How To: Diagnose Faulty RAM

[Yellowhello]

Nice article, Paul! I look forward to some rants at HL........... Maybe Rich will rant about former (now banned) members? Maybe some company's customer support rants...........

[One4yu2c]

Originally Posted by duckingzebra

ok so i got errors, but i don't think that its the memory or the slots, because i have ran both sticks, one at a time, and in both slots, one at a time, and the comp works fine.

If Memtest is finding errors, then something is amiss. Chances are high that you either have defective RAM, or some settings (latency and/or voltage) are out of whack.

Symptoms of defective or mismanaged RAM can range from the subtle (imperceivable performance degradation) to the severe (reboots, blue screens, system errors, etc). While your system may appear to be running fine, you may want to follow up on this, as whatever's causing the errors could potentially damage the RAM in the longterm if left unchecked.

[OCNoob]

Originally Posted by One4yu2c

On a side note, this is my last analytical and/or informative blog entry for Maximum PC. Starting in September, I'll be posting daily news updates from around the web with capsule summaries and appropriate linkage. I'll also continue to contribute to the magazine on occasion, including November's cover story, but no more of the types of blogs I've linked to in the past few months.

Woohoo, sign me up!

[Telexen]

Originally Posted by duckingzebra

ok so i got errors, but i don't think that its the memory or the slots, because i have ran both sticks, one at a time, and in both slots, one at a time, and the comp works fine.

Based on this and your last thread, you have a 2x256mb kit and a 2x512mb kit, correct?

So the 2x512mb is failing memtest when both are in, but not when either is in by itself?

[duckingzebra]

Originally Posted by Telexen

Based on this and your last thread, you have a 2x256mb kit and a 2x512mb kit, correct?

So the 2x512mb is failing memtest when both are in, but not when either is in by itself?

I have one 256 MB stick, and a 1GB kit (2x 512MB). The 256MB stick came with the piece of crap oem (i think thats what its called, if i've caught on to the lingo right) I was given the 1GB kit by rich (thanks again :) and have been only running one of the 512MB sticks because when i have both in i get a BSOD in 5 minutes or less. Now i have ran Memtest 86+ 4 times here the results

Test 1 : Memory stick 1 in slot one, memory stick 2 in slot 2 = ERRORS
Test 2 : No memory stick in slot one, memory stick 2 in slot 2 = NO ERRORS
Test 3 : No memory stick in slot one, memory stick 1 in slot 2 = NO ERRORS
Test 4 : Memory Stick 2 in slot one, no memory stick in slot 2 = NO ERRORS

I'm wondering if the heat generated by the 2 memory sticks which lie very close together is too much and is causing the errors when both sticks are in?

[[Dr. V]]

Originally Posted by duckingzebra

I have one 256 MB stick, and a 1GB kit (2x 512MB). The 256MB stick came with the piece of crap oem (i think thats what its called, if i've caught on to the lingo right) I was given the 1GB kit by rich (thanks again :) and have been only running one of the 512MB sticks because when i have both in i get a BSOD in 5 minutes or less. Now i have ran Memtest 86+ 4 times here the results

Test 1 : Memory stick 1 in slot one, memory stick 2 in slot 2 = ERRORS
Test 2 : No memory stick in slot one, memory stick 2 in slot 2 = NO ERRORS
Test 3 : No memory stick in slot one, memory stick 1 in slot 2 = NO ERRORS
Test 4 : Memory Stick 2 in slot one, no memory stick in slot 2 = NO ERRORS

I'm wondering if the heat generated by the 2 memory sticks which lie very close together is too much and is causing the errors when both sticks are in?

Well from this, you've concluded that neither the two slots on the motherboard nor the RAM is defective. Everything you have is completely functional, but not when 100% brought together.

What you mentioned about the heat - that could be the culprit of disaster - but that would conclude an extremely horrible and inefficient motherboard design. You have two fully functional sticks of RAM, and two fully functional RAM slots on your motherboard, but when both said slots are filled with said RAM, you get issues.

I say try both sticks in a different motherboard - only thing I can think of initially. If you still get errors, there may be something wrong with the compatibility of the two specific sticks you have running simultaneously.

[Telexen]

The only thing I don't see in those listed setups is memory stick 1 in slot 1, with nothing in slot 2. This *shouldn't* make a difference since it ran fine in slot 2, but in normal circumstances I avoid running memory in a 2nd slot without memory in the 1st.

Out of curiosity...see what happens when you run the 256mb in slot 1, and one of the 512mb sticks in slot 2.

BTW, is 2 slots all you have?

P.S.

If there are errors, something is defective. At this point I'd put my money on the motherboard, but it's still up in the air why exactly.

[duckingzebra]

Originally Posted by ST!X

Well from this, you've concluded that neither the two slots on the motherboard nor the RAM is defective. Everything you have is completely functional, but not when 100% brought together.

What you mentioned about the heat - that could be the culprit of disaster - but that would conclude an extremely horrible and inefficient motherboard design. You have two fully functional sticks of RAM, and two fully functional RAM slots on your motherboard, but when both said slots are filled with said RAM, you get issues.

I say try both sticks in a different motherboard - only thing I can think of initially. If you still get errors, there may be something wrong with the compatibility of the two specific sticks you have running simultaneously.

Um...there buffalo select, and i didn't miss match them, they came together in a kit, and this is my only computer...

[duckingzebra]

Originally Posted by Telexen

The only thing I don't see in those listed setups is memory stick 1 in slot 1, with nothing in slot 2. This *shouldn't* make a difference since it ran fine in slot 2, but in normal circumstances I avoid running memory in a 2nd slot without memory in the 1st.

Out of curiosity...see what happens when you run the 256mb in slot 1, and one of the 512mb sticks in slot 2.

BTW, is 2 slots all you have?

yes only 2 slots, look at my sig, its a pos oem i bought in middle school, lol. i tried the 256 and the 512 and got BSOD back when i first got the 1 gb kit. i also have no clue which slot is slot 1 or slot 2 that was just for purpose of letting you know which stick was in which slot during which test.

[Telexen]

Well you're at the point where you really need another computer to test the modules in. Maybe if you have a friend with a system you could try them in.

You could also take them to a local repair shop to test, but they're well within their right to charge you for that.

I was just looking up possible BIOS updates for your system though; I ran across this version page with changelog that mentions this:

Adds POST error message if any single DIMM larger than 512MB is installed in the system.

It makes me wonder if 1) this board has other native problems with memory or 2) the problem you're having was fixed elsewhere in a BIOS update but not mentioned in the changelog.

This is the page I got the list of BIOS updates from, by the way.