Two bad VS512MB400s

[danl]

I bought 2 modules VS512MB400 from outpost.com, and have been unsuccessful in running them in either dual or single channel mode. I'm running them on an older PC at PC2100, PC2700 speeds, but my PC still crashes often, and memtest fails with errors every time. I swapped motherboards and tested them again and got similar results.

 

I've tested them in an Abit IC7 MAX3, in dual and single channel mode. Also tested them in a Giga-Byte 8iEXP. I tried them individually, and oddly enough they would sometimes pass 2 passes of memtest, but sometimes fail again later on. Windows would usually reboot for no apparent reason.

 

Please help. Thanks!

-Dan

[danl]

Hold on, I'm browsing through the forum, and found another thread with similar symptoms to the ones I'm experiencing. I will try suggestion in there first. Thanks

 

http://www.houseofhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44367

[danl]

I retested on my Abit IC7-MAX3 in dual channel mode at PC2100 (133Mhz) speeds. I also downloaded the newest memtest 1.65+ and ran the test for nearly 2 hours. Came out clean. I think I'm good now.

 

Questions:

1.) How many passes of memtest should I run to be confident the system is stable?

2.) For ValueSelect, is it better to run the timings "By SPD" or manually at 2.5-3-3-8? If I set it to "By SPD", I notice the system usually selects more agressive timings.

3.) It didn't work at all at 2.6v. But seems to be good (still testing that) at 2.7. Is that normal? Should I try 2.8 if I still have problems?

 

Thanks

-Dan

[RAM GUY]

Usually 2 or 3 passes will be enough to show a failing module, but to be sure the settings are not to tight I would let it run over night. And I would suggest 2.7 Volts with most MB's.