Still up the voltages if there is no overclocking?

I'm already booting into memtest from a cd. The test it passed it had been testing for about 10 hours or so, I had it going overnight. Tested for about 2 hours today, as it had already found 80k errors I didn't see any point in keeping it going for longer. I'm fairly sure it only ever finds the errors after a cold boot.

So it looks like I'm going to be sending the ram back then? I'll try running it with one stick at a time first, but I'm going to be out tomorrow so I might as well get my packaging to send it back in . Would one of those bubble wrap envelopes be ok or would i need a box? I've got an antistatic bag from a HDD, so I'll stick them in that. They came in one of those plastic boxes that is impossible to open without destroying, so I don't have the original packaging anymore...

[danroyle]

i would up the voltage by a notch if its a cold booting problem it could be a lack of volts through the Memory most sets have an operating range. my ddr3 is 1.65v - 1.75v i run it at the lower and it's stable but thats not always the case, Try one notch up on the voltage and if it still does it try the sticks individually.

The more tests you do now to narrow it down the smoother the RMA will go as you can put a note in explaining to them how to replicate any issues found.

Good luck with it

[thomson]

Where would I find the range?

This is the ram I have: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/235776

Says it's 1.5v, but doesn't have any ranges.

[Sputnik]

Where would I find the range?

This is the ram I have: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/235776

Says it's 1.5v, but doesn't have any ranges.

If your using this memory in your Gigabyte board in your spec according to Corsair it is not in their recommended list.

[thomson]

Oooo... so am I just using the wrong ram for my board then?

Can I send it back in that case then or not?

[thomson]

Had it turned off for 3 hours, and booted it with 1 stick of ram. No BSOD.

Is 3 hours long enough for it to count as being off for a long time? All the other times it's been turned off overnight, so about twice as long. I'll do the same with the other stick now and see what happens.

[jim]

Oooo... so am I just using the wrong ram for my board then?

Can I send it back in that case then or not?

It's not necessarily wrong, compatibility lists are rarely expansive, and they certainly aren't exhaustive.

And if it's just the wrong brand - i.e. it isn't faulty, then all you can do (legally) is cancel the order within 7 days of delivery. I'm guessing it's too late for that now anyway?

[thomson]

Yep, I got it all delivered 3 Wednesdays ago. So thats what, 18 days ago?

If one works and one doesn't, then there is no doubt at all that thats a faulty stick right?

[Sputnik]

It's not necessarily wrong, compatibility lists are rarely expansive, and they certainly aren't exhaustive.

Agreed.

If one works and one doesn't, then there is no doubt at all that thats a faulty stick right?

I would say that is a reasonable assumption.

[jim]

If one works and one doesn't, then there is no doubt at all that thats a faulty stick right?

If we're talking about the same motherboard slot and same BIOS settings, then yes, I agree.

[thomson]

I will have to try them in the same slot tomorrow, just tried them in the slot they were already in before so far.

On my first BSOD though, I moved them out of the 2 slots closest to the CPU, and into the 2 furthest away, to see if that changed anything. It didn't.

Anyway, I think I found my bad stick . Tried running it with the second stick, and I couldn't even get to the login screen without a BSOD. Tried twice, got BSODs both times, then switched back to the other. No BSODs again with that stick .

So, I'll leave my computer turned off overnight, try again with the good stick, then run a memtest on the bad stick in the good sticks slot.

Do I need to try booting again with the probably bad stick in the good stick's slot, or will a memtest me enough to prove its bad? As windows made me do a chkdsk after my second BSOD, and I'd rather not get corrupted stuff and have to do another windows install if I can help it .

[danroyle]

I will have to try them in the same slot tomorrow, just tried them in the slot they were already in before so far.

On my first BSOD though, I moved them out of the 2 slots closest to the CPU, and into the 2 furthest away, to see if that changed anything. It didn't.

Anyway, I think I found my bad stick . Tried running it with the second stick, and I couldn't even get to the login screen without a BSOD. Tried twice, got BSODs both times, then switched back to the other. No BSODs again with that stick .

So, I'll leave my computer turned off overnight, try again with the good stick, then run a memtest on the bad stick in the good sticks slot.

Do I need to try booting again with the probably bad stick in the good stick's slot, or will a memtest me enough to prove its bad? As windows made me do a chkdsk after my second BSOD, and I'd rather not get corrupted stuff and have to do another windows install if I can help it .

if the stick is failing memtest then contact the reseller and say it's 3 weeks old and unstable and chucking up bsods and memtest errors and they should replace them for you pretty quickly. you've done all you need to do. at this point document all the tests you ahve done and contact them saying what tests you have done and go from there.