Comments | rapier: Meeeeemorieeees.

rapier

Meeeeemorieeees.

Apr 11, 2009 12:27

I definitely have one bad stick of triple-channel RAM. When memtest86 hangs every time you start before one pass is even done, you know something's wrong. Memtest passes the other two DIMMs individually over dozens of passes. But why does it freak out and reboot with two of three DIMMs in?

computers

Comments 5

kipple April 11 2009, 20:39:46 UTC

Some freakiness with triple channel ram is all I can imagine. May have to rma them and get another matched trio. Might be able to just replace the bad one, but has to be identical to play well, as I understand.

rapier April 12 2009, 05:48:59 UTC

Yeah, I'm gonna cross fingers and RMA the one bad stick and give Newegg explicit instructions to give me the same brand, model, and part number. Wish me luck.

iconoplast April 12 2009, 00:07:58 UTC

Memory is very picky. Here are some possible answers:
1) The memory isn't matched. Not all memory can downgrade itself to match others.
2) The board is faulty and can't handle multiple RAM channels the way it should. (Did you test the memory in all of the slots? Could also be a single bad slot on the board.)
3) Are the sticks all from the same manufacturer? Which? Not all memory is created equal, sadly.
4) Dozens of passes isn't always enough. Conventional wisdom says run it for 8 hours to be sure. Personally, though, I've never needed more than 5, but I feel obligated to mention that.
5) Despite the away message (which will stay until I have enough desk real estate to have both monitors attached and can thus pay attention to IMs regularly again) I am around tonight until at least 8 PM your time, probably a bit later, so if you want direct troubleshooting help drop me a line. =)

rapier April 12 2009, 06:00:34 UTC

1. The memory is a matched set of 3, all from OCZ, with specs given in the link. The labels on the sticks are all the same. When I'm at home again and have the cycles to futz with it further, I'll write down what the BIOS and memtest86 think about each stick of RAM ( ... )

iconoplast April 13 2009, 17:55:27 UTC

I've never heard of OCZ, so I can't speak to the expected quality there (except in that not having heard of it would make me avoid it like the plague, but I'm very picky). 9 hours should be plenty to catch sneaky errors in the memory, so I wouldn't worry on that count ( ... )