Dodgy RAM and Memtext86+

**Nikomus** · 26-04-2010, 02:47 PM

Hi there, does anyone have good experience of Memtest86+? I have been having endless stability issues with my PC ever since I put it together. At first it seemed to be caused by the video card, then I had some BSOD analysis that hinted at driver issues. After gaining the most Windows compliant set of drivers ever, I've finally got round to running Memtest, and it churned out 61 errors in 9 passes, or about 8 hours. Is there anything likely to be causing this other than my RAM? Such as the CPU, cache or motherboard? I'm reluctant to fiddle around swapping the sticks around, as they aren't very easily accessible under my heatsink. Also, in the event of them both being faulty, I don't know anyone else with a DDR3 system to borrow the RAM from. The easiest solution would be to bung the RAM back into it's box and post it back to Ebuyer. I guess I just want to know if this is reasonable really, given the number of errors... Thanks for your help!

Niko =)

**kalniel** · 26-04-2010, 03:17 PM

It's the RAM sub-system, which is most likely to be the sticks themselves, but could also be anything else involved with it, such as voltage, motherboard or CPU (if it contains a memory controller).

If you are certain that you are running the RAM within specification then it should not give errors and you can be pretty sure it's okay to RMA.

**Nikomus** · 26-04-2010, 08:48 PM

Any pro-tips for making sure the RAM is all in correct settings? I've had a poke around in the BIOS, and not found too much out. The memory I'm using was recommended by hardware champ CAT-THE-FIFTH, so I would have thought it was the right compatibility... Everything is as you see in my system specs over there <

**Mithrandir** · 26-04-2010, 09:05 PM

You need to check the ram is set to the correct speed and voltage or try the other set of ram slots to see.

**shbris** · 27-04-2010, 10:55 AM

if you don't want to mess around with sticks, try manually setting the memory timings to the specified speeds in the BIOS, or making any overclock less aggressive (is it pre-overclocked?)

but best way to test is removing sticks of RAM and re-testing with different memory, or if you haven't any at hand try running test with individual sticks to see which are faulty (just to check really) then RMA all of them

are system specs the ones in your sig?

**Nikomus** · 27-04-2010, 03:41 PM

Heya, yep, everything is as listed but for clarity:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965
Motherboard: MSI 790FX-GD70
RAM: 2x2GB DDR3 Crucial Ballistix PC3 10600 CL6 1.8V
Graphics card: Sapphire ATi HD 3870 TOXIC
OS: Windows 7 x64

I've never even contemplated overclocking, the speed is fantastic compared to what I was used to and the stability is already woeful. If there's something I've been doing wrong all this time with timings or whatnot I'll be annoyed, but this is my first build from scratch.. I must admit I don't know a whole load about RAM, I was under the impression that its speed was reasonably marginal as to overall performance compared to CPU, GPU, RAM quantity etc.

I'll see later if I can get them out, but even if I take the fans off my cooler they're pretty obscured. If I have to reseat my heatsink for every configuration (it's a take motherboard out, bracket at the back job) then I'll just post them back to Ebuyer without testing and see what they say...

**jim** · 27-04-2010, 03:52 PM

It's very unlikely that both sticks have failed in my experience.

More likely just one of them is broken, but without taking them out and testing one at a time you'll never know.

Either way, you'll have to send the whole lot to eBuyer so if it's going to be a pain in the neck to test it's not such a bad idea just to send them back.

**kalniel** · 27-04-2010, 03:52 PM

PSU problems? Seems like a pretty high voltage target for the ram.

Can you see what your current RAM settings are in BIOS? I would go for something safe at normal voltages, maybe something like 1066mhz, 9-9-9-24 and 1.65V.

**Nikomus** · 27-04-2010, 10:29 PM

I don't know if my PSU could be faulty, it's reasonably new < 3 years old, and a reasonably good brand. I think it had a 5 year waranty, but I don't have any spares knocking around to test against.

I've had a look in the BIOS and the RAM is all set to auto on a whole load of settings I don't really understand, which amounts to 1333MHz 9-9-9-24. I couldn't seem to find the voltage anywhere...

**shbris** · 28-04-2010, 11:35 AM

sometimes you have to select an option in bios to show advanced options

**Tonka777** · 28-04-2010, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by Nikomus

I've had a look in the BIOS and the RAM is all set to auto on a whole load of settings I don't really understand, which amounts to 1333MHz 9-9-9-24. I couldn't seem to find the voltage anywhere...

Are you sure about this bit? Can you take a photo of that BIOS screen and post it?

You said above that the RAM is 1066Mhz, and here you say it is running at 1333Mhz. It is very likely to be unstable if it is running faster than the stock speed.

**Nikomus** · 28-04-2010, 12:56 PM

The PC3 10600 designation refers to the peak bandwidth and isn't the frequency (or rather, is the frequency x 8). The frequency is still 1333MHz. This is the exact product I bought, out of my Ebuyer past orders...

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166996

I wouldn't have thought it would default to something stupid, but you never know, and specifically, I don't really know at all lol. I searched out a list of compatible memory for my motherboard on an MSI forum, and this wasn't on the list, but the next post down someone confirmed that it worked fine. Certainly better than ~ 10 crashes a day like I get.

**Tonka777** · 28-04-2010, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by Nikomus

The PC3 10600 designation refers to the peak bandwidth and isn't the frequency (or rather, is the frequency x 8). The frequency is still 1333MHz.

Oh, sorry, I thought the 10600 bit was a typo and was meant to be 1066! My bad!

**DanceswithUnix** · 28-04-2010, 02:24 PM

Hi,

I find memtest86 a fantastic tool, I always run it against new builds.

For me errors usually come down to either faulty RAM or some stupid pilot error on my part. Some stuff to try:

Update the BIOS to the latest version, in case your RAM or CPU (or both) are incorrectly configured. Motherboards are often shipped with really old BIOS. This probably fixes half my stability problems with new builds.

A dodgy connection on one of the sticks is possible as well, removing and carefully re-seating can fix.

Driving at the wrong voltage may not work, though not all boards give good control over this.

Re-check the manual to find which slots you should be plugging the RAM into if there are more than two slots. Sometimes it matters whether you are on the end closest to or furthest from the CPU, and it certainly matters if you plug both sticks into the same channel rather than running them unganged dual channel.

As mentioned before, take one stick out and retest. Then retest with the other stick. It is not that likely that both sticks are faulty.

Oh, make sure you unplug the mains power and count to ten before unplugging RAM from the system as it might be powered even with the machine off (some motherboards have an LED to warn you the board still has power, but sadly not all).

**Nikomus** · 28-04-2010, 05:25 PM

Wow, thanks for the reply with lots of things to try! It's always nice when your problems at least have potential ways to be fixed. I'll try them all in turn.