Having some Ram Difficulty.

[Raziaar]

Hey guys, need some help. Disclaimer that this all may seem rambling because I haven't been to sleep yet... and am really tired and wired.

I have recently purchased these modules from newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231047

My motherboard is an Intel D865PERL.

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/D865PERL/

I have an Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHZ processor that runs at 800mhz.

Now... my previous memory sticks are these...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145450


From everything I have looked, it should all be compatible.

I have reformatted my hard drive and I encountered some frsutrating problems. I had all memory in, and when I was installing windows it kept crashing to a blue screen of death with a Stop: 0x00000083 (0xc0000005, 0x805354A0, 0xF76866E4, 0x00000000) message. Basically a bad memory module I think it means.

I figured maybe my new memory was bad. I downloaded and burned memtest86 as well as RAM Probe which is a variant. Running both of those, after a few passes it seems like there's nothing really wrong with my ram modules. Both seem to be perfectly fine. I do intend to let them run many passes to stress test them and see, since some of the tests require like 36 passes to be truly accurate(vs the 4-5 I have done so far).

I'm actually in windows right now with all 4 ram modules installed. It registers the Corsair memory as 320 instead of 400, so I told it to manually recognize it at 400(which is something it supports, just isn't detecting it right for some reason). I know this shouldn't be causing issues because I was running it like that for quite a while before ordering this new memory. The new memory is running fine at 400, and is being detected just fine.

The problems I have encountered thus far was the repeated BSOD when installing windows. But now that I have windows completely installed and updated and everything, I am now in windows. The first time I have opened windows with all 4 ram modules in(yes, they are in the right spaced slots), it reset back to POST, and the second time It actually went through to windows, and here I am.

This leads me to be worried that it's going to be flaky, and I am wondering how I can further diagnose it. Am I missing something with the compatibility here? Are the longer passes of memtest essential for me to determine if there actually are problems?

 

[No Limit]

Since the new ram you got has 2 sticks take one out and see if you get the same issue or if solves the problem. Then try the second one. I bought a similar package from new egg for a server at work, it was 2 1GB sticks of OCZ memory. One of them worked while the other one would be unstable, similar as in your case. What sucks about this is you have to send both back for them to replace it under warranty.

 

[Raziaar]

Since the new ram you got has 2 sticks take one out and see if you get the same issue or if solves the problem. Then try the second one. I bought a similar package from new egg for a server at work, it was 2 1GB sticks of OCZ memory. One of them worked while the other one would be unstable, similar as in your case. What sucks about this is you have to send both back for them to replace it under warranty.

Yeah... I'm going to try it with just one of each of the new ones in there. Won't be optimized, but at least I can tell if one is unstable.

So does it not detect if one is unstable when both are in or something, even with the boot disk memory testers?

 

[No Limit]

Yeah... I'm going to try it with just one of each of the new ones in there. Won't be optimized, but at least I can tell if one is unstable.

So does it not detect if one is unstable when both are in or something, even with the boot disk memory testers?

I have no clue, as I said I never used the application. When I encouter problems I simply send the module back for replacement unless I know its an issue with something else. And the way I test for that is to take one stick out and see if the other works. If it does then its a problem with the memory. If both dont work it could be your motherboard isn't compatible and I don't see any reason it wouldn't be, 1GB modules should be supported even if they haven't officially been tested.

 

[{tDP}ferrari]

I had the same problem when I first got my new box.. I tested each stick the worked individually but not together.. I had 3 different memory plug in places so I tried different arrangments of my sticks of ram.. I found one that works and I don't have problems with!!

 

[Raziaar]

Well the first test I did was with them together, arranged properly in the correct A and B slots so as to take advantage of their linked nature.

As I said, I will be testing them separately here in a bit. Might have to go to bed while one of them tests... I feel like a zombie... which is funny cause I just got done watching 28 days later.

 

[No Limit]

When you say test them what do you mean? If you are having constant post issues just see if those issues go away.

Also, how did you end up installing windows? did you have to take the new memory out and then put it in after the install?

 

[Raziaar]

When you say test them what do you mean? If you are having constant post issues just see if those issues go away.

Also, how did you end up installing windows? did you have to take the new memory out and then put it in after the install?

When I say test them, I mean I have a boot disc burned with an .iso image of a program called memtest86 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memtest86

How it works

Memtest86+ writes a series of test patterns to every memory address, reads back the data written, and compares it for errors.

Information about the chipset can be used to enhance these tests ? particularly in an overclocked system. Many chipsets can report RAM speeds and timings, and some even support changing the memory timings on the fly; in this way, Memtest86+ can test that memory remains error-free with the more aggressive settings.

To finall end up completing windows installation, I did remove the new 2 gigs of ram and just use the 1 gig of 2-512s I have too. That worked for me.


