4gb of RAM = memtest errors?

[Throckmorton]

I upgraded the RAM in my Gigabyte 965P-DS3 from 2x1gb to 4x1gb. The sticks are all OCZ Platinum 800mhz. My Windows (32 bit, only sees 3gb) has been unstable since, but Prime95 returns no errors. I tried memtest, and it errored out after the first test! I googled "memtest 4gb errors" and got a lot of forum postings. Is this a common occurence? Someone said in another thread that nVidia boards don't like all slots filled, but this is an Intel chipset. I haven't tried taking out one of the sticks yet.

 

[Throckmorton]

Also, I flashed my BIOS to the newest

 

[chizow]

If you've updated the BIOS, checked all BIOS settings (FSB, timings, Vdimm and NB voltage) and Memtest is returning errors, its most likely a bad stick in there somewhere. If you were previously running 1T or fast timings you may want to change those to more relaxed settings since its pretty common for boards to become unstable once you increase number of dimms or module density. Otherwise, all you can really do is run memtest with 1 stick at a time to see if you can identify the bad stick. If none of the sticks give an error individually than its most likely a BIOS setting or 2+ dimms being populated as the source of the problem. I'd start with any dedicated Gigabyte 965-DS3 threads that may isolate similar problems before looking at any correlations between chipsets/makers.

If you do find that the RAM isn't defective, then you can still see problems with 32-bit XP and 4GB of RAM. There's 2 issues with 32-bit XP, 1 being the inability to see the full 4GB and the other being the application limit of 2GB. XP will typically only recognize @3GB of your 4GB, which will give you problems with 4 dimms and how dual-channel is recognized. The other problem can arise as 32-bit applications/drivers may run into issues beyond the 2GB as covered in AT's 2GB Wall article. If you find out there's nothing wrong with your RAM, your best bet would be to move to a 64-bit OS to minimize the potential for problems, although there's still certainly other problems with Vista/XP 64.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Also, I flashed my BIOS to the newest

Were you aware that the next step, after flashing any BIOS, is to go back into the BIOS, and select Optimized Defaults, then saving and exiting the BIOS? Once it reboots, you can go back into the BIOS, and reset what you need to reset. As crazy as it sounds, most BIOS flashes behave really screwy/weird, if you don't do that.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

POS OCZ RAMs require a lot of Vdimm to run four sticks. Also up NB several notches to get them stable in Memtest86.

 

[Throckmorton]

I set my BIOS to automatically configure everything as soon as I flashed it... except for the RAM speed which I set to 533mhz to match my FSB. I'll try increasing the vdimm. If it's a RAM problem though, wouldn't Prim95 create errors even though it can only use 1.8gb?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Prime does not fully test RAMs. Use CPUz to confirm that RAMs are at rated speed, then test with Memtest86.

 

[The-Noid]

965p needs a little more voltage to be able to run 4x1GB.

Memtest is going to be your best bet to see if the system is stable.

Those are fine sticks from OCZ and the price is right as well. Good luck with your upgrade!

 

[Throckmorton]

Hopefully higher voltage fixes it. But WinXP has a problem with dual channel and more than 3gb? I was trying to figure out how it would work. I assumed it would just use 3/4 of each bank.

 

[Throckmorton]

Well I tried a variety of combination of sticks. 3 sticks, 2 old sticks, 1 new stick.. I got errors every time. I'm downloading the Ultimate Boot CD in case the Memtest burn or dl was bad... It's probably the motherboard though.

 

[Throckmorton]

WTF. Memtest 3.3 that is on the UBCD doesn't return errors (only tested 2 minutes). I tried reburning 3.4, and it does the same thing on my laptop. I even used Nero this time to burn and verified the disc, so it can't just be a bad burn.

 

[Throckmorton]

I ran Memtest 3.3 last night and it passed, no voltage bump or anything needed.

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Also, I flashed my BIOS to the newest

Were you aware that the next step, after flashing any BIOS, is to go back into the BIOS, and select Optimized Defaults, then saving and exiting the BIOS? Once it reboots, you can go back into the BIOS, and reset what you need to reset. As crazy as it sounds, most BIOS flashes behave really screwy/weird, if you don't do that.

my computer wont boot at optimized defaults.

i have to manually set bios settings.... setting them to overclocked works just fine.

wierd shit.

 

[Syntax Error]

Wow, Throckmortron, I thank you for making this thread. My problem is almost EXACTLY the same as yours, I was suspecting I had bad sticks, two of my 4 sticks of OCZ Gold PC6400 4-5-5-15 sticks didn't pass, so I was a bit wary with the fact that TWO of my DIMMs would be faulty!

Let's see how this goes, I've yet to flash the BIOS on my Gigabyte SD 965 board so I don't know if that's the root of the problems. Help would be greatly appreciated, as well. Thanks

 

[Syntax Error]

UPDATE: with my OCZ 4 x 1GB setup, upping the voltage +.2 volts seems to have fixed instability problems.

 

[Throckmorton]

Originally posted by: Syntax Error
Wow, Throckmortron, I thank you for making this thread. My problem is almost EXACTLY the same as yours, I was suspecting I had bad sticks, two of my 4 sticks of OCZ Gold PC6400 4-5-5-15 sticks didn't pass, so I was a bit wary with the fact that TWO of my DIMMs would be faulty!

Let's see how this goes, I've yet to flash the BIOS on my Gigabyte SD 965 board so I don't know if that's the root of the problems. Help would be greatly appreciated, as well. Thanks

What version of Memtest did you use? Try 3.3