Memtest Help

kieran_read · 5 Jan 2016 at 10:19

Hey all just wondering if anyone can give me some pointers on memtest.

Basically having some crashes on my computer and decided to test the memory.

How many passes should I do? (I done 2 last night then wanted to sleep so stopped but the module passed with 0 errors)

My plan was to test all 4 sticks individually then in pairs with all combinations then with all 4 at the same time assuming all 4 sticks pass individually.

Is the way right way to do it?

beany_bot · 5 Jan 2016 at 13:01

Sadly I don't think you are going to get the answer you are after here. Some people are going to say a couple of passes will show any errors, some people are going to tell you to run it for days. And everywhere in between. A bit like stress testing. When I used it I ran about 5 passes? about 15mins. But then I wasn't having problems, I was just testing compatibility that I suspected was OK anyway. If your having problems I guess overnight wont hurt. Test them all in the comp together. or however you plan on using the system. No sense testing them one at a time because you might miss an error that occurs only when all 4 are in. Each chip will be tested anyway no benefit to testing them one at a time. Test them how you plan to use the system, (I assume all 4). Then if you find an error you can start to work out what is going on.

beany_bot · 5 Jan 2016 at 13:59

I just found that Windows 10 has its own memory test software that runs a set number of tests. I'm doing it just now and it looks to be like it will take about 45mins for 12gb. I guess if it passes that you can be pretty sure it's OK. Takes the guesswork out of how long to run it because it runs from start to finish.

kieran_read · 5 Jan 2016 at 17:08

Oo I didn't know Win10 had it's own memory testing software, I can try that out tonight.

David Bisset · 5 Jan 2016 at 17:17

Maybe worth considering both memtest86 and memtest86+
I've had faults that only showed on one or the other. No idea if win 10's test is any good.

P4Clock · 6 Jan 2016 at 04:17

+1 for memtest86. only test worth running

the memtest guys say to run 8hr's one stick at a time and run with with one core it a time(round robin)

kieran_read · 6 Jan 2016 at 11:28

I tested each stick on it's own and it's fine.

I found out that one of my memory slots is damaged.

Where the memory slots go 1324. Slot 3 is damaged, so last night I got through 1 run with 3 sticks in 1,2 and 4.

When I put a stick in 3 it doesn't do anything fans turn on low and move, as do lights, but normally when my computer boots it does that then all the fans spin up rapidly before loading into Windows.

Will his cause any problems skipping the 3rd slot, I know you should pair up memory starting in slots 1 and 3 for pairs, but as 3 is broke I will move to 4 and hope that works.

As I said I got through 1 run in Memtest, I will do 3 tonight but should i stick to 2 sticks or will it be fine to go with 3?

P4Clock · 6 Jan 2016 at 15:20

what motherboard,
what ram size and speed
what is pc used for

Silent_Scone · 6 Jan 2016 at 15:47

P4Clock said:
+1 for memtest86. only test worth running

the memtest guys say to run 8hr's one stick at a time and run with with one core it a time(round robin)

Memtest86 as a valid memory stress test past detecting faulty modules is absolutely worthless on current platforms. So your statement couldn't be further from the truth.

HCI Memtest Pro for Windows and Google Stress App Test via Linux Mint are the best tests at present, with the latter being better at isolating memory from cache and other sub systems.

The best configuration for HCI Windows is one instance per thread covering 90% of memory divided. HCI consider 1000% to be the golden standard, but coverage on densities above 16GB can be geologically slow.

Google stress app only need be run for 2 hours.

Admiral Huddy · 6 Jan 2016 at 15:50

New windows test is just as good. tbh i've found that if memory is seriously faulty, it will fail within a few minutes. This includes memtest. In practise i leave it running for 20 minutes.

kieran_read · 6 Jan 2016 at 16:46

P4Clock said:
what motherboard,
what ram size and speed
what is pc used for

Oh it's ancient.

Intel Core2Duo Q9550 (2.83ghz)
Asus Maximus II Formula
Giel DDR2 Memory 800MHz
ATI 7790 Graphics

It still works!!! Well it will... it's fast enough and games still run, it will last until AMD Zen and Polaris it will!!

(The GPU is the bottleneck on my System and I suspect AMD will release new cards before CPU's so I can upgrade then)