Something's cooking and it doesn't smell good...

[dkm777]

Greetings folks,

Recently I had a Corsair Vengeance RAM stick go bad in my rig in the sig. Two days ago I received a replacement kit. I tested it by two passes of memetest86+ and all was good... or so I thought. I then just booted Windows, used my PC lightly and left it to fold overnight and through the folowing day. To my surprise I found that it BSOD'ed while I was away. Ran memtest again - no errors. Then tested with LinX - error after the very first pass. Upped the Vcore from 1.288 to 1.3V - all was good... for a while. Then LinX started throwing errors again. Reset everything to stock - LinX error after first pass. Did my i7 degrade using no more than 1.3V VTT/QPI and no more than 1.3V Vcore? The highest CPU temp was 72 degrees C. Or maybe it's my mobo going? Should I reset CMOS and try again?

 

[biostud]

maybe roll back some of the o/c?

 

[dkm777]

I did. LinX still errors at stock settings. I'll try resetting the BIOS and testing stock speed with increased Vcore (1.3V vs 1.27V stock).

 

[doron1]

Use one stick of ram at 1333mhz and check for errors.

 

[tweakboy]

You need to make sure the RAM is running at stock speed and the voltage applied is not on auto in the BIOS but you change it to what the kit says to put. Also your RAM timings should be what that kit recommends, change that manually if you have to.

BSOD is usually RAM related, or possibly driver related. Your max CPU temp of 72c is fine, Its nto your CPU, I doubt its the motherboard. Just make sure its running at stock or lower speed and voltage is correct and timings are correct. If you get BSOD again,

test ram with memtest if u get errors return it get new ones... gl

 

[dkm777]

Reseated the CPU, reset the CMOS, set RAM frequency, timings and Uncore frequency manually. I also reduced QPI Link speed. First LinX pass went without errors. I'm going to try 20 passes and report back. I have a feeling it's the QPI speed that was the problem.

Edit: I understand that it wasn't the actual QPI link speed but the multiplier used. Sabertooth does not show the actual multipliers and setting the right speeds for CPU/RAM/Uncore/QPI is quite hard and I do it entirely by guessing.

 

[tweakboy]

Sounds good, hope your next run goes without error, then your set.

Corshair is too good of a company to send you bunk RAM as your replacement... gl

 

[dkm777]

Looks like it was too early to rejoice. Yesterday everything was fine, but I turned on the PC this morning to run a test again and was greeted by errors again. I'm going to RMA the mobo and CPU. Hope the place will accept them.

 

[Kantastic]

Try the power supply first, I hear many stories about people replacing their entire systems only to find out that dirty power was the culprit.

 

[dkm777]

OK, as a last resort I'm following Doron1's advice and LinX'ing with just one RAM stick and so far so good. I just don't know what to think anymore. Memtest86+ returned no errors, but Windows programs (LinX, Prime, OCCT) did.

 

[OJay]

try inserting the modules in the other DIMMs too.

 

[dkm777]

That's what I'm going to try if this test passes - two sticks, then all three. I have a feeling that either one of the sticks wasn't seated properly or I have a damaged DIMM slot. Those Vengeances seem to use a very slightly thicker PCB then all the other kind of RAM sticks I used. On my old Rampage Extreme board I also used a Vengeance 2x4GB kit and it was a very tight fit - I could barely install them. I also broke 2 latches when trying to remove them. I'm now deeply afraid to install/remove RAM sticks.

Update 1: 1 stick - passed, 2 sticks - passed. Going for 3 sticks now. I'ts going to take quite a while. I dread to think how this troubleshooting deal would be like if I had 24 gigs of RAM...

Update 2: 3 sticks - no go. Tested two sticks in various slots - all good. I'm beginning to suspect the RAM kit. Going to test using XMS3 from my backup rig when I get home from work. If 3 XMS sticks pass then it's surely the RAM.

 

[dkm777]

Bumping with a question:
Is it safe to run 1.65V RAM on a Gulftown? The XMS3 modules that I have are 1600MHz 1.65V.

Edit: running LinX right now at 1333MHz 1.5V. So far so good. Looks like they gave me a dud for a replacement .

Edit 2: system's been rock stable for many hours now. I contacted the company I bought the RAM from. Oh, and since this turned out to be a memory issue I'd be grateful if a mod or admin moved my thread to appropriate forum.