jrdankert Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 I installed two Corsair CMX512-2700LLPT DIMMs in a computer that I built 18 months ago, and they have worked fine until now. However, lately I have been getting some application crashes with memory errors, so I decided to run Memtest 86 and see what was going on. Using Memtest 86 I discovered that there appeared to be a problem. By removing the DIMMs and testing them separately I was able to isolate one that consistently failed the tests. I have not made any recent BIOS changes, so I believe that this is a bad DIMM. What should I do? Are there further tests I can run, or should I get an RMA and return it? Thank you, Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrdankert Posted January 13, 2005 Author Share Posted January 13, 2005 here are my RAM timings (from the BIOS) CAS: 2 tRCD: 2 tRP: 2 tRAS: 5 Command Rate: 1T Interleaving: 4 Bank (with both DIMMs, though it is currently set to 2 Bank while I am running with only one DIMM) No overclocking of any kind. With both DIMMs, they were installed in slots 1 and 3. However, with only one DIMM it needs to be in slot 3 (for stability). The DIMM that failed was the one that was originally in slot 3. Please let me know if any other info is needed, Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 13, 2005 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 13, 2005 Please make sure that you have the latest BIOS for your MB and load Setup/Optimized default settings, and try the following BIOS settings; TwinX1024 or TwinX512-2700LL CPU Freq: 166MHz (333 FSB) or 200MHz (400 FSB) System Performance: User Define Memory Frequency: 100% Resulting Frequency: 166MHz (333 FSB) or 200MHz (400 FSB) Memory Timing: User Define SDRAM CAS Latency: 2T SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD): 3T SDRAM Row Precharge (tRP): 2T SDRAM Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS): 5T 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrdankert Posted January 14, 2005 Author Share Posted January 14, 2005 I downloaded the latest BIOS, selected "Load Optimized Defaults," and then adjusted my manual settings to agree with your suggestions. The result: both modules worked perfectly! I let Memtest 86+ run three complete cycles with each DIMM and there were no errors. What should I do next? There were errors before, otherwise I would not have posted here. The brochure for this RAM says that it is tested at 2-2-2-5 with a command rate of 1T. However, when I click the link in your sig it says that there are tested at 2-3-2-5 and makes no mention of the command rate (do you know what the command rate is?). I also wonder if the problem might occur if I have both of them in at one time. All I'm sure of at this point is that is I set them to 2-3-2-6 with a command rate of 2T, they work correctly individually. What test do you recommend I run next? Should I try for more aggressive timing? Is it realistic to expect any faster performance from this RAM (especially given that I have been using it for 18 months already)? Or, should I test it all together? Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrdankert Posted January 14, 2005 Author Share Posted January 14, 2005 I decided that you probably would not be able to get back to me tonight, so I went ahead and did some further testing. Here is the format for timing that I am going to use: (CAS - tRCD - tRP - tRAS - Command Rate). Note that I used 4-bank interleaving for all of these tests. Starting with the module that was giving me errors earlier I tested the following: (2 - 3 - 2 - 5 - 2): everything works (2 - 2 - 2 - 5 - 1): errors (2 - 2 - 2 - 5 - 2): errors (2 - 3 - 2 - 5 - 1): everything works Then, I put in the second module (which had passed all test correctly even at (2 - 2 - 2 - 5 -1)) and tested them together: (2 - 3 - 2 - 5 - 1): everything works This last setting appears to be all the speed that I can get, and I am able to do it with both modules installed at the same time. Are there any further tests that you want me to try? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 14, 2005 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 14, 2005 Yeah that looks right; I made a typo error on my previous post, but I have corrected it. Glad to hear that everything is working as is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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