MemTest86+ Nightmares

[LeftEyeNine]

Hello,

I installed my GSkill Ripjaws 6GB (3x2GB) Triple Kit 1600 Mhz yesterday. And after a ing marathon of agony, I was able to have a clean Windows 7 x64 installation in my hands. So I restarted with the Memtest86+ loader USB stick in and fired up the tests.

It's been almost 8 hours now, Pass 7 just finished and here are the results so far:



Even though this is my first experience with MemTest86+ and that the RAMs are newly installed, I feel there is something wrong.

What is, please ?

[Whacker]

Typical teething with new RAM.

This is exactly what's happened to me the past 2 new systems I've built, it will eventually go away. If you pull out all but one of the RAM sticks, the errors should disappear. Just let it run full steam for as long as humanly possible, generally a week(!!!!!!!) is what I've seen advised by pros. Also make ABSOLUTELY SURE that your ram is running at manufacturer specified speeds and voltages in your BIOS. If it does not, for example if your BIOS autodetect causes it to run at different settings (which mine did in my previous system), make sure to manually set it yourself.

The reason I told you to do this in the other thread is that this is what happens inside your OS if you start it. It may appear to start and run normally, but you will still have these problems which can and will cause corruption of data. I learned this the hard way.

If this persists after no less than a week of continuous testing, then you may have bad ram or a bad motherboard.

[LeftEyeNine]

Thanks for the quick reply.

First of all I doubt I can run it full week. It sounds like Kelly Hu lying naked in my room yet I refrain from touching her thinking that she needs to get used to the place first: Nuclear impossible.

The BIOS says when RAMs support it Extreme Memory Profile (I'm amazed at tech company's futuristic crap naming ability) which claims that "the BIOS reads the SPD data on the memory modules, when available). So I activated it, because it had "Profile 1" other than "Disabled".

It automatically switched to its supposed Mhz -1600, for example. The package claims that the RAM pack works on 1.65 V, but it's set to Auto in the BIOS. Should I manually cnfigure it ? Oh and another thing, when I looked at those DDR Voltages I saw that the stepping was -+0.02 V, therefore I got no 1.65, either 1.64 or 1.66, which one ?

[Beskar]

Use the 1.66

Though it could be that one of the sticks is broken, therefore do the tests one stick at the time.

[Whacker]

First of all I doubt I can run it full week. It sounds like Kelly Hu lying naked in my room yet I refrain from touching her thinking that she needs to get used to the place first: Nuclear impossible.

Then it's your own butt. Remember, your system WILL be unstable until the RAM acclimates, and it WILL produce memory errors. This can and will most likely lead to BSODs when you use anything that requires lots of ram, like games for example. It can and does sometimes result in data corruption. You just experienced that with your .NET installation. So remember, "we told ya soez."

The BIOS says when RAMs support it Extreme Memory Profile (I'm amazed at tech company's futuristic crap naming ability) which claims that "the BIOS reads the SPD data on the memory modules, when available). So I activated it, because it had "Profile 1" other than "Disabled".

It automatically switched to its supposed Mhz -1600, for example. The package claims that the RAM pack works on 1.65 V, but it's set to Auto in the BIOS. Should I manually cnfigure it ? Oh and another thing, when I looked at those DDR Voltages I saw that the stepping was -+0.02 V, therefore I got no 1.65, either 1.64 or 1.66, which one ?

Your BIOS should tell you exactly what voltages the various parts of your system are running at, if it's a mobo that supports overclocking in any shape or form. Mine tell will still tell me what voltages the CPU, northbridge, RAM, and other things are at even with I let the BIOS autodetect them. Your RAM is new enough that it came with factory pre-set overclock profiles, which your BIOS should be able to read and configure for. The problem is, not all BIOS is bug-free, and sometimes if you don't flash it with the newest firmware, it will have problems reading or interacting with newer hardware. Hence my caution. Just double check things. If in doubt, check manufacturer websites for details how to look up things. Failing that, google is your friend.

Lastly, a difference of .02 volts is not going to make any difference. Either is fine, maybe go with the higher voltage. Good luck.

[Beskar]

Lastly, a difference of .02 volts is not going to make any difference. Either is fine, maybe go with the higher voltage. Good luck.

Some sies recommend going 0.02 over what it says, to avoid the RAM starving itself of power as it can be quite fickle. So maybe use the 1.66 or even 1.68

[LeftEyeNine]

I was on the phone wandering around in the rooms. One moment I look at the screen and the computer was restarting as a result of a BSOD when idle.

I'll check with voltages now.

[LeftEyeNine]

Pulled DDR voltages from 1.6 to 1.66. Let's see how it goes now.

