Dual Channel MemTest Issues (OCZ)

[Cuttlefish]

I've had this computer for about 9 months now, and I've always had memory issues. However, they weren't anything too major, just random occasional bluescreens, crashes, and data corruption. I accepted it as "normal computer behavior" for 7 months. I started my work on the OCZ support forums, and realized I had some severe MemTest issues. I'm currently using the "stable" timings, voltages, and other settings on the OCZ board here. I had these problems when I ran the memory at 2-3-2-5 using other settings as well. The sticks are in the orange slots.

 

The MemTest errors I encountered always happened during the fifth test. The address involved always occured between about 1800 and 2048 MB. I've tried changing memory voltages, swapping memory positions, and adjusting other BIOS options.

 

The RAM I'm using is the "OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K" variety.

 

I've found that if I run the sticks independently (1 at a time) in DIMM 2 that the computer passes MemTest and operates stabley in Windows. Neither stick has an issue. However, both sticks display MANY errors in DIMM 4.

 

Although I'm running nice and stable at 1gb of RAM, I'd sure enjoy to return to 2gb. Any help would greatly be appreciated. Need more information? I can provide pictures of Bios and/or Memtest if needed.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Concurrent Topic @ OCZ Support Forums

[Traveller]

Have you tried putting the memory in the yellow slots (1 &3)? If you can pass memtest in the yellow slots, then you probably have a bad slot 4.

[Cuttlefish]

I briefly had my RAM in the Yellow slots during the winter, but encountered more errors that normal, and was told by the OCZ team that the RAM I was using was best suited for Orange slots. I'll give each stick a shot in each yellow slot tonight.

[Traveller]

The OCZ team are correct. The orange slots are preferred for your memory. For troubleshooting, you need to try all possibilities. If each stick passes memtest in slot 2, and both sticks pass memtest in the yellow slots, but still fail in slot 4, then you probably have a bad slot.

 

Since you already had stability problems with the memory in the yellow slots, then you are probably looking at returning the mobo under warranty. Hopefully someone else will provide some additional input.

[-CsA-TAZ]

Although I'm running nice and stable at 1gb of RAM, I'd sure enjoy to return to 2gb. Any help would greatly be appreciated. Need more information? I can provide pictures of Bios and/or Memtest if needed.

 

Thanks!

url=http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21329]Concurrent Topic @ OCZ Support Forums[/url]

 

Hi and welcome the the best forum in the world , Now to your problem, whilst i cant guess why it wont work in dimms 2 and 4, rather than run on 1 gig this is what i would do,

 

1st i would try dimms 2 & 4 with loose timings 2.5.3.3.7 to start with, then run mem test see how it goes, if that fails try the same timings with 2T command test again, if that dont work try 3.3.3.8 and so on even try auto, but if all else fails you could always put them in dimms 1 and 2 which will be single channel!

 

What is the SPD on them btw? What volt they running on?

[Cuttlefish]

What is the SPD on them btw?

 

SPD is 2-3-2-5.

[Sharp]

Hello,

 

With that BIOS Yellow slots.

In the winter what bios did you have?

 

Your Power supply is a very poor choice and can cause problems such as the ones that you are experiencing.

 

 

Make sure that all 4 power connectors are plugged into the board

# 24pin ATX connector.

# 4pin +12v P4 connector, near the ATX connector.

# Floppy power connector, under the CPU socket.

# Hard drive power connector, on top the chipset fan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

# Use BIOS 623-3.

# Then clear the CMOS for 10mins

# Use the orange slots.

# Power the PC

# Change the memory voltage to 2.8v.

# Run memtest, what happens.

 

You should replace the power supply.

[-CsA-TAZ]

SPD is 2-3-2-5.

 

have you tried any loose timings?

[Cuttlefish]

With that BIOS Yellow slots.

In the winter what bios did you have?

 

I'm fairly sure it was a 623 variant, though not positive.

 

Your Power supply is a very poor choice and can cause problems such as the ones that you are experiencing.

 

Is there a way I can know for sure? Is there a good software application that can monitor PSU voltages and validate them as good/bad?

 

Make sure that all 4 power connectors are plugged into the board

 

Yep, I've got them all plugged in.

 

# Use BIOS 623-3.

# Then clear the CMOS for 10mins

# Use the orange slots.

# Power the PC

# Change the memory voltage to 2.8v.

# Run memtest, what happens.

I'll get this running overnight. Thanks for your help!

 

 

 

have you tried any loose timings?

I've only tried a 2-3-2-8 as per the OCZ forums.

[Sharp]

Memtest test #5 = A Power hungry test.

[l3lackh0le]

if you have a DMM you can use the link to test your rail voltages on your psu.

 

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/show...072&postcount=1

[Cuttlefish]

Ok, sorry I didn't get back to ya'll for a while, here's the new report:

 

Things were working great after I downdated my bios to 623-3 and switched the voltage to 2.8. Memtest ran successfully for 17 hours, and my "install WoW, patch, then repair" test passed as well.

 

However, this morning, things took a turn for the worse. I usually leave my computer on overnight. I attempetd to run CounterStrike: Source, but the game failed to reach the loading screen, resulting in a hard lock. I rebooted, tried again, same result. I moved on to WoW, which crashed during loading. Subsequent attempts to play WoW were met with the same result. A repair of WoW found multiple corrupted files, which could not be fixed. After reinstalling, the patches repeatedly failed to apply, citing corrupt files. I gave up, and took care of other non-computer duties.

 

Tonight, I ran MemTest to see what had happened. Test 4 rewarded me with 14 errors, as seen here. Test 5 produced 24 more errors, seen here.

 

This 3-4 day cycle of normal operation followed by errors has occured in the past. During this time, I didn't touch the inside of my computer, and I didn't change anything in the bios.

 

Also, here are the voltages my PSU is putting out according to Motherboard Monitor:

Vcore + VID: 1.33

LDT Voltage: 1.18

DRAM: 2.83

Chipset: 1.49

+3.3 Rail: 3.30

+5.00 Rail: 5.00

+12.00 Rail: 12.27

 

I wouldn't object to upgrading my PSU if that is the problem. I have no idea why I would suddenly have issues after running stable for a couple days. Thanks for your help!