Memtest info needed

ste-sim2x9

ste-sim2x9

ste-sim2x9

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I've been having some bsod screens last few days and thought i'd give the memtest program a go but i've never used this before. I left it running all night and when i got up the next morning it was still going, I have now had to stop it as i need to use my pc for work stuff but i took a pic of it 33% done. I don't know what i would be looking for so any info on this pic would be greatful.


000_1509.jpg
 
2 full passes done and 27 errors....not good :(

RMA time if the ram is at stock voltage/speed and timings.

A small change in above may solve the problem for the short term.
 
27 errors in test 5, from what I've seen in the past test 5 is the most likely to cause errors. With 8gig of ram installed, im guessing you have 4x2gig sticks, (or do you have 2x4meg as there are no errors on slots 2/3) Thats a fair load on the memory controller, what voltage are you running at.

Quite a lot newer than the memtest86 I used when I built my PC. I like how it gives errors by slot, that makes diagnostics easier :).

Most motherboards will ignore any "custom" voltages that the ram needs, OCZ ram for instance is often unstable at 1.8V yet at 1.9V its flawless. Dont bother doing a ram RMA, unless you have increased the voltage to the manufacterers recommended voltage first. (OCZ even print 1.9v on some of their sticks but you still have to set it in bios manually.)
 
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I have 2 2gig sticks OCZ Reaper HPC OCZ2RPR800C42G running in slot 1 and 3 and i have 2 2gig sticks of OCZ Gold XTC OCZ2G8002G running in slots 2 and 4. The menory is running (6-6-6-18 @ 400 MHz) , I never changed any setting in the bios so the ram and cpu are all on auto settings.
 
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OCZ just loves a little extra voltage, I consider 1.9v to be their "stock", but the motherboard will normally default to 1.8. Up to 1.9v in bios and the problems will probably vanish. Different OCZ parts have different voltages, some parts are actually listed as 2.1V, while others 1.8V. The OCZ Gold XTC OCZ2G8002G is 1.8V default, but up to 2.1V supported within warrenty, However the reaper OCZ2RPR800C44GK (44GK, is a CL4 4gig kit, im assuming its actually a pair of C42G matched parts) claims to be 2.1V default on OCZ's website, and as your gold should be within warrenty at 2.1 you should be pretty safe.

I would still recommend jumping from 1.8 to 1.9V only, as you have so few errors, its probably only going to need a small helping hand. But if you need 2.0 or even 2.1v you should still be with OCZ's warrenty on both parts should you have problems.
 
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ste-sim2x9 said:
I have upped the voltage to 1.9v so do i run memtest again or just see if the bsod comes back.
Click to expand...

Only way to sure that 1.9v is enough (and that you dont need 2.0/2.1 or replacement ram) is to run memtest again. Memtest 3.5 is the latest version, and has incorporated the changes made in Memtest+2.11.
 
Well the reaper 4g kit, does claim to be 2.1V on OCZ's website, it may have some labels on the stocks confirming its need for voltage.

What I would do next, is remove the reaper, and test the gold on its own (at 1.9v), make sure its in the correct slots for dual channel. If the gold passes at 1.9v, then pull it out, and test the reaper. If the reaper fails, ramp the voltage up to 2, and then 2.1.

If you have any of the packaging for your ram (or if they have a good label system) you should have the maximum voltage ratings for the sticks somewhere, to confirm the info I took from OCZ's website.

As far as I can tell, the gold should pass at 1.8v, but the reaper may need more power.

BTW, your timings seem off if that is accurate, 6-6-6-18, and just shy of DDR800. The Reaper should be 4-4-4-15 (2.1v), and the gold should be 5-5-5-18 (1.8V) As strange as it sounds, running ram at higher timings than its rated for can in rare cases cause errors, I would manually set the timings for 5-5-5-18 to match the OCZ gold.

The Golds are warrentied for 2.1V, but their heatsinks arnt as good as the reapers, so they will get pretty warm.
 
I have tested the gold series ram on its own and the reaper on its own and they have both passed with no errors but put both gold and reaper series in together and i get errors. What would be my next options to get rid of the errors.
 
Well, firstly, check in bios and make sure you have the timing set to 5-5-5-18 in bios.

Interestingly the label on the sticks is the models I found (IE you said the reaper was C42G, while the label says its C44GK. The label on the gold suggests 1.9v.

OCZ webpage for the Gold, 1.8v with 2.1v OVP

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_6400_vista_performance_gold_4gb_dual_channel

OCZ webpage for Reaper 4gig kit, 2.1v default, with 2.15 OVP

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_6400_reaper_cl4_4gb_edition

Correcting the timings in bios may help a little, although it could make it worse, make sure you have the pairs matched, normally that means slots 0,2 for the first pair, and slots 1,3 for the second pair, (IE reaper/gold/reaper/gold). If you have the sticks paired as reaper/reaper/gold/gold, then that could cause additional problems.

As 1.9V did appear to give less errors than 1.8 volts, move up to 2.0V, if thats error free, then job done. Otherwise as both types of ram officially support 2.1V, then if your still getting errors increase to 2.1V.

The only other suggestion I can make if that doesnt help, would be to buy another pair, either gold, or reaper, and have all 4 sticks matching, the gold would probably run 4 sticks at [email protected], while the reaper with its heatsinks would likely run 4-4-4-15 @ 2.1v with 4 sticks. Wouldnt bother replacing all 4 sticks, Overclockers have the 4gig gold kit in stock, so that would give you 4 sticks with the same ratings.

Hopefully though 2.0v or 2.1v with the existing memory will give you error free with timeings of 5-5-5-18 anyway, and still have all sticks within OCZ warrenty.

Dont get too caught up with the need for exactly matching ram, I've got 2 corsair, and 2 ocz sticks in my system and it works fine. The main reason for matching ram, is so that the best rams sticks arnt being "wasted" IE your reaper can do 4-4-4-15, but its going to be stuck at 5-5-5-18 because of the gold.
 
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Well i have put the memory in slot 1 reaper, slot 2 gold series, slot 3 reaper, slot 4 gold series and set them to 2.0v and 5-5-5-18 and run memtest again and after 1 pass there was no errors. Do i only need one pass or does memtest have to have a set amount of passes as i don't know much about memtest86.
 
1 pass is usually enough but if you want to be sure 3 passes should cover 99.9% of possible issues... some people leave it overnight but imo thats just putting extra strain on your RAM without good reason.
 
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