Anyways, I have finished testing each stick individually. While I was sleeping, one of the 1 gig sticks(remember they are linked though) ran for 6 passes, and the other one only ended up running for 2 passes since it was time for me to wake up. I mean, I haven't even noticed a single error yet using memtest on any of my ram(the two 512 sticks also being good since I tested those as well). I haven't had another problem yet, as it looks like they've cleared up.

So maybe what was happening was a fluke? I'm not sure... any advice Asus? And by the way, thanks for replying No Limit to help me out.

EDIT: How damn ironic. I finish posting this, and wham... computer resets with a very brief BSOD that I didn't even get to see.


I wonder if it is not a memory issue at all, and instead has something to do with the windows installation process. I remember having a problem kind of like this in the past before, but it's hard to be certain because I have new memory now.

EDIT 2: ARGH! Crashed again! And then again as windows was trying to load up. and then two more times. Third time, windows loaded in. WHAT THE HELL.


I tried logging into safe mode, and I got various other STOP: errors... like STOP: 0x00000024 in ntfs.sys and STOP: 0x0000007F

I took out the two new memory modules, and I'm in safe mode to see what these other errors mean.

Okay, well it suggest more ram failure. The original two 512 sticks work just fine.

I am now in the process of operating windows with the two 1 gig sticks in, to see if maybe the cause for all these problems is how the two brands mix together and cause problems. I'll be doing some stress testing, opening various memory intensive applications to see if I can cause these 2 1 gigs to fail.

Corsair:
Speed DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Cas Latency 2
Timing 2-3-3-6

G.Skill
Cas Latency 2.5
Timing 2.5-3-3-6


Will these differences in Cas Latency and Timings be a reason to cause these problems?

Update: So far the 2 1 gigs are running just fine... no crash yet, which leads me to believe the differences in RAM are causing the problems. Everything is leading down that road. Individually they all scan fine in memtest. Individually they all run windows fine so far without any crashes(whereas I was getting many with both sets running together).

Last thing to try I guess, would be to set in BIOS my CAS latency to 2.5 for both(to match them up) and see how that affects things.*ACTUALLY* I'm not going to try that just yet, since I'm reading to see whatadverse affects it might cause* So far I'm noticing people that it just automatically sets it to run at the highest setting, so that they run fine with different CAS latency.

 

[Barney Fife]

Maybe MB does not support that particular memory model and or manufacturer? Check MB with supported modules.

If you're mixing modules, please don't.

Also check memory volts; they could be under-volted (Never leave memory and CPU volts on Auto) instead you must dial the correct volt range on both.

Good Luck.

 

[Raziaar]

Maybe MB does not support that particular memory model and or manufacturer? Check MB with supported modules.

If you're mixing modules, please don't.

Also check memory volts; they could be under-volted (Never leave memory and CPU volts on Auto) instead you must dial the correct volt range on both.

Good Luck.

The new memory is working just fine and dandy I've determined. It's just that when I mix the two, that's when problems arise.

 

[Barney Fife]

Mixing modules with different SPD, capacity and voltage specifications will sure give you the headaches.

There is your problem; mixed modules.

Modules should always be from the same manufacturer, the same SPD settings, voltage, and maybe capacity, for them to cooperate in the system.

Good Luck.

 

[Rico]

Heh, I've been toying with the idea of getting some new DDR 400 sticks for my PC but I just can't seem to warrant spending more money on my current computer, since it's a socket 939 and I can't really upgrade it any more.

Also, DDR is more expensive than DDR2, so I figure if I spend 60 bucks on 1 more gig of ram (I have 1.5 gigs of mismatched 3200 & 2700 DDR right now), that's 60 bucks I could have put torwards saving for a new motherboard/cpu.

 

[Raziaar]

Final last ditch effort.

My BIOS wasn't setting my tRAS number correctly. It had it as 7, instead of 6.

2-3-3-6
2.5-3-3-6

Therefore it should be 6, since the 6 correlates to tRAS. I read that setting that incorrectly could have some instability problems... so I'm running now with all four modules in.

I also swapped out the locations, so instead of 1gigs being in Slot A-1 & B-1, they are now in A-2 & B-2. The 512's are in slot A-1 & B-1 now.

So far so good. The instant I start getting BSOD's, I'm just going to say screw it, and give my brother my 512's since they are the same type he has in his computer and just stick with the 2 gigs. Ideally I want the 3 though, since I'm going to be doing some Blender fluid simulations which benefit from having more ram, and don't necessarily bottleneck up just because the rest of my computer isn't up to par as much.

I look at all of this as a frustration, an inconvenience. But I also look at it as a learning experience. The knowledge I gained from all this will help me in the future, so I won't have to learn as much of it then when I am researching buying a new computer(that is unless technology changes drastically)).

UPDATE: Hasn't crashed yet... I even stressed it a bit by opening up tons of ram intensive programs... using up about 1.8gb of ram. I didn't have enough programs installed yet since reformatting to take up more room than that. no games installed otherwise I would of run one while those were open. lol

ANOTHER UPDATE: Still no crash, and I've been doing all sorts of crap on it to try and get it to crash.