Faulty RAM? - Page 2

akashra · 24th May 2012, 1:58 PM

On a similar note to the OP, I suspect I've discovered dodgy RAM in my desktop at home

I've been trying to track down what I thought was another Sandisk drive problem, with the drive dropping out and the system BSODing, until when I went to flash the firmware I noticed it was only seeing 8GB of RAM (I have 3x4GB Kingston HyperX).
Odd, I thought, maybe it'd been knocked when installing the HDDs recently, so I reseated all the RAM. This time it only picked up 4GB.

This morning, got all 12GB.

My suspicion is that it's overheating and dying while in use, causing the BSODs, and that the SanDisk problem is separate. Gonna be a pain to test it, and and RMA it if it turns out faulty.

Mickatroid · 24th May 2012, 7:09 PM

That is some seriously ratty memory behaviour akashra. I would start by swapping out the PSU (particularly given that you suspect SSD problems too) and move onto everything else in the box.

I would also look to see if some kind of critter had lodged itself in amongst your mobo electronics (a mate had a tiny cockroach take out a DIMM socket back in the day.)

akashra · 24th May 2012, 10:38 PM

A bit of testing at the moment I've just found out the rear fan is not working at all, and I can't feel any air blowing through where the front one is either (Antec Sonata).
Not feeling a great deal coming through the PSU either.

I'm not convinced the SSD issue is PSU related, as it's only that single drive that's having any dramas whatosoever. But it does seem to be that when the RAM gets to a certain heat, it just dies.

I'll have to either find and try my 3x2GB sticks, or just go buy a 16GB kit tomorrow while I wait for a replacement 3x4GB kit. Probably the former, will just live with 6GB for a month or so while slow-as-hell CPL replace it.
Having a pain in the ass of a time creating a memtest86 USB disk as we speak

Edit: However some threads on the innertubes seem to imply that the SPD timings and voltages it's picking are just completely wrong.

24th May 2012, 1:58 PM	#16
akashra Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Melbourne, AU Posts: 3,324	On a similar note to the OP, I suspect I've discovered dodgy RAM in my desktop at home I've been trying to track down what I thought was another Sandisk drive problem, with the drive dropping out and the system BSODing, until when I went to flash the firmware I noticed it was only seeing 8GB of RAM (I have 3x4GB Kingston HyperX). Odd, I thought, maybe it'd been knocked when installing the HDDs recently, so I reseated all the RAM. This time it only picked up 4GB. This morning, got all 12GB. My suspicion is that it's overheating and dying while in use, causing the BSODs, and that the SanDisk problem is separate. Gonna be a pain to test it, and and RMA it if it turns out faulty. __________________ Punctuation is the difference between "Let's eat, grandma!" and "Let's eat grandma!". Building a Metricon Delta 21 in Craigieburn: http://homeofzero.blogspot.com/

24th May 2012, 10:38 PM	#18
akashra Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Melbourne, AU Posts: 3,324	A bit of testing at the moment I've just found out the rear fan is not working at all, and I can't feel any air blowing through where the front one is either (Antec Sonata). Not feeling a great deal coming through the PSU either. I'm not convinced the SSD issue is PSU related, as it's only that single drive that's having any dramas whatosoever. But it does seem to be that when the RAM gets to a certain heat, it just dies. I'll have to either find and try my 3x2GB sticks, or just go buy a 16GB kit tomorrow while I wait for a replacement 3x4GB kit. Probably the former, will just live with 6GB for a month or so while slow-as-hell CPL replace it. Having a pain in the ass of a time creating a memtest86 USB disk as we speak Edit: However some threads on the innertubes seem to imply that the SPD timings and voltages it's picking are just completely wrong. __________________ Punctuation is the difference between "Let's eat, grandma!" and "Let's eat grandma!". Building a Metricon Delta 21 in Craigieburn: http://homeofzero.blogspot.com/ Last edited by akashra; 24th May 2012 at 10:46 PM.

24th May 2012, 7:09 PM	#17
Mickatroid Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Canberra Posts: 883	That is some seriously ratty memory behaviour akashra. I would start by swapping out the PSU (particularly given that you suspect SSD problems too) and move onto everything else in the box. I would also look to see if some kind of critter had lodged itself in amongst your mobo electronics (a mate had a tiny cockroach take out a DIMM socket back in the day.)