About Ram instablility

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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
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Here's my question. Three weeks ago, I ran Prime 95 and failed the test in 7 seconds at PC 3200 speeds. My ram is this:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146970
and My latency timings were 3-3-3-7. Last night, I had a BSOD that said something about IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL, which is supposed to be ram related issues, from what I hear. After a little research, I reduced the speeds to PC 2700 and the timings to 3-3-3-8. I ran Prime 95 again. This Time, it went for 1 hour and 20 minutes with absolutely no errors(I stopped Prime 95 myself because I had to get stuff done) and I'm wondering, did my reducing the ram speeds make my computer more stable in that area and will it stop my IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL BSOD problems and make my system more stable, since now prime 95 goes alot better than at the PC 3200 speeds? I was running Prime 95 with the option with the most ram testing, by the way. The system seems more responsive, also, but what I'm interested in is will this make my system more stable or will I still have to go out and replace the ram?

I really need this question to be answered because I don't want to be complacent with my ram and it still not be stable.

I think that I'll just run Prime 95 until 9 and see what happens there.
 
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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
2
81
Isn't Prime 95 with the option of the most ram testing even more intense than memtest86? I can live with my ram at PC 2700 speeds.
 
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zagood

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2005
4,102
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Prime95 tests overall instability, memtest tests ONLY the ram. Just run it.

-z
 
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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
2
81
I was running the setting that had the most ram testing, and Prime 95 tests the ram harder than memtest86. At PC 3200 speeds, the test failed in 10 seconds due to rounding(don't know what rounding in this sense means, probably ram related, but tell me for sure) being expected at 0.4 or less and my ram going at 0.5 speeds(Probably how IRQL errors show up, but I don't know for sure), but now with PC 2700 speeds and 3-3-3-8 timings, it runs good. I'll run Prime 95 at the most ram testing for 3 hours and see how that turns out. I'll report back in 3 hours with the results. I'm doing this because Prime95 is more convienient and easier for noobs like me to install than memtest which requires Iso and that crap. Prime95 should give the ram a good workout, too.
 
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Matthias99

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2003
8,808
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Originally posted by: LW07
I was running the setting that had the most ram testing, and Prime 95 tests the ram harder than memtest86.
Click to expand...

Prime95 is more demanding on the CPU/RAM subsystem as a whole (since it loads the CPU to 100% *and* does a lot of memory operations), but doesn't guarantee that every single address will be read and written repeatedly like memtest86 does. Memtest is VERY good at finding defective memory modules. Prime95 is probably better at stability testing. You should run both.

At PC 3200 speeds, the test failed in 10 seconds due to rounding(don't know what rounding in this sense means, probably ram related, but tell me for sure) being expected at 0.4 or less and my ram going at 0.5 speeds(Probably how IRQL errors show up, but I don't know for sure), but now with PC 2700 speeds and 3-3-3-8 timings, it runs good.
Click to expand...

That's gotta be the worst run-on sentence I've seen in a while. :p

Your system is clearly not stable at PC3200 speeds. What Prime95 does in its torture tests is to do a bunch of known mathematical computations, and compare the answers you get against what they "should" be. It's complaining in this case that a floating-point operation returned an incorrect value.

I'll run Prime 95 at the most ram testing for 3 hours and see how that turns out. I'll report back in 3 hours with the results. I'm doing this because Prime95 is more convienient and easier for noobs like me to install than memtest which requires Iso and that crap. Prime95 should give the ram a good workout, too.
Click to expand...

Just leave it running overnight. You can also use the system while Prime95 is running; it defaults to being at a lower priority than 'normal' programs, so it won't really interfere with anything but games.
 
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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
2
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At PC 3200 speeds, the test failed in 10 seconds due to rounding(don't know what rounding in this sense means, probably ram related, but tell me for sure) being expected at 0.4 or less and my ram going at 0.5 speeds(Probably how IRQL errors show up, but I don't know for sure), but now with PC 2700 speeds and 3-3-3-8 timings, it runs good.

