I'm thinking this is bad memory?

mcast123 · 8 Mar 2010 at 14:59

I just bought this from OCuk, Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 TwinX Dual Channel (TWIN2X4096-8500C5C) [TWIN2X4096-8500C5C]. My new build was giving multiple bluescreens on XP install (it would never complete), been here before, so booted it with memtest86.

One stick either freezes memtest after less than a minute...

the other stick just gives neverending "errors permemory slot"...

Is this definitely bad memory?

shadowake · 8 Mar 2010 at 15:06

Certainly looks like it mate.

Redmint · 8 Mar 2010 at 15:12

Yep, pretty sure if it fails memtest it's going to be dodgy memory.

capriboy1978 · 8 Mar 2010 at 15:14

Almost certainly the memory. Just to be sure have you tried any other on the board? Or try this on another board?

Geek. · 8 Mar 2010 at 15:20

looks like it's time for an RMA! that's not right! :eek:

eatcustard · 8 Mar 2010 at 15:24

Yes thats a duff stick

send it back for replacement

mcast123 · 8 Mar 2010 at 15:37

Thanks all.

I just took 2gigs out this working PC and tried it on the new PC, installed XP first time.

I swear half the memory I get has to be RMA'd, I must be one unlucky person. It's gotten to the point as soon as I see a bluescreen on a new install I run memtest, it's memory issues almost every time :mad:

Essexraptor · 8 Mar 2010 at 15:39

I believe you'll have to send both back if you brought them as a pair. Check with sales or support first to see if you return to them or Corsair for the RMA

ATB

Essexraptor · 8 Mar 2010 at 15:40

Oooooops sounds as though you should know thw RMA routine by now!!!

Corasik · 8 Mar 2010 at 16:40

Hold your horses, According to the screen you have your ram at 1380, PC8500 is rated for 1066. Looks to me like you picked 1333 ram in bios, and then added a small overclock ontop.

Reset for 1066, and also make sure you have sufficient voltage, as default will likely be 1.8V, yet the ram is rated for 1066 @ 2.1v. Getting it stable at 1380 is probably impossible anyway.

(Dont forget as you overclock the CPU the ram gets overclocked, so if the menu in bios says 1066, and then you overclock the CPU, the ram will be pushed outside its limits. Lower the memory speed in bios, increase the voltages to 2.1 and retest).

If you get your bios settings wrong, its not surprising that you get a lot of duff memory

(Unless its simply misread the clock speeds in memtest)

Corasik · 8 Mar 2010 at 16:47

mcast123 said:
Thanks all.

I just took 2gigs out this working PC and tried it on the new PC, installed XP first time.

I swear half the memory I get has to be RMA'd, I must be one unlucky person. It's gotten to the point as soon as I see a bluescreen on a new install I run memtest, it's memory issues almost every time

9 times out of 10 failing tests in memtest is a voltage issue, but I would say that memory is one of the most common faults that I see with PC's.

cmndr_andi · 8 Mar 2010 at 18:00

Corasik said:
~catch~

Well held, sir.

OP, as Corasik says reset your RAM speed to what it is specified to on the packet and run memtest again. I suspect that it will be fine, one bit of evidence is that one of the sticks runs fine in another PC (presumably on motherboard default settings).

mcast123 · 8 Mar 2010 at 19:07

I haven't overclocked anything, quite honestly I'm not sure how to. I haven't even been to the ram/cpu clock section in the bios. I simply plugged the memory and CPU in and booted up. The only reason I bought the combo of mobo/cpu/memory is that OCuk sells the overclocked version as a bundle so I thought they must all work together.

I have now looked over the bios, everything is set to "auto" and the bios is reporting 1066mhz as the memory frequency and 1.8v as the DRAM voltage on "auto" I can change it to 2.1v but it doesn't seem to recommend it (it gets all flashy red in options).

Are you saying the memory isn't compatible with the mobo out the packet on auto settings? The other question is, why does my older memory work with absolutely no changs to the bios?

You've got me worried now that I haven't done something in the bios I needed to.

Corasik said:
Hold your horses, According to the screen you have your ram at 1380, PC8500 is rated for 1066. Looks to me like you picked 1333 ram in bios, and then added a small overclock ontop.

Reset for 1066, and also make sure you have sufficient voltage, as default will likely be 1.8V, yet the ram is rated for 1066 @ 2.1v. Getting it stable at 1380 is probably impossible anyway.

(Dont forget as you overclock the CPU the ram gets overclocked, so if the menu in bios says 1066, and then you overclock the CPU, the ram will be pushed outside its limits. Lower the memory speed in bios, increase the voltages to 2.1 and retest).

