Hellfire99X Posted December 5, 2006 Share Posted December 5, 2006 Hello again, RAM Guy. :): I currently have two sticks of CMX1024-3200 memory (Dual Channel, have never overclocked) for my computer, one of which I had purchased on Newegg.com, and the other of which I had gotten as an RMA Exchange through Corsair (more information, circa September 2005.) Well, today, one of these sticks of RAM bit the dust. :[pouts: The computer was working fine until suddenly, several programs illegal-opped, and the computer rebooted itself. (Very unusual for Windows 2000.) After failing to get the computer to boot into Windows in either Normal or Safe modes, I tried to format and reinstall Windows, thinking it was a software problem (getting hacked or virused or something), but every few files the Windows installer couldn't properly write to the harddrive. I subbed in an old IDE harddrive of mine, trying to isolate the problem, but it couldn't read/write properly to that harddrive either. I even subbed in an older DVD-ROM drive to see if it might've been some weird problem I'd never seen before on any optical drive, but that didn't solve the problem either. As a last resort before subbing in a compatible motherboard, I thought to test out the RAM sticks, thinking "oh hell, THAT couldn't be the problem." Sadly, it was the problem. :sigh!: One of the sticks of RAM running by itself generated no errors during a full pass in MemTest86. However, the other stick of RAM, in the same memory slot with the exact same system configuration, generated 35000+ read/write errors within the first couple minutes of running MemTest86, before I canceled the test. I'm not sure what test# MemTest had gotten to by then... I think it was 4 or 5, but it generated massive numbers of errors across all of the tests up to that point. As a testament to how well the good stick of RAM is still working, I've since reinstalled Windows 2000 and most of my programs, and am in fact typing this entry up on the same computer using said good stick of RAM. Working 100% perfectly, no odd quirks or crashes, sitting here listening to music while letting a memory-intensive 3D application (Guild Wars) patch itself in the background with zero lag or hiccups. So, I think I need to RMA Replace the one stick of RAM. How would I accomplish this? And, even though I received both of these sticks of RAM individually, do both of their revision #s need to match for them to run in Dual Channel without future problems? (For instance, the bad stick has "v5.1" in its part number, while the good stick has "v4.1" in its.) Thank you very much for your time, RAM Guy! :): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 5, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 5, 2006 Let's get them both replaced so they match, please use the On Line RMA Request Form and we will be happy to replace them or it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire99X Posted December 6, 2006 Author Share Posted December 6, 2006 Thank you very much, RAM Guy. :): As soon as I get the RMA confirmation, I'll have both of them shipped out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 7, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 7, 2006 NP Please let me know when you get the new modules! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire99X Posted December 8, 2006 Author Share Posted December 8, 2006 Just posting a follow-up to let you know that I haven't received any response from the Online RMA Request Form yet, so I just e-mailed a copy of the Excel RMA Request Form to warranty@corsairmemory.com. If I don't get a response by Tuesday, I'll try calling the customer service #. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 8, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 8, 2006 Yes please just call them at 888-222-4346, I am sorry but they have had a few people out sick with the flue thats been running arround the office. Sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire99X Posted December 8, 2006 Author Share Posted December 8, 2006 It's allright, no problem. I tried calling the number, but both options I tried wanted me to leave a voice message, and in a couple of hours I'll be at work & unable to answer. I'll try calling again later tonight after work and will leave a message then if I have to. Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 8, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 8, 2006 I would just try them again and when you get to the main menu dial "0"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire99X Posted December 8, 2006 Author Share Posted December 8, 2006 Okay, that one worked. Got an RMA number. I'll have both sticks of RAM sent out via UPS today. Thanks again for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 8, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 8, 2006 Great thank you for letting me know, please let me know when you get the new modules! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire99X Posted December 23, 2006 Author Share Posted December 23, 2006 Hello again, RAM Guy! Just writing to let you know that I received the package with my RAM today. I wish I could report that this was the end of my problems, though. :[pouts: For starters, I received two individual sticks of RAM that weren't identical/matched... one of them being a revision v4.1, and the other being a v5.2. I shrugged though, figuring as long as they both worked I'd be okay. Sadly, one of them doesn't work again. :/ When I popped them into my computer and ran MemTest, the computer locked up about 90%-ish of the way through a full pass. (Didn't catch the actual % or test number it crashed on.) So I shut down the computer and pulled out one of the sticks of RAM, leaving the v5.2 stick in there, and ran MemTest again. That stick of RAM completed a full pass