Memory errors, but not anymore?

[ConnyG]

Asus P5Q-E
E6750 at stock speed with Ultra 120 Extreme
2 kits of Corsair TWIN2X2048-C4 (4 x 1 GB total)
Leadtek GF8800 GTS 512 MB at stock speeds
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit

I previously had a P5E motherboard which gave me a lot of headache. I attributed this to overheating the RAM for some unknown reason as it would run stable as long as I had a fan blowing air over the RAM modules. (it would just die, blackscreen on me with nothing in the event log except "the system shutdown was unexpected"). Despite having 7 fans in the case I sometimes had to open the side panel and lay the chassi on the side and it would work perfectly (always happened during gaming, so maybe more load and heat from both memory and GPU contributed to something overheating and crashing).

Got the new motherboard the other day, installed it, installed all drivers in Vista and re-activate (no re-install, just let it install all drivers for the new motherboard). Start up a game, poof, black screen, reboot, BIOS corrupt and asks me to recover (?), boot back, start game again, poof.

Okay, so I decied to get my CD with Memtest86 2.01 and run a long test.

Module #3 + #4 in dual channel mode, ok
Module #1 + #2, errors

Module #1, 3 passes ok
Module #2, 1 pass ok, then get errors, hang, warns about BIOS settings lost on reboot so have to re-enter them
Module #3, 3 passes ok
Module #2, tested again, 3 passes, no errors (?!?!)
Module #4, 3 passes ok
Module #1, 3 passes ok

Today I installed all four modules and had Memtest run for 7 straight hours completing 10 passes successfully.

I am going to reinstall Vista as I may have some driver crud (plus the drive is a refurb so getting it on the other identical drive I have instead).

But how should I interpret these test results and my crashes? To be honest I would have prefered to see the module fail continuously so I could just toss it. It did fail in dual channel mode and by itself, but now is working perfectly.

Memory is cheap these days so I have no problems getting a new pair of 2x2GB, as long as I know what brand/model to go for. But what do you think I should do? I don't like when it screws up the BIOS on hangs but that has become a bit more rare.

regards,
Conny

 

[Big Lar]

If you pulled the ram out and then later put them back in, unless you numbered them, some of them went in different slots than they were. Happens once in a while that swapping ram in slots makes a big difference, makes no sense, but it happens.

Larry

 

[ConnyG]

I don't know the order they were in originally, and the exact order they were placed in during 2-module and 4-module tests. When I tested one module at a time I wrote down a unique number I found on each module and the results.

I'll keep my fingers crossed it works now.

Btw, the modules are rated 2.1V at CL4 but the motherboard is running them at standard 5-5-5-18 timings. Should I leave the DRAM voltage at the default 1.8V or up it to 2.1V?

"Tested at latency settings (4-4-4-12) at 2.1V
SPD programmed at:
JEDEC standard 5-5-5-18 values at 800MHz"

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Leave them at 1.8V. Maybe crank them up to 1.9V since you have 4 of them. Less heat, less chance of erroring.

 

[ConnyG]

I am starting to get the impression that it just doesn't work stable with all four modules.

Yesterday I just couldn't play WoW. It would blue screen (with funky messages like PFN_LIST_CORRUPT, as well as one VIDEO_MEMORY_MANAGEMENT) just a minute or two after logging in to the game. What scares me is that one of the crashes even managed to corrupt the BIOS and I had to recover it.

I took two modules out and after that it was solid. It's a shame as I bought the Corsair modules because they were on the QVL list.

As stated it ran perfectly stable with MemTest but I guess gaming is a bit more stressful on the system.

So I am thinking of replacing them with 2 x 2 GB. I have no plans of overclocking so any DDR2 800/1066 MHz memory would do as long as it runs absolutely stable.

Any recommendations on rock solid memory that is known to work with the P5Q-E motherboard?

 

[disports]

the g.skill ddr2 800 should work, i think it's $79.99 on newegg or something.

 

[disports]

4 gb (2 x 2gb) i meant to say

 

[RebateMonger]

http://Crucial.com has 2 MB modules "guaranteed compatible" for your motherboard, along with free shipping, lifetime support and lifetime warranty for abou $80 for 4 GB. I tend to use Crucial a lot because it's the last major U.S. memory manufacturer and I've never had a bad module from them.

 

[PlanetX]

2MB modules? And who might want those?

 

[ConnyG]

Hmm... none of the stores I usually buy from here in Finland carries Crucial, but one of them has a large selection of G.Skill memory, such as the F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ (2 x 2 GB CL5 DDR2-800).

I think I am running at default voltage now (1.8V). As it seems to run stable with 2 modules I am thinking it might be worthwile increasing the voltage to 1.9-2.1V and see if it runs stable with four modules, before potentially ordering new.

It is labeled as 4-4-4-12 2.1V but the motherboard runs it at 5-5-5-15 1.8V by default.

 

[n7]

Motherboard runs what SPD is by default, which is 5-5-5-15 for your RAM.

Something funny is going on.

You should try running them at their specified settings, not the auto ones.

Set 2.02v (since your mobo overvolts by 0.08v)
Set your first four timings to 4-4-4-12
Set NB Voltage to 1.26+ (lower this then if it passes)

Try running HCI Memtest in Windows.
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/
You'll need to run a couple to a few instances set to just under your total available.
In Vista x64, 2 instances @ 1000 -1200 MB should be fine, just make sure it's not utilizing more than you have available.

It shouldn't get any errors.

 

[ConnyG]

Thanks, will give it a try when I get home. I don't mind running the memory at 5-5-5-15 as longs as my computer is stable. Hopefully giving the memory, and maybe NB, a bit more juice will work better.

 

[ConnyG]

Ok, here are the results:

mem 2.02 V, nb 1.26 V, boot windows, start wow, run around a bit, *BAM*, BIOS corrupt upon boot, recover to 0605 (had 1306 latest flashed before)
mem 2.02 V, nb 1.30 V, boot windows, start wow, run for corpse, res, *BAM*
mem 2.02 V, nb 1.40 V, boot windows, start wow, buff, *BAM*
mem 2.10 V, nb 1.40 V, boot windows, start Asus PC Probe, *BAM*
mem 2.10 V, nb 1.40 V, boot windows, start control panel to uninstall AiSuite, *BAM*
remove two modules, load bios defaults (mem 1.8 V, nb 1.10 V), boot windows, 100% stable so far

In fact, it might just be my mind but with every change it seemed to die even faster. Blue screen all the time, either a STOP or IRQL_LESS_OR_EQUAL (once).

Hmm... I still haven't tried the modules in the other DIMM channel/slots to rule out any problems with the physical slots themselves.