Advice Required: MemTest errors in 1 of 2 dual channel modules

jubbbird

jubbbird

jubbbird

Associate
Joined
11 Apr 2007
Posts
7
Hello,

I have recently spent £600 upgrading my machine from Overclockers :)

Unfortunately, one of my G.Skill memory modules is showing errors in Memtest86+ v1.70 and I need to know if its an RMA job.

Overview:
ASUS P5B-E Plus
2GB PC6400 GSkill (2GBPK)
(All the testing and diagnosis details are in my thread on the forum linked below.)

If it is, I need to know if its best to go through overclockers or G.Skill direct, depending on turn around and postage cost (destination).

I would greatly appreciate if you could check out the essay I have written describing my problem on the G.Skill forum, which has as yet had no response though I'm waiting patiently.

http://www.gskill.com/gstechforum/viewtopic.php?t=1997

Thanks very much for any help you might be able to give me.
 
i had the same problem when i setup my my uncle's new pc, turns out the ram was faulty so i filled in the rma form over at gskill and had a new pair of ram in 10 days. i think if you send it back to OCUK it will take longer.
 
Excellent, ALMOST exactly what I wanted to hear ;)

To coincide with your reply, I've finally had a reply from gskill RMA who say another guy will fill me in about proceedure/policy...

...but can you tell me where I'll be sending it? Speed is a concern but it would be nice to know I won't need to ship overseas :/

Also, how do these people usually go about 1 of 2 modules being faulty? Will I be offline for 10 days? I have a laptop so its not a total mess - but my laptop hasn't had £600 spent on it ;)
 
Bugger :)

Well i've managed to find a friend who has some spare DDR2 memory (as you do) that I can borrow for the period during which mine is being replaced.

Cheers for your help guys.
 
Right -

Having finally borrowed a gig of DDR2 from a friend such that I could RMA my memory with Overclockers - and having been pleasantly surprised with the speed at which they returned it to me...

It turns out that they found no fault and charged me £10 inspection + delivery. That is fair enough - unfortunate for me but given the time and effort... its all good I suppose. I would have had little other choice for testing it myself.

However it turns out that they ran MemTest and found no errors, which means that either I have another piece of faulty hardware, namely the mobo because everything else is in fact onboard, and the CPU gets on alright with ONE of the modules... so its either a fault with the mobo, or a natural incompatibility.

Any thoughts?

I upgraded my machine partly because mine was slow, but largely because it was unstable. After spending £600 I find that my machine is POTENTIALLY fast now aside from the fact that for some reason - hopefully errors in my installation caused by faulty memory - Vista is actually running very sluggishly as it is on my friend's machine that remains level with my PREVIOUS spec :/

Anyone know of any reported problems with GSkill 2GBPK (2 x 1024) on an ASUS P5B-E Plus? I would rather not have to replace that, because from what I can see it is not really faulty :/ Can you exchange more or less brand new boards?
 
Made sure you installed the dual channel memory modules into the correct DIMM slots (matched color, 2x yellow or 2x black)? If so, what about trying them out in the other matched color slots. I think it could be just one of the slots gone having compatability issues with one stick.

If it's discovered that one of the four slots on the motherboard is faulty then you should get along fine with just using the matched color pair that are not effected, and then RMA the board sometime in the future when you feel the need to upgrade to 4GB. ;)
 
Last edited:
Cheers for the ideas guys.

Keep them coming though, because...:

As part of my testing, not only did I ensure on first build that the board succesfully instated "Dual Channel Mode" (modules are correctly in their assocated colour coded slots) but I also got recommended settings from GSkill's own forum, including the fact that the P5B board, 2.0v is recommended - though i have the "-E Plus" version which is not listed :/

Setting up the recommended settings actually dramatically REDUCED the number of errors reported by MemTest - though oddly enough it made the system unstable to the point where Vista would start doing odd things uncontrollably before eventually crashing. I think turning up the heat altered the nature of the errors, though reducing their count, but the new errors were more troublesome.

