Logistics of RMA'ing a dual-channel kit (VS2GBKIT400C3).

[KillrBuckeye]

Hi RAMGUY. I'm building a rig for my brother-in-law who lives out-of-state, and I have all the parts at my house now. I was having some issues with the XXXXXX memory in my main computer, so I decided to use the 2x1 GB kit that I bought for my brother-in-law's system to help troubleshoot the problem. To make a long story short, this process revealed that one of the 1 GB Corsair modules is perfectly fine (no Memtest86+ errors), while the other always throws 500-700 errors at the same place in test #6. Oddly enough, I can boot to Windows and even run Prime95 blend torture test for several hours without issues.

 

However, my understanding is that *any* Memtest86+ error is a bad thing and indicates that the module should probably be replaced. Since my brother-in-law lives out-of-state and isn't adept at hardware troubleshooting, this presents a couple of issues. First, the system needs to be reliable since I won't be able to help easily. For this reason I think pursuing an RMA would be appropriate. Second, he plans to fly out here next weekend when I build the computer so I can walk him through the process. This means I need to have at least some RAM on hand to provide him with a working system. So my questions are as follows:

 

1) Does Corsair offer advance replacement? I couldn't find anything about this in the stickies.

 

2) Even though only 1 module has tested bad, do both modules need to be replaced since it was purchased as a dual-channel kit? This would present a big problem since he would be without a working computer for some time.

 

3) Can an RMA be requested by my brother-in-law even though I made the original purchase? If not, can I request that the replacement parts be shipped to him?

 

Thanks a lot for any help you can offer.

[Wired]

1) nope, as they don't sell direct to consumers, they have no way of processing a credit card for advanced replacement, but you can always call their customer service on tuesday and see if they can do anything for you.

 

2) you don't HAVE to RMA both, but it's HIGHLY recommended to do so to prevent incompatiblity issues in the future.

 

3) Ram Guy will cover that on Tuesday, although I doubt you'd have to jump through any major hoops or anything.

 

There are some errors in memtest that can point to NON-memory issues, or timing / voltage setting issues, so it's not as clear as "memtest error = bad memory".

 

When testing the Corsair memory, were you testing them one stick at a time in the same slot? What timings / voltage were you testing them at? What problems were you having w/ the non-Corsair memory?

[KillrBuckeye]

There are some errors in memtest that can point to NON-memory issues, or timing / voltage setting issues, so it's not as clear as "memtest error = bad memory".

 

When testing the Corsair memory, were you testing them one stick at a time in the same slot? What timings / voltage were you testing them at? What problems were you having w/ the non-Corsair memory?

Thanks for the response. Yes, I tested the Corsair modules one stick at a time using the default SPD voltage/timings (I had cleared the CMOS memory before installing them). The defaults were 3-3-3-8 @ 2.6V. Are those timings okay?

 

The problems I had with the non-Corsair memory were instability issues in Windows. I checked stability using Prime95 torture test and it failed after a few hours. This seemed to aggravate the problem, though, because subsequent testing after adjusting voltages and timings resulted in quicker failures and reboots. Memtest86 reported hundreds of thousands of errors when running only one of the modules, and a couple dozen errors when running the other. I have a feeling these modules just died. This will be my 2nd RMA on this memory, and I have read that it is common for this particular memory line to die after a few months. It worked great at 250 Mhz, 2.5-2-2-6 for several months.

[RAM GUY]

First thing you should not mix memory with any system.

Can you tell me the make and model of MB you have along with the CPU speed and it’s FSB as well? In addition, please tell me the bios settings you have set for both CPU and memory and any performance settings that you may have set?