Would this all mean that this TwinX LL stick is dead?

[LordPhobos]

System specs to start:

 

A7N8X Deluxe rev.2, latest BIOS (1008)

AMD 3200+ not overclocked

1.5Gb of Corsair XMS RAM (one stick of PC3200C2 512Mb, two sticks of PC3200 TwinX LL) - not overclocked

 

I reinstalled Windows last night after just getting my motherboard back from being RMAed at Asus. Brand new BIOS chip in it. For some reason, when I tried to run 3dMark2001SE my PC would give me a blue screen. This happened a lot, both when I tried 3dMark as well as when I tried to do anything halfway intensive, like even network activity. This happened before with my old BIOS, but I managed to find a hacked BIOS that had CPC set to off (whatever that is I don't know, but it fixed the problem back then). I tried the idea again and it didn't do anything.

 

Long story short, I figured RAM was to blame somehow. So I went through each stick and tried to use it to boot the pc. My original PC3200C2 stick worked just fine in every slot, as did one of the TwinX sticks. Then the third stick wouldn't allow the pc to boot in any of the three slots. I tried each slot twice and I couldn't even get the pc to POST or even beep. I checked my RAM timings and they were still at the 3T-3-3-8 that I had it set at before, which my RAM should easily be able to handle. If I put in either of the other sticks of RAM the pc boots up just fine, and with both it shows 1Gb of RAM. If I put in all three it shows 1.5Gb.

 

Naturally the next step was to try memtest, so I did. I put in the other two sticks of RAM that booted up fine and ran memtest86+ v.1.27 (latest). It went through two passes, each pass running 7 tests, with absolutely no errors at all. I put in the extra stick of RAM, the one that wouldn't boot the pc at all, and it immediately started getting errors. It never even got past test #1 of pass #1 before I stopped it. If you know the screen at all, there is a column marked "Pass" and one next to it named "Errors". The error column was counting up extremely fast by the hundreds every second. When I finally cancelled the test it was at over 2.5million errors and was still at 11% of test 1, pass 1.

 

My assumption is that the RAM is dead. I wanted to post this here just in case someone has an idea that I can try to make sure this thing isn't dead before I go RMAing it. I don't see any other options here, but maybe someone does. Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to cover all of the steps I've done. Thanks!

[Yellowbeard]

It sounds like you have been very thorough. I suggest you post in the warranty section and copy n paste a link to this thread. Corsair has a nearly painless RMA process so you should be fine. Best thing is, you have other RAM to run while you wait.

 

Good luck, Mike.

[Wired]

Moved the thread.

[RAM GUY]

First of all, I would personally not recommend you to mix and match memory module especially with our XMS modules, we can not guarantee that it will work or it may but not at its rated speed. With your CMX512-3200C2 and with the ASUS A7N8X Deluxe MB; please make sure that you have the latest BIOS for your MB and load Setup/Optimized default settings, and try the following BIOS settings;

CMX512-3200C2

CPU Freq: 200 MHz (400 FSB)

System Performance: User Define

Memory Frequency: 100%

Resulting Frequency: 200 MHz (400 FSB)

Memory Timing: User Define

SDRAM CAS Latency: 2.5T

SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD): 3T

SDRAM Row Precharge (tRP): 3T

SDRAM Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS): 6T

DDR Reference Voltage: 2.7 Volts

AGP Voltage: Default *unless you have ATI (9200 or 9600) or NVIDIA (5200 or 5700) then 1.6 Volts suggested!*

All other settings are motherboards defaults

Then please test them one at a time with http://www.memtest.org and let’s make sure it's not some other issue! I would run the test for at least 2-3 passes to be sure!

[LordPhobos]

Thanks for the advice. I too wish that I had three sticks of TwinX/LL ram, but since the PC3200-C2 was a gift and I can't afford to replace it, I'll have to make do, even it means running slightly relaxed timings.

 

The test setup you suggested is essentially what I was running the memory at before when I ran memtest (indicated in my first posting). I actually used more relaxed timings than what you suggested, which I think would have made the RAM less prone to giving errors. I also have the latest BIOS. As much as I would like to test the sticks one at a time, I cannot boot off of the stick that I suspect as being bad (also mentioned in my first post), so I can't test that one on it's own. However, if I test all three I get errors, then if I take out the "bad" stick I get no errors, that seems to indicate to me where the problem would lie. I also would have loved to have run even one pass in memtest, but after 20 minutes of test 1 of pass 1 and still having the RAM sitting on 11% (this is with all three sticks), and after 2.5 million errors, I think it's safe to say I have a dead RAM module. When I hear that people say that three errors are bad, and I have 1 million times that, I think it's safe to cancel the test early. ;):

 

Thanks for the ideas. Anything else I can try? I hate the idea of waiting for an RMA, though I've been told Corsair is excellent at honoring their lifetime warranties. :biggrin:

[RAM GUY]

Let's go ahead and replace the bad module! Please follow the link in my signature “I think I have a bad part!” and we will be happy to replace them or it!