Question Your Experience With Filling Four Memory Slots With The Chipset/Motherboard Maximum?

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
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I have acquired two sets of 2x16GB RipJaws DDR4-3200 RAM for what I deem as a low and reasonable price.

It seems that if I love my (aging) computer, I can't resist the fantasies about how to make it better, even if some chump-change could be better applied to a newer processor, board -- maybe DDR5 RAM. So I have these kits from G.SKILL, new, in their unopened blister packages.

I just . . .finally . . . completed the troubleshooting and repair of the beloved computer with a motherboard swapout -- the board ASUS sent me last year under warranty after I'd bought an open-box in a hurry online -- probably at EBay. The Open-Box led to a string of 14 random shutdowns that occurred on average every 14.5 days -- hard to diagnose, but I'm sure the RMA replacement board has nailed it.

So I'm thinking about these RAM kits, and how nice it would be to have 64GB for use as L1 cache under PrimoCache. I'm thinking that it will take a god-awful amount of time to test them, when I need this computer for day-to-day, serious business.

I guess I'm asking "should I, or shouldn't I?" Should I . . . test each kit, one at a time? Or stand pat for the moment with the 2x16GB kit that's already in the box and working fine? What problems might I encounter, when I don't need any such problems right now?

It's OK that I acquired these RipJaws kits. I was going to build another one of these systems anyway with a Silly-Lottery de-lid/re-lid Skylake processor. I've got a spare, and new -- workstation motherboard. All the parts are in my possession. I just need to put it together. I can take my time with a system that I'm not yet using for practical business.

I know. I know. "PUt it all on the e-Heap and get yourself an Alder Lake with a Z690 board." I can do that next year. Or -- by then -- a (what's-it-called?) -- Z790 system?
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
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Just install and enjoy. Testing them one at a time would be a pretty big waste of time.
That's what I will do . . . but they're new modules, and I'll have to run HCI-Memtest64 within Windows to test them thoroughly. Still a PITA. Imagine running the test from a bootable CD . . . . all week . . .
 

Muadib

Lifer
May 30, 2000
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That's what I will do . . . but they're new modules, and I'll have to run HCI-Memtest64 within Windows to test them thoroughly. Still a PITA. Imagine running the test from a bootable CD . . . . all week . . .

I could understand doing that if you had a problem. However these are new. I go back to the 80’s building computers for myself and others, and since then have only seen one bad memory stick out of the box. Besides that, your sticks have a pretty good warranty. If down the line you have an issue, you will be taken care of.
 
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Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
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Sep 13, 2008
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Since you have a UEFI based system, you can just boot the latest memtest86 from a flash drive, which is UEFI and has multi core support. Even with 64GB, I would expect 4 passes to be done in under 10 hours. Honestly, even 2 passes should be fine for initial stability testing of a new kit. Now if there are later issues with the computer, that is when you could test further more thouroughly.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,699
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I just happen to have a license for HCI-Memtest64, which I purchased a few years ago.

True, I don't think I've ever had a defective kit of G.SKILL brand-new in the blister-wrap. I prefer G.SKILL for a variety of reasons. They honor their lifetime warranty quickly and efficiently. I think, about 15 years ago, I bought some Crucial Ballistics. About twice, I've purchased motherboard bundles with 2x4GB Corsair kits -- I've put those in my Win 2012 server box.

I'd always been in the habit of testing "500%" with the HCI product, but two or three passes has always seemed adequate. I don't OC the RAM as I had more than a decade past. The kits I buy are defined as "OC" in their spec, anyway. The only source of minor uncertainty (in my mind -- it's mostly all in my mind) is the need for fixing the VCCIO (or IMC) voltage for the rated OC. I've had motherboard "auto" settings show 1.32V after restarting into BIOS with the XMP profile and speed set, and for this generation of processor and DDR4, that's "right at the edge" of asking for trouble.

Of course, in the thoughts of several here, I'm using "old" technology with Z170 boards. That could change in a year's time. I just haven't had time for it these last few years. My aging Moms has required more and more of my time and energy.

ANYWAY! Maybe some have seen the littered trail of threads I started per dealing with an infrequent (14.5 day average interval) random restart/shutdown. I eliminated the RAM, PSU, UPS and motherboard as possible causes. I probably should've run sfc /scannow from an elevated command prompt seven months ago. That just may have fixed it. The log-file showed a whole s***pile of repairs done.

MEANWHILE -- in those wee hours of the morning while Moms is fast asleep with a dry diaper -- I've started building a twin system on my patio table, using the same 15-year-old model computer case (Stacker 832), and my "formula" of custom case and ducting mods. I'm trying to work myself up to the task of Dremeling some plastic today. That -- with the prospect of cataract surgery which I won't put off very long if I can avoid it.

"The Last Ship", "The Last Picture Show", "The Last Hurrah" -- The Last Computer. This could be it . . . Then, again, "maybe in a year's time". Idea being -- with my attention to my preferred computer cases -- I can just pop in a z690 (or whatever . . ), some DDR5 sticks, and maybe an Alder Lake processor -- DONE! Then -- THAT -- will be -- THE LAST COMPUTER.

After that -- who will get my computers when I finally punch my ticket into the next life?
 
Last edited:
Jul 27, 2020
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Considering all the important documents you have, shouldn't you invest in a branded workstation PC or server with Xeon CPU and ECC RAM?

There's also relatively cheap used Thinkpads or Dell Precision laptops available with Xeon CPU and ECC RAM that would serve your purposes just as well. Just a suggestion in case you want to absolutely ensure the integrity of your data and don't want some stray neutrino or other cosmic ray particle causing bit errors, leading to data corruption.