If you get your bios settings wrong, its not surprising that you get a lot of duff memory (Unless its simply misread the clock speeds in memtest)

cmndr_andi · 8 Mar 2010 at 19:14

That is strange, the memtest screen clearly shows the FSB at 345MHz and the RAM at 690MHz (DDR 1380), presumably on a 1:2 FSB:RAM divider. Also, the CPU is clocked at 2.933Ghz.

However, the BIOS screen shows the CPU at 2.26GHz. What CPU is this?

mcast123 · 8 Mar 2010 at 19:31

cmndr_andi said:
That is strange, the memtest screen clearly shows the FSB at 345MHz and the RAM at 690MHz (DDR 1380), presumably on a 1:2 FSB:RAM divider. Also, the CPU is clocked at 2.933Ghz.

However, the BIOS screen shows the CPU at 2.26GHz. What CPU is this?

Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 TwinX Dual Channel (TWIN2X4096-8500C5C) £65.52 1 £65.52
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E6500 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.93GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £53.61 1 £53.61
Gigabyte GA-P43-ES3G Intel P43 (Socket 775) DDR2 Motherboard £51.91 1 £51.91

(the memory that works fine is Geil ddr2-800 6400 from about 4 years ago)

UPDATE: after reading what was said, I disabled "extreme memory profile(XMP)" and manually set the "GMCH frequency latch" to 266mhz (these are not the defaults).

I now get this in memtest:

CPU is now reporting correctly, but I get the exact same issue, memtest dies after 30 seconds and XP bluescreens. Again, when I plug in the older memory everything is perfect.

Any suggestions?

Corasik · 9 Mar 2010 at 00:01

You still need to force 2.1 volts. Ignore the warning ddr2 spec is 533mhz and 1.8 volts. But to get higher speeds the ram chip makers and the ram module makers both produce chips which are above spec but use more power (volts). Your modules need 2.1volts and the motherboard will not be damaged. Also it will not affect the warrenty on the ram so you can't lose trying.

Corasik · 9 Mar 2010 at 00:09

Your old ram probably works fine because it's slower and closer to the jedec ddr2 standards and probably only needs 1.8 to 1.9 v for stability. Just look at the label on the corsairs and it will say 1066 2.1v

Deleted member 77746 · 9 Mar 2010 at 00:12

I'm sorry I forgot your question.

mcast123 · 9 Mar 2010 at 01:44

Corasik said:
You still need to force 2.1 volts. Ignore the warning ddr2 spec is 533mhz and 1.8 volts. But to get higher speeds the ram chip makers and the ram module makers both produce chips which are above spec but use more power (volts). Your modules need 2.1volts and the motherboard will not be damaged. Also it will not affect the warrenty on the ram so you can't lose trying.

I tried 1.8v, 2.0v, 2.1v and 2.2v, all had the same issue, froze memtest and autorebooted the PC. I've tried disabling anything that looks to increase the memory speed, I've even tried underclocking as much as I can figure out.

I'm RMA'ing it and if I get the same error then I will be worried. It will be just frustrating if that is the case. I buy the simplest combination, one that I find on OCuk bundles and it's still not compatible or requires serious tweaking.

edit: tried it in 3 different PCs, various settings, all with the same result, sometimes I just need to admit to myself the memory is garbage.

Corasik · 9 Mar 2010 at 12:39

mcast123 said:
It will be just frustrating if that is the case. I buy the simplest combination, one that I find on OCuk bundles and it's still not compatible or requires serious tweaking.

edit: tried it in 3 different PCs, various settings, all with the same result, sometimes I just need to admit to myself the memory is garbage.

Well, now you have exhausted the tests, and the conclusion is faulty memory (although potentially the 1380mhz overclock might have damaged it, at 1.8v the odds are it was faulty when you installed it (or static fried it during installation

)

As for compatibility or simple combination, virtually all (if not all) DDR2 PC8500+ will require 2.1V because its so much above jedec's standards for DDR2 memory, yet the motherboard will nearly always default to 1.8V at any speed because that is the "official" standard.

If you want "compatibility" without tweaking by DDR2 PC5300 or PC6400 at a push as these will be more likely to have 1.8 or 1.9v "designs". Thats just the way it is. High speed memory ( 500mhz+ for DDR, 800mhz+ for DDR2, 1600mhz+ for DDR3) are generally "custom designs" and a certain degree of tweaking may be required for stable operation. Thats just how it is when you buy parts designed for overclockers.