Is memtest 86+ still good for new ram?

[Compman55]

Got 32GB DDR3 on the way and do not even want to boot into windows until it is tested. The ram I bought has mixed reviews. So will this program be good? About how long will it take to test that much?

 

[PliotronX]

It is certainly still very useful! The best way to run it is with a single stick at a time because the multi-channel accessing interleaves the data so you may get inconsistent readings or not know which stick is throwing up errata. With the kind of bandwidth DDR3 yields I think each 8GB stick would take 30-40 minutes for the entire battery of tests but the very RAM specific tests are numbers 5 and 8. Every test can still produce errors that are not the RAM's fault (e.g. CPU, mobo, even the PSU), but 5 and 8 are almost always the RAM's fault with errata. I like to run 10-20 loops of these with the keystrokes c, 1, 3, 5 or 8, enter, 0 and just let it run on each stick. This will be fairly time consuming but is the best way to test RAM with this software.

 

[lehtv]

HCI memtest: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2195063

I don't see any point testing it though just because it has mixed reviews. If it works, and you're not getting any BSOD's or other problems pointing to memory instability, then it's almost certainly fine. This is especially true when running it at its rated settings or lower JEDEC standard settings.

 

[Compman55]

Well.....memtest 86+ ran great all night, no errors. Did not want to corrupt / crash windows. Now that it is running good, will enable XMP and try again tonight. Then if all is well, will run the HCI memtest.

 

[bryanl]

Well.....memtest 86+ ran great all night, no errors.

If it showed no errors, how do you know it ran great?

 

[Cerb]

Yes, Memtest86+ is good, but do make sure you're running a 5.0 or newer with new PCs. Many Linux distros still include the late 4.x releases, which screw up on new HW.

 

[Sequences]

I usually do at least 10 iterations with memtest, that's enough to satisfy my stability threshold.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

HCI memtest: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2195063

I don't see any point testing it though just because it has mixed reviews. If it works, and you're not getting any BSOD's or other problems pointing to memory instability, then it's almost certainly fine. This is especially true when running it at its rated settings or lower JEDEC standard settings.

It's my SOP with any new / new-to-me hardware. I can appreciate the temptation of instant gratification, but a few hours to ensure something is non-defective is worth it.