Oh and how about latency stuff ?

[Xiahou]

I was on the phone wandering around in the rooms. One moment I look at the screen and the computer was restarting as a result of a BSOD when idle.

I'll check with voltages now.

Get memory dumps. They can tell you alot.

[LeftEyeNine]

So x64 installation persistently fail by saying "Windows can not install required files. the file may be corrupt or missing".Some other guy having issues almost identical to mine with the same brand of DDR3 RAMs, Gigabyte mobo who is trying to install Win7 x64 found out on the internet that unstable overclocking caused such as well whereas I only applied what GSkill forum moderator told me to and I doubt it was overclocking looking at the values he suggested.

Also I'm definitely sure that, after seeing that error, since I borrowed a friend's Win7 DVD just to make sure if it was my disc that got problematic, it's not my disk that's the root of the problem. I got exactly the same error.

Now it's almost 48 hours on the PC only trying to eliminate the stability problems and errors and I've gotten almost nowhere.

By the way, I have this motherboard and using the latest BIOS which is beta for the time being.

[LeftEyeNine]

Problem nailed in the head:

Despite these are 1600 MHz capable RAMs, for some reason I have no idea of, the PC/mobo/OS refuses to keep it stable and/or error-free on that frequency.

I simply downgraded it to 1066 and I've installed Win7 x64 without any hassles now.

So, should I return this RAM kit or do you think is there anything to do ?

[LeftEyeNine]

All problems gone except for PES 2011 Demo problem. .NET Framework 4 and another Installshield installer, Nero Burning ROM 10 installed without any problems, contrary to the OS I had yesterday.

[Husar]

I just downloaded and installed the demo and played a game in Win 7 Professional x64, no problems at all.

[LeftEyeNine]

Which links did you use, Husar ? I've just finished downloading it for the 3rd time from konami-pes2011.com, the homepage.

[LeftEyeNine]

Success. I finished the installation of the demo without any nags.

[Husar]

Well, I used k-files.de since they have very fast servers (without making you pay for them) but I doubt that's of much use to you.

[LeftEyeNine]

I tweak as TweakTown forum geeks tell me to and there it is. 2 BSODs in about 4 hours.

I've never felt as desperate.

[Husar]

I'd kinda suggest you go and take back that RAM and get some cheapo Kingston, Corsair Value or whatever normal RAM that doesn't behave like a diva to gain a 2% performance advantage over standard cheapo stuff.
I'll probably receive a lot of flak for this but I've never bothered with expensive RAM and I've also never had to break it in for a week or something similarly outlandish to make it work.

[LeftEyeNine]

What made you think that G.Skill Ripjaws was expensive ? It's among the most affordable within Triple Kit 6GB range here.

[Husar]

I often read about G.Skill breaking some new record etc. and "Ripjaws" sounds like it's some supercool ghetto name, the kind they constantly give their uber-super-duper hardware.
Plus someone mentioned they are/could be factory overclocked, I counted 1+1 = 5 and thought it's probably some super-leet RAM, if not then maybe just look for another brand, just trying to help.

[LeftEyeNine]

Yeah yeah, whether this one may be affordable or fancy in the wallet, I'm thinking of returning this anyway.

I'm not an overclocker and look how I've been struggling for the last 3 days. I just want a PC working at ordinary levels but it fails.

[Tellos Athenaios]

I'd kinda suggest you go and take back that RAM and get some cheapo Kingston, Corsair Value or whatever normal RAM that doesn't behave like a diva to gain a 2% performance advantage over standard cheapo stuff.
I'll probably receive a lot of flak for this but I've never bothered with expensive RAM and I've also never had to break it in for a week or something similarly outlandish to make it work.

No, in fact I agree. Bad RAM is bad RAM: the stuff is supposed to plug in the motherboard and play nicely right away, there should never be any need for burning in (the right stock settings are supposed to be auto-configured between BIOS and RAM controller) or any other such things.

If you want more speed, more RAM and more cores is going to do more wonders than “more fancy RAM” is. The only fancy addition on top of ordinary RAM that is worth buying is RAM with ECC if you have a system which supports either type.

[Beskar]

Slightly unrelated, but I played the PES 2011 demo, and the game was woeful. Stick to Fifa 2011, that demo was really good. They even fixed the tackling too, so it actually just *works* unlike it did in 2010.

[LeftEyeNine]

@Beskar, I was thoroughly impressed at first sight but playing it over a couple of times, I'm curious whether I was baffled because of something new in my hands, rather than being able to interpret the game's new feel accurately.

And Kingston HyperX DDR3 Triple Kit is installed a few hours ago, the PC is error-free since then.

Compatibility was obviously the issue.