Ram/MB Problem

[Zimripple]

I have recently put together my own computer, a first for me, here are the specs:

Asus 590i Crosshair
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ Windsor 2.8GHz
EVGA 8800 GTS
Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM
Corsair 520 W PSU
Corsair XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

After putting everything together and installing vista I began getting crashing quite often. After many attempts to fix this by reinstalling vista, installing xp instead, and updating and going through the bios I came to the conclusion that one of the sticks of ram was bad through a stroke of luck when i pulled one out and tried to start it. I got that pair of ram replaced with another pair of the same stuff and put them in. Everything worked fine for about 3 weeks when another of the sticks went bad.

I am relatively new at building and teching my own computers but I have done some research and it seems like the type of memory I got is prone to instability. At this point I am not sure if it is the memory itself that is bad quality and has just broke on its own or is being shorted or by a possibly faulty board. Either way i was planning on RMAing the board and getting another crosshair and returning the ram altogether and getting a different kind.

I have not done an extensive search on this forum and do not regularly read them but i wanted to ask which seems to be my problem, the memory or my motherboard? Also if I were to replace the memory which would be a good choice for system that would work with my board. I was looking at either the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145165 or the not so expensive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231114. Im definately open to suggestions as well. Any help would be appreciated and if I missed any informations that is needed please let me know and i'll get it.

Thanks
Adam

 

[Sdiver2489]

What voltage are you running the ram at?

 

[Zimripple]

The ram voltage was on auto set in the bios, which i believe was 1.9 v

 

[Sdiver2489]

Originally posted by: Zimripple
The ram voltage was on auto set in the bios, which i believe was 1.9 v

Your ram is spec'd at 2.1 V try raising the voltage to that and see if that helps the instability

 

[Zimripple]

I did set it at 2.1 v at one point although it may have been after one of the sticks was already dead. Would a lower voltage actually make a stick go bad though?

 

[Sdiver2489]

Originally posted by: Zimripple
I did set it at 2.1 v at one point although it may have been after one of the sticks was already dead. Would a lower voltage actually make a stick go bad though?

not likely but it could result in crashes/instability

 

[Zimripple]

When i found out that one of the sticks was bad I took it out and was running it on the other 1g stick with no problems. The crashing and the rest of my problems stopped when I took out the bad ram.

 

[Zimripple]

bump... i could still use some help.