That's gotta be the worst run-on sentence I've seen in a while. :p

Your system is clearly not stable at PC3200 speeds. What Prime95 does in its torture tests is to do a bunch of known mathematical computations, and compare the answers you get against what they "should" be. It's complaining in this case that a floating-point operation returned an incorrect value.
Click to expand...


Well, if the BSOD is saying IRQL NOT LESS THAN OR EQUAL and Prime 95 wants the rounding to be at 0.4 or less and craps out when it returns a 0.5 rounding on the 1st test(the 1024k test), then do you think there's a connection there?

P.S. Like I said earlier, I can live with PC 2700 speeds. It's not going to hurt anything performance wise.
 
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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
2
81
It's now been 4 hours and 24 minutes and Prime 95 is still going. Does that mean that my ram is stable?
 
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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
2
81
Shouldn't I get some credit for using Prime 95? 5 hours on the Blend setting with lots of ram testing should at least give me some credit for testing the memory in some way. Even though It doesn't just test the ram, the ram still gets a work out, so I wasn't refusing your help. I was just using another program. BTW, does 5 hours mean that the system overall will be stable? Again, I was NOT refusing your help. I just don't know how to tinker with all of that stuff to get Memtest86 installed(I'm a noob at this, I know, don't rub it in), and since Prime 95 is much easier to install, I decided to use it since at least I'm still testing the ram. Is there any ram testing program that does not require you to burn an iso and is easy to install?
 
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PurdueRy

Lifer
Nov 12, 2004
13,837
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Originally posted by: LW07
Shouldn't I get some credit for using Prime 95? 5 hours on the Blend setting with lots of ram testing should at least give me some credit for testing the memory in some way. Even though It doesn't just test the ram, the ram still gets a work out, so I wasn't refusing your help. I was just using another program. BTW, does 5 hours mean that the system overall will be stable?
Click to expand...

You want to know whats wrong...run memtest...what is so hard about running the program!?
 
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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
2
81
Ok, I'll run it. Tell me clearly how to install the thing since the memtest site is to vague about it.
 
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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
2
81
Alright Guys, I'm using this memtest: http://hcidesign.com/memtest/ does that count?

At least it's some form of program that tests the ram alone, so I should at least get some credit for following your instructions.
 
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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
2
81
Since Memtest 86 didn't work and my system went from failing Prime 95 in 5-10 seconds to not failing it in 5 hours in the blend test(the one with a lot of ram testing), I will use the memtest in that hyperlink I posted above. I have reason to believe that my ram is ok now that I am running it at PC 2700 speeds at 3-3-3-8. It probably wouldn't fail if I ran it 8 hours.
I also read that 5 hours means that your system is like 99% stable.
 
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PurdueRy

Lifer
Nov 12, 2004
13,837
4
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To run it put it in the CD-ROM drive and go into bios and make sure the CD-rom is in the boot order...it should automatically load
 
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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
2
81
I put the CD Rom into the first boot, but it still won't run the program. I used nero 7 trial version to try to burn the ISO image that I got from the site onto the CD and the CD says the file is on the CD, because when I try to delete it to be sure, it won't let me do it because it's a CD-R. That's not the problem. I went into the bios, put the CD Rom on first boot, and it still loaded into windows rather into memtest. Something's wrong here.
 
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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
2
81
I don't know why people recommend programs that are so hard to install.
 
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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
2
81
I just flat out give up on memtest. it's never working for me, it won't run for me, and all those problems. I just give up. I have tried to install it, but the website gives to vague instructions to be of any use. I just am not going to try a program that was intended to be hard to use. I'll stick with prime 95 since it is a lot easier to use.
 
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LW07

Golden Member
Feb 16, 2006
1,537
2
81
Alright, I've decided to give it ONE last shot. So, when I go into the BIOS, do I need to disable all other boot devices and have it boot only from the CDrom?
 
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