In addition, while testing, I tried each individual module in the SAME memory slot. The first produced no errors at all, while the second produced all the same errors (or there abouts) but at different, non-interlaced, non-dual-channel memory addresses.

That is why I originally thought that one module was faulty. But now it seems that either a fault or a natural incompatiblity causes this one specific module to run badly on this particular board :/ I am hoping GSkill might suggest that they will talk to ASUS about it - apparently its happened before with other boards and solutions have been produced :) i can run on 1gb until then I suppose.

Or perhaps I can REDUCE my timings until the memory performs. Perhaps its a performance induced incompatibility with this particular module that might be relieved by slowing the pair down to a lesser standard timing set.

On that note, to keep me going and my hopes up, perhaps someone could offer some advice on the topic of reducing timings. I would like to slow it down - and would be happy to stay slower (as my memory is 800mhz, whereas my CPU is 533 and so I can afford to reduce to 677 with little effect) - but I would like to ensure that any timings I change will not cause asynchronous scheduling, to the point of ultimately undermining the inherant speed of the memory as designed.

The timings suggested as "unofficially safe" by GSkill themselves are as follows:

4-4-4-12-6-42-3-11-7-13 (@ 2.0v for P5B)

If I am to scale down, aside from the general clock speed, is switching 4s for 5s enough? Do the other timings rely somewhat on the first 4 to achieve optimum scheduling?
 
Ok, I have done a lot of testing with a friend's computer...

First I tested his machine using MemTest 1.70 (boot cd) which produced no errors, as can be expected from a working machine.

Next, after re-testing mine to assure that it was as I left it, I put my memory into his machine.

My friend is running an Asrock motherboard, so its totally different. Not only that but its based on the Intel 945 chipset as opposed to the 965. it supports dual channel, but apparently only up to DDR2667.

It reported no errors no matter how I arranged the modules, even when I install only the faulty one. This concurs with Overclockers - that the memory is fine.

I then placed HIS memory in MY machine and tested in the same way - and like the memory I borrowed from a friend before, it ALSO worked fine.

I then stripped my machine down to the bear bones to ensure it was not a power issue. I even switched my 8800 GTS for my friends much smaller 7300GS that doesn't need an extra power cable. This did not help at all, so I also switched my power supply which also didn't help.

This definately narrows the problem down to the memory, motherboard or CPU. It is fair to assume that the CPU works fine because in general it does, and it works with all other memory I put in it. I don't know for sure, but I can't see how a CPU can be sensitive to the point where it doesn't like specific memory modules. Thus I think it is between the motherboard and the memory.

So it would seem that ONLY ONE of my new GSkill modules fails, and ONLY IN MY BOARD :/

I can't prove the memory is at fault because it works in every other machine, and I can't prove it's the motherboard because all other memory works in my machine.

The only combination I have not yet tried, is my memory in a different board that actually supports it at full speed (or another 'P5B-E Plus' - GSkill claim they use my board to test, and therefore that there can be no compatibility problems, only faults).

The only conclusion I can draw from my testing, is that clearly my motherboard is fine, as is my memory. But it would seem most likely that one of my memory modules is SLIGHTLY FAULTY to the point where it causes problems only on my board.

As I have on intention of forking out £120+ on more memory just to see it possibly fail on my board again, especially considering that the motherboard is the cheapest component in the computer, AND as the motherboard is critical to the system while I have memory borrowed from a friend, clearly I don't want to have to send the motherboard away when I can't prove there is anything wrong with it.

So - unless I can find a magic fix, a solution to my problem that doesn't involve replacing anything, the most cost effective solution may be to send the memory to GSkill themselves, while I use the memory I borrowed. Then they can test it properly, presumably with both bootable AND windows version of MemTest, AND on my actual board model. Then, if they find one module to be faulty, we can replace it. If not, then we know it is the motherboard, and then I can get that replaced.

In the event that the motherboard is faulty, I have no way to prove it to Overclockers, or ASUS for that matter, unless one of us (me, Overclockers or GSkill) can convince them that there is an issue. I think it won't come to this though, because the evidence suggests it is the memory at fault still.

:/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom