Help: memtest86 Test 5 errors at STOCK and BELOW!

Gerbil333

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2002
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Here is my secondary system. I've had many of the parts for years, running stock at all times:

Abit KR7A-RAID
Athlon XP 1700+ JUIHB TBred B
Corsair 256mb XMS2700C2 @ 2-2-2-6-1T
MSI GeForce 4 Ti 4200 64mb
Sound Blaster Live! 5.1
Linksys 10/100 PCI NIC
IBM 20gb Deskstar 60GXP ATA100, 7200rpm hd
Lite On CD-RW/DVD Combo: 48x24x48, 16x DVD Read
Black Floppy Drive
Green Aluminum Chieftec server tower w/window
Green 12" Cold Cathode
Black Rounded IDE & Floppy cables
Enermax 431W daul fan PSU

I decided I wanted to upgrade it to 512mb's of RAM but retain the timings, and I'll eventually swap the board for this A7N8X Deluxe 2.0 in my main system (when the Athlon 64 comes out). So, I bought a set of Corsair 2x256mb TWINX2700LLPT on the forums here for $80, and it arrived today. I tried it out at 2-2-2-5-1T at 4 Bank interleave like Corsairs specs call for. 3DMark 2001 quit to the desktop after a couple loops, and Prime95 errored after about 30 minutes. So, I tried memtest86 to see how bad it was. In under 30 seconds, there were 3 errors, so I lowered the settings to 2-2-2-6-1T and disabled bank interleave. That helped, but there were still errors.

I stuck the old Corsair 256mb XMS2700C2 back in and set the BIOS back how it had been for months (2-2-2-6-1T, bank interleave disabled). I ran memtest86 just for kicks...all looked good until Test #5, which I hadn't even tried with the TWINX cause it was getting 1-5 errors in tests 1-4. DANG: anywhere from 8,000-90,000 errors! I'd never used memtest86 on this setup before...it'd been trouble free! Prime95 had never errored, 3DMark 2001 would loop overnight, games played fine, my girlfriend and a few other people have watched DVD's on it many times recently, and it never crashes! HOW IN THE WORLD can there be that many errors, yet it has been stable!? I went ahead and let it boot into WinXP and let Prime95 run while my sister and some friends watched a DVD on it and used it for a while. Flawless. Can anyone explain that?

THE NEW RAM IS OK: My initial thought was that the Corsair 2x256mb TWINX2700LLPT I bought on the forums was faulty, since I'd never had any stability issues with the system. I put the TWINX in my 3rd computer, which is an MSI K7N2G-L (nForce 2 IGP). It put it in sltos 1 and 3 to enable dual channel, and set it to 2-2-2-5 at 133mhz. I ran memtest86. NO ERRORS. I ran 3DMark and it did fine. I ran Prime95 + Winamp for a few hours. No problems. I then played a few maps of Tribes 2, which is an extremely good indicator of stability from my experience. It worked fine. I talked to the guy who I bought it from, and he said it worked fine in his A7N8X, and an older Ali Magik board he tested it in before shipping it off. He sold it because he upgraded to 1gb of RAM, so I don't doubt him. Plus, my testing in my own nForce 2 board showed that it was stable.

What I've tried:

-2.5-3-3-6-2T, Bank Interleave Disabled, all "safe" CPU and memory options
-DDR Voltage at 2.55-2.65
-FSB at 100mhz
-CPU at 100x5 (yes, a 1700+ JUIHB TBred B at 500mhz :p )

Keep in mind the RAM is rated for 2-2-2-4 at 133mhz, and the CPU OC's very well. The CPU is running at 34-38C. The case is huge and there's plenty of airflow. It aint heat.

None of that solves the thousands of errors the system is producing in Test#5. When I set the CPU to 500mhz, I only got 4 errors...but the CPU temps are fine, it's been stable for months and was still stable tonight even after showing all those errors, and it OC's just fine!

What's the deal?

Summary:

My Abit KR7A-RAID is producing thousands of errors in test #5 of memtest86 with different memory that works perfectly in other systems, and it's running stock. Even slower settings don't help!
 

stevejst

Banned
May 12, 2002
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It is possible that you have cache error with processor, memtest86 tests more than just the sticks of ram. If you have been severely overclocking your CPU perhaps you see the consequences now. Error is error whatever it is, you might not see it in the practical apps but it is error nevertheless.
 

Gerbil333

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2002
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The CPU has been running stock since I got it, and that was only 1-2 months ago. Stock voltage (1.5V), stock FSB, stock multiplier. I've done countless hours of usage on that machine. No problems. I personally think the board is dying.
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
Aug 22, 2001
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Originally posted by: Gerbil333
The CPU has been running stock since I got it, and that was only 1-2 months ago. Stock voltage (1.5V), stock FSB, stock multiplier. I've done countless hours of usage on that machine. No problems. I personally think the board is dying.
Yeah, memory controller could be flakey. Have you tried the latest bios yet? Sometimes memory compatability is enhanced in later versions.
 

Gerbil333

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2002
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I flashed to the latest BIOS right before I put the XP 1700+ JUIHB TBred B in a couple months ago.

I remembered an Abit news group that I used to read when this KR7A was in my main system. I went there and did a quick search. Bingo: Memtest Errors

That's just one article. There are plenty more! It turns out the KR7A has some kind of problem, and lots of people get these errors in Test 5 (and 8, which I didn't bother trying since it was erroring on 5 so bad).

I guess I'll be buying a new board :(