Overclocked CPU causing RAM errors?

Darkstorne

Darkstorne

Darkstorne

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Joined
3 Dec 2011
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43
Hey all,

I've been using an overclocked i7 @4.4ghz for a good 6+ months now, and never had any issues with it until yesterday. I gave into my interactive crack addiction and started playing World of Warcraft again, but kept getting CTDs with error messages reporting memory issues.

I ran through multiple game-focused potential fixes (running in DX9 instead of DX11, deleting and restoring game files, playing around with sound settings, etc etc) and after no luck I tried running memtest to test my RAM. I got a LOT of errors, before hitting even 30% test completion (running four tests since I have a quad core, with RAM split up between the tests).

That was odd, because I had used a different version of memtest last month (I think it was memtest) that runs as a boot program, testing RAM instead of loading Windows. I tested all four sticks, one at a time, in each RAM slot, and they all passed with no errors. So it was a shock to see this .exe version of memtest suddenly report dozens of errors across the board.

I then read that an overclocked CPU can lead to incorrect memtest results, so I returned my CPU to stock settings through the bios and ran memtest again. No errors this time. All the RAM was fine. What's more, World of Warcraft no longer crashed. At first I thought that was a great result!

Now I'm wondering... what the hell? Why did my OC suddenly cause all these memory-related crashes? I haven't had any other issues before yesterday, and I'm now wishing I had tested in other games before restoring my CPU to stock speeds. Is this an indicator of a serious problem in my CPU or RAM? Why would an overclock work fine for 6 months, but then start causing crashes and instability in a game like WoW? I had player WoW previously, about 4 months ago, using the same overclock without any issues. So the only thing that has changed there is the game's version. The overclock stayed the same, but for some reason it caused crashes.

Should I be worried about my CPU or RAM?

Thanks for reading :) I know I have a tendency to ramble, so apologies for that, but I'm really worried that I might have faulty hardware all of a sudden...
 
It's possible to damage RAM with high volts and temperatures. Technically it's possible to do the same to your CPU, but it's much less likely, because most of us monitor CPU temperatures heavily, but not so much with the RAM.

When I buggered up some RAM it was exactly how you describe. They lose their ability to perform at higher speeds, but still work fine when clocked down to stock speeds.

What kind of overclock are we talking? Did you overclock both the ram and the CPU?

You could try overclocking with just 1 stick of ram, to see if theres a particular stick that's causing problems.
 
Thanks for the replies!

I was only overclocking the CPU to 4.4ghz. The four RAM sticks were listed as 1600mhz, but are clocked in the bios at 1333mhz. I thought that was odd, so raised their clock speed to 1600 (following a guide) after I had a stable overclocked CPU, and I got some really strange crashes. The desktop would stop responding, then the taskbar would vanish, then everything would go black. After returning the RAM to 1333mhz everything was fine. I may well have been sold 1333mhz RAM instead if 1600mhz...

But otherwise, no issues with the RAM at 1333mhz at all (which seems plenty fast enough anyway) until this issue I'm posting about: I got RAM errors from my CPU overclock. I did have to use quite a high voltage to reach that OC though. Higher than was recommended in the guide I followed. I got BSODs at lower voltages, read that it was a cause of too low voltage, so raised it incrementally in small amounts until I was stable. And as I said before, no issues for 6+ months with that overclock.

Memtest reports no errors at all on my RAM now that the CPU OC has been removed. So I'm assuming my RAM is safe? It just seems odd that it would suddenly cause issues. I guess overclocking really is as dangerous as I had once feared. I kind of shrugged it off these last few months. My CPU may be water cooled, but if those temps and voltages are harming other components in the process... that's not cool.

Thanks for the education :)
 
for sure more stuff fails when get the nice weather
sounds like that memory had issues from day one tho
would be nice to know the exact components
 
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