Suspected bad module of DDR2 Ram

[rgaston33]

To whom it may concern:

 

I put together a new system in October and purchased 1GB of DDR2 533 MHZ Valueselect Ram for the system. I initially had random, infrequent crashes but they were not usually too much of an inconvience. Over the last week though the crashes became so bad that I could not keep the system running for more than 5-10 minutes on average - somtimes not even enough to log in and open an applications in Windows XP.

 

I initially suspected a device driver issue or hardware conflict. I disconnected all unnecessary hardware, removed all unnecessary software, ran programs to cleanup any adware or virusues (I had none). I also ran a registry fix program to make sure my registry was in good shape.

 

Finally I reinstalled windows xp and this did not solve my problem. I checked my voltage on my power supply and it appears to be adequete for my computer (it wa a new case with 450W power supply specifically targeted for P4 Prescott).

 

Reading online - it appeared that RAM could also cause the problems so I downloaded Memtest and Microsoft Memory diagnostic tools. Both programs found many errors (numbering 10-30) with the memory (#8 test on memtest and stride6 test using the microsoft tool). Since I have a DVD project I'm putting together for family for Christmas, I needed my system stable so I went out and bought a new module of Ram from Bestbuy (Bestbuy is a bit of a misnomer - they're not cheap - $130 for 1 GB) and all they had for PC4200 DDR2 was a 1GB KByte Ram module. I put the stick in and removed the Cosair RAM yesterday and have not had one problem since - including over 10 hrs of DVD authoring.

 

Given that I've spent 20 or more hours troubleshooting this problem and both memtests found many errors, I feel that the RAM is bad. Please advise how to start a RMA request.

 

Thanks,

Ryan Gaston

[RAM GUY]

Please follow the link in my signature “I think I have a bad part! Or *New* Tech Support Express” and we will be happy to replace them or it!