Mobo or RAM?

oddity21

Member
Aug 1, 2006
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I turned on my PC this morning and it gave me one long beep and three short ones, the signal for a memory problem. It then boots normally. World in Conflict benchmark performance dropped from 24fps to 14fps at 1680x1050, everything maxed out in DX10 mode. Experienced sharp performance drops in other games too. Windows Memory Diagnostic reported that I was having hardware problems.

I happen to have two spare sticks of similar make and specs to the problematic ones: a pair of Corsair XMS2 PC-6400 5-5-5-12 1GB modules. So I removed the two old sticks and put in these new ones. Windows Memory Diagnostic still reported hardware problems, but all my games are now performing normally. I gained the 10fps lost earlier in WiC back and played through a 8v8 MP match without a hitch. Blew through a couple of Lost Planet levels. Performance was normal.

But Windows Memory Diagnostic still reports that there's a hardware problem.

What's going on? Is it my mobo? Or do I really have four faulty sticks? If I keep on using my PC as it is, will there be problems in the long run?

EDIT: Just ran one pass of Memtest86. Found 7 errors. This is with the fresh-out-of-the-package pair, by the way. I'll run another pass on the old faulty set tonight.
 

drakore

Senior member
Aug 15, 2006
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hmmm my guess is that it wouldn't boot with a faulty wiring part on the board pertaining to the ram. It could be something stupid like a poor connection on one of the slots... try rubbing the copper points with rubbing alcohol, and using a blowoff duster on one of the slots... post the results from the memtest on the old sticks... if it the same amount of errors then that will help isolate the problem....

this is all my personal speculation, i am really not sure
 

oddity21

Member
Aug 1, 2006
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Just ran Memtest on each stick. Just one pass per stick though.

One stick from the brand-new pair passed all tests. The other one from this pair had four errors in one address.

As for the other pair: one had 22 errors in 5 addresses, another had four in one. Guess the first one from this pair is why I had terrible slowdowns this morning. *sigh*
 

Yellowbeard

Golden Member
Sep 9, 2003
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Did you disable Legacy USB Support in the bios? You have to disable this setting for Memtest to run properly.
 

BenchZowner

Senior member
Dec 9, 2006
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Originally posted by: Yellowbeard
Did you disable Legacy USB Support in the bios? You have to disable this setting for Memtest to run properly.

What Yellowbeard said, and use Memtest86+ v1.70, and run 50 loops of test #5 with each stick on its own.
If they both pass the test without errors, stick in both DIMMs and run another 50 loops of test #5 again.

[ to loop test #5 press: C, then 1, then 3, then 5, then enter, then 0 ]
 

JustaGeek

Platinum Member
Jan 27, 2007
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Will the USB keyboard work with Memtest, with the Legacy USB support disabled...?

Mine doesn't work in DOS...
 

wpshooter

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2004
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Originally posted by: Yellowbeard
Did you disable Legacy USB Support in the bios? You have to disable this setting for Memtest to run properly.


Is this really correct/true ?

Thanks.
 

Yellowbeard

Golden Member
Sep 9, 2003
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Originally posted by: wpshooter
Originally posted by: Yellowbeard
Did you disable Legacy USB Support in the bios? You have to disable this setting for Memtest to run properly.


Is this really correct/true ?

Thanks.

Yes it is. The ASUS boards have some conflict with the USB Legacy Support and Memtest. I have been told it relates to how ASUS implements bios shadowing but I don't know if this is accurate.
 

wpshooter

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2004
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Originally posted by: Yellowbeard
Originally posted by: wpshooter
Originally posted by: Yellowbeard
Did you disable Legacy USB Support in the bios? You have to disable this setting for Memtest to run properly.


Is this really correct/true ?

Thanks.

Yes it is. The ASUS boards have some conflict with the USB Legacy Support and Memtest. I have been told it relates to how ASUS implements bios shadowing but I don't know if this is accurate.

Could having this parameter set to AUTO cause memtest to display errors when testing ECC memory ? That is the problem I am having, see my other post entitled Memtest Errors.

Thanks.

 

Yellowbeard

Golden Member
Sep 9, 2003
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Originally posted by: wpshooter
Originally posted by: Yellowbeard
Originally posted by: wpshooter
Originally posted by: Yellowbeard
Did you disable Legacy USB Support in the bios? You have to disable this setting for Memtest to run properly.


Is this really correct/true ?

Thanks.

Yes it is. The ASUS boards have some conflict with the USB Legacy Support and Memtest. I have been told it relates to how ASUS implements bios shadowing but I don't know if this is accurate.

Could having this parameter set to AUTO cause memtest to display errors when testing ECC memory ? That is the problem I am having, see my other post entitled Memtest Errors.

Thanks.
Yes, AUTO means enabled in this case and it will cause Memtest to show false errors. Turn it off for Memtesting.
 

wpshooter

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2004
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Thanks. I will give it a try tonight and see if that makes any difference.

But if this is the case, you would think that this is something that the Memtest should let you know about. Or is this something that we are supposed to just already be aware of on our own ?

Thanks.
 

Yellowbeard

Golden Member
Sep 9, 2003
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Originally posted by: wpshooter
I tried it, it made NO difference.

Is your memory ECC unbuffered or ECC registered? Also, other than Memtest, are you having stability issues?
 

wpshooter

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2004
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It is ECC unbuffered.

The problem I am having is related to BEEPING from system speaker when running Ubuntu Feisty or Gutsy on this machine. Runs all older versions fine. This is sort of a long story and if you are interested you might see some of my posts "wpshooter" on the Ubuntu forums.

I am just trying to figure out if this is strictly a bad memory problem or something related to Ubuntu EDAC or a combination of the two.

I have another machine that is using an ASUS P4G8X motherboard and also Kingston ECC memory and it runs Memtest with ZERO problems and also runs ALL versions of Ubuntu fine, even with the ECC parameter turned on in BIOS.

Thanks.

P. S. - I finally found a post on the Ubuntu forum yesterday that tells me that I am not the only one having this problem. So, I am thinking it may be just a problem with Ubunut EDAC but I suppose that there is still the possibility that some other people who are using these same types of motherboards could also possibly have some bad ECC memory modules.
 

myocardia

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2003
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Originally posted by: BenchZowner
What Yellowbeard said, and use Memtest86+ v1.70, and run 50 loops of test #5 with each stick on its own. If they both pass the test without errors, stick in both DIMMs and run another 50 loops of test #5 again.

Umm, that's not how you use MemTest86, if you're checking for faulty RAM, that's how you run it if you're overclocking your RAM.