Memtest86 how many passes

chippy08 · 5 Dec 2014 at 23:23

Been running memtest for 10 hours with 6 passes but how many passes is enough ?

Legend · 6 Dec 2014 at 02:18

Let it run. Forever. It's the only way to be REALLY sure.

Seriously, that's more than enough. Assuming you're getting no errors. 2-3 passes would normally suffice tbh, some would even argue 1!

MoonBoots · 6 Dec 2014 at 10:25

I would indeed argue that 1 pass should be sufficient.

When I had a faulty stick of RAM the first pass gave something like 1000 errors

chippy08 · 6 Dec 2014 at 10:39

Ok thanks chaps so far I have run one stick for 8 passes of memtest86 second stick is testing now 6 passes so far.
This memory Kingston hyperx Grey has so far gave me problems in 3 different computers 2 Htpcs and my main pc but memtest86 isn't showing errors.

Any other ways to test this memory without spending hours doing so ?

Just to say i have 4 sticks of this 2 run in my main pc with no problem but the 2 i am testing wont.

Is there anyway to show a matched pair of memory sticks like on the stickers of the memory once they have been mixed up ?

postmanfw · 6 Dec 2014 at 12:28

4 passes is enough in my (limited) experience

cpu-z should give you info about the ram...part no and seriel number.

There are other ways to test ram stability via windows (occt, prime 95 etc ) but memtest is the best way for ram...use the rest for cpu/system stability tests....stillk takes hours to be sure though.

chippy08 · 6 Dec 2014 at 13:13

Just installed cpu-z i wonder if serial numbers would follow each other as they come off the production line to show a matched pair.

Like this
slot 1 501A6C9A
slot 3 501A6C9B

postmanfw · 6 Dec 2014 at 13:29

Hard to say...just checked mine and they are very far apart seriel number wise.

chippy08 · 6 Dec 2014 at 14:26

postmanfw said:
Hard to say...just checked mine and they are very far apart seriel number wise.

Mine are the same far apart.

Silent_Scone · 7 Dec 2014 at 15:28

Use HCI Memtest Pro. 86 is pretty weak in comparison if you load up HCI correctly.

400% pass should suffice

ReCoN1989 · 10 Dec 2014 at 04:35

Errors should show up in the first pass, 4 or 5 passes will give you an excellent confidence level. Of course the longer you run it the surer you can be that your ram is error free.

bledd · 10 Dec 2014 at 09:34

I've seen a handful of ram sticks that are faulty but still pass every memory test I've thrown at them. Bloody annoying when you find one!

DirtyJester · 10 Dec 2014 at 14:21

bledd. said:
I've seen a handful of ram sticks that are faulty but still pass every memory test I've thrown at them. Bloody annoying when you find one!

Same here until I ran Memtest on individual sticks.

postmanfw · 10 Dec 2014 at 17:28

Had one once set that passed no problems when run individually but would fail when ran together...was on a laptop so no option for bumping up voltages in case that was the problem.
Replaced with new stick and all fine.

philip2009 · 1 Jan 2015 at 18:14

chippy08 said:
Been running memtest for 10 hours with 6 passes but how many passes is enough ?

When it runs the tests the lowest and highest address for the errors are recorded. If after a number of passes these upper/lower marks aren't changing then basically you've locked down the RAM banks affected and you probably aren't going to learn anything more by letting it run to completion.