Ram issue = please help!

Dribbles · 15 Aug 2011 at 18:56

I posted this in the memory sub forum and someone replied that it was just bad luck - just looking for some other opinions - thanks.

A year ago I built an AMD system, with 2 sticks of Hyper X 1600mhz (4GB total). A few months later one stick failed - rma'd it and installed it again. Low and behold another stick failed! I put up with 2gb for ages then bought another 4gb set and you've guessed it - one stick has just failed. What's going on? I've set it to 1.65v, 1600mhz, 9,9,9,27. Could the slots be faulty? Should I try the other coloured slots?

Your help is much appreciated

Full specs:

Item: Antec 300 Three Hundred Case - Qty: 1
Item: Gigabyte GTX 460 OC 1GB GDDR5 OC Edition Dual DVI HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card - Qty: 1
Item: Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz HyperX Memory Kit CL9(9-9-9-27) 1.7 - 1.9V - Qty: 1
Item: Asus M4A87TD/USB3 870 Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard - Qty: 1
Item: Sony AD7241S 24x DVD±RW DL & RAM with LightScribe SATA Optical Drive - OEM Black - Qty: 1
Item: OCZ Stealth Xstream II 600W PSU - 3x SATA 2x PCI-E - Qty: 1
Item: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Socket AM3 3.2 GHz 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor - Qty: 1
Item: Xilence Red Wing 120mm Quiet Fan - 3&4pin connection - Qty: 1
Item: Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATAII 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM Caviar Blue - Qty: 1

Dribbles · 22 Aug 2011 at 13:53

Just an update, I've tried the stick on its own that I thought had failed for the last week and it's fine. Does this mean a motherboard problem or a memory controller issue?

Thanks

Rockbottom · 22 Aug 2011 at 14:15

Try increasing the RAM voltage slightly? It's rated to run at 1.7 - 1.9V.

I had a similar issue with my RAM recently, I had been running it at 1.6V for months without issues then it suddenly became unstable so I bumped it upto 1.8V and it seems fine again...

ToejaM · 22 Aug 2011 at 14:21

Yep try increasing the voltage. Had a similar issue where my rig would boot with three sticks in but not four, upping the voltage fixed it

Dribbles · 22 Aug 2011 at 14:45

Thanks, will try that. What's the technical reason behind this?

ToejaM · 23 Aug 2011 at 12:53

Just that the ram won't get enough juice to function and afaik, the comp won't post without any ram in

Rockbottom · 23 Aug 2011 at 12:55

Dribbles said:
Thanks, will try that. What's the technical reason behind this?

You're running it below the manufacturers rated voltage to achieve those timings and frequency, it may need more Voltage to be stable at those settings.

Dribbles · 23 Aug 2011 at 18:03

Sorry to keep coming back!

Tried both sticks at 1.8v, but the pc cut out twice (what usually happens at 1.65v is a bsod). I noticed on the sticks it says 1.65v, not 1.7 - 1.9v.

Any other suggestions? Should I try other voltage settings? Different timings/frequencies?

Thanks

ToejaM · 23 Aug 2011 at 19:02

Silly question but do you have the memory speed set to 1600, its not overclocked is it?

Rockbottom · 24 Aug 2011 at 12:14

Have you tried running memtest86+ with the RAM set at 1.65v? See if you get any errors.

When you say the computer cut out, do you mean it completely lost power? That *could* be a PSU problem.

Dribbles · 24 Aug 2011 at 21:31

Yes the ram is set to 1600mhz. I tried memtest for 10 hours before with no errors. When it cut out it just restarted without warning, that was only when at 1.8v.

Bottom line is that it runs fine with one stick, but not two. I think motherboard problem, but this is hard to diagnose?

I just really want to have a stable rig for BF3!

Dribbles · 4 Oct 2011 at 18:43

Right, sorry to resurrect an old thread, but this still hasn't been resolved.

I bought 2 sticks of 4gb (8gb total) and again most times it won't boot with both sticks and if it does it will freeze or throw a bsod. Works perfectly with one stick.

So I'm pretty sure it's motherboard or CPU. Is there anyway of working this out? Will motherboard and CPU be covered by warranty? (both over a year old).

Any ideas what to do?

Thanks