Bit of help with RMA

ByMRK1 · 7 Mar 2014 at 19:48

Hi, with my rig I purchased 16GB (4X4GB) RAM however it is faulty and causes my PC to blue screen multiple times a day. I replaced the RAM with my old 8GB and the problem was resolved. I purchased the RAM in November but after solving the problem I never got around to RMAing the product.

I've recently installed video/photo editing software which requires a bit more RAM than I have installed at the moment and £100+ is quite a large waste if I leave the RAM sitting there, does anyone have any advice as to checking the RAM or potentially avoiding the RMA process?

Is it too late for me to RMA my product or does this come under the warranty?

lee32uk · 7 Mar 2014 at 20:04

Use memtest to test each stick individually.

http://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

Jamin280672 · 7 Mar 2014 at 20:28

Most RAM now-a-days comes with a lifetime warranty, but you will have to check this out with your particular RAM, it may be a case that you have to RMA back to the original manufacturer, however they will test it and return it to you if they find it not to be faulty, if it is faulty they will just send you back a replacement kit, chances of getting your money back are very slim after this length of time.

Are you overclocking your system, if so then your going to have to test your RAM completely at stock settings, however you are going to have to enter the bios and set the RAM up to its required settings, voltages, timings and maybe give the memory controller a little more voltage to handle the extra RAM.

The more RAM you have the tougher it gets for the memory controller to handle it, this includes if your using 4 banks, filling all 4 slots, make sure command rate is set to at least 2T, 3T for extra stability.

setter · 7 Mar 2014 at 20:31

If bought from ocuk, post up in the customer support forum where someone will advise you on the rma process. Found the support service to be very helpful when rma'ing faulty ram a while back.

ByMRK1 · 7 Mar 2014 at 20:52

lee32uk said:
Use memtest to test each stick individually.

http://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

I ran this for 24hrs when the first series of BSoDs occurred and it reported no faults yet the crashes kept happening. On a website someone recommended rebuilding the PC in case of loose components but the problem still occurred. When I did replace the RAM the problem was resolved. Do you know why this might be?

ByMRK1 · 7 Mar 2014 at 20:54

Jamin280672 said:
Most RAM now-a-days comes with a lifetime warranty, but you will have to check this out with your particular RAM, it may be a case that you have to RMA back to the original manufacturer, however they will test it and return it to you if they find it not to be faulty, if it is faulty they will just send you back a replacement kit, chances of getting your money back are very slim after this length of time.

Are you overclocking your system, if so then your going to have to test your RAM completely at stock settings, however you are going to have to enter the bios and set the RAM up to its required settings, voltages, timings and maybe give the memory controller a little more voltage to handle the extra RAM.

The more RAM you have the tougher it gets for the memory controller to handle it, this includes if your using 4 banks, filling all 4 slots, make sure command rate is set to at least 2T, 3T for extra stability.

Thanks for your reply, I was actually looking for a replacement kit or a fixed set of RAM really. I am not overclocking either as my free heatsink didn't arrive with my order

Jamin280672 · 7 Mar 2014 at 21:03

Judging by your last comment, where you said it passed memtest, I would say its your memory controller failing, not your RAM.

lee32uk · 7 Mar 2014 at 21:33

ByMRK1 said:
I ran this for 24hrs when the first series of BSoDs occurred and it reported no faults yet the crashes kept happening. On a website someone recommended rebuilding the PC in case of loose components but the problem still occurred. When I did replace the RAM the problem was resolved. Do you know why this might be?

Have you tried running 2 x 4GB sticks of the 16GB kit in your system, and is it stable then ?

setter · 8 Mar 2014 at 08:59

I would also suggest upping the imc voltages a bit as running 16gb may need more. Try with 1.15v on the ioa, iod and sa voltages.

pastymuncher · 8 Mar 2014 at 14:02

I am fairly certain that Setter's suggestion will cure it. Most, if not all boards will need a voltage increase for the IMC when running 4 sticks of ram. I had to increase mine by a notch or two when going from two to four sticks of ram.