without any errors. So I pulled out that stick and replaced it with the v4.1 stick. This time, at 97% of a full pass (90% through test #8), MemTest locked up and the top portion of the screen garbled up. At this point, I rebooted and ran only test #8 three times, with reboots necessary between each. The first time, at 90% the screen garbled and MemTest locked up. The second time, again at 90%, the screen garbled slightly at the top, but MemTest didn't lock up this time; it began counting errors (image) instead, and had reached a pretty high number (1,300,000+) by the time I had returned from e-mailing that picture to myself from another computer. After rebooting, I ran test #8 a third time, and the screen garbled and the computer locked up at 90%, much like it did the first time. After this point, I took the bad v4.1 stick out of the computer and replaced it with the v5.2 stick, and ran MemTest again on it. It passed test #8 with no problems, and afterwards it completed another full pass with no problems. And now, I'm typing up this follow-up with the good v5.2 stick, seeing no weird hiccups or crashes. Also, I noticed when I had booted into Windows earlier that my system timer had been reset to "January 3, 2003 1:00am", somewhere along the way tonight. Very weird, very weird. Don't know if this would have any bearing on any of this, but I thought I should throw this in here since I thought it was odd that errors/crashes in MemTest would reset the system clock. I went ahead and took an extra step and jotted down all of my memory-related BIOS settings, including all voltage settings, and will include them in a TXT file attached to this post. I'm pretty sure that there are no problems with these settings, but if you have the spare time, I would greatly appreciate a second, more knowledgeable opinion before I send these sticks back for replacement again. :): The attached settings are the same settings I've been using since I got the motherboard a little over a year ago, FYI. So, I'm thinking I have another bad stick of RAM. :[pouts: Do you have any suggestions on troubleshooting steps I should take? If not, should I just send it/them back and specifically request an identical pair over the phone and include a note inside the package? Thanks again for your help, RAM Guy! If I don't hear from you beforehand, happy holidays! :):timings-voltage.txt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 26, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 26, 2006 Please call us at 800-205-7657 and ask for Ram Guy and I will be happy to help you get this resolved personally! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire99X Posted December 26, 2006 Author Share Posted December 26, 2006 I just tried calling now, but received no answers all three times. Must be a busy day. :/ I'll try calling again in about a half-hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 26, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 26, 2006 Yes please do and if you get the Voice mail please leave your name and phone number we will call you back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire99X Posted December 27, 2006 Author Share Posted December 27, 2006 Hello again, RAM Guy! Just writing again to thank you for helping me on the phone earlier. :): Just before having the package shipped out to you guys, I noticed on the e-mail printout that Joseph had put into the system that I was going to be replacing the two 1GB modules with a TWINX1024-3200... which I called up later and confirmed was a pair of 512 MB modules. But I talked to a Melissa who helped straighten that out and updated the RMA for TWINX2048-3200, or two 1GB modules. Crisis averted! :D: Sadly, the package won't be in the UPS system until tomorrow morning due to the delay, but it's all good, long as it's accurate. :): Thanks again, and I hope you feel better! (Heard a couple of nasty coughs there!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 27, 2006 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 27, 2006 Thanks and yes the flue hit us hard this year. We had flue shots but it came a little late sad to say! But please let me know when you get the new modules! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire99X Posted January 13, 2007 Author Share Posted January 13, 2007 Hello again, RAM Guy! Just posting a follow-up to let you know I received the new RAM today. It looks like the RMA Dept. silently changed my RMA to 2x CMX1024-3200 before sending it out, but it looks like they matched both of the sticks this time.... they both read v6.1, despite being separately packaged. I've MemTest+'ed both sticks individually, and then together, to ensure that they both work correctly, and they seem to be doing fine so far. I'll put them through further testing over the weekend and let you know if anymore problems arise. Thanks again, and have a great weekend! Hope everyone's feeling better over there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire99X Posted January 15, 2007 Author Share Posted January 15, 2007 And another follow-up to let you know that I've tested and used the RAM pretty extensively over the weekend and have seen no problems with it. I think my problems are solved now! Thanks again for your time! [EDIT] One quick question before I go, though. There shouldn't be any problems in the future with two separate Revision v6.1 (non-TwinX) sticks of RAM running in Dual-Channel mode, correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 15, 2007 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 15, 2007 [EDIT] One quick question before I go, though. There shouldn't be any problems in the future with two separate Revision v6.1 (non-TwinX) sticks of RAM running in Dual-Channel mode, correct? 01-12-2007 05:20 PM We don't normally suggest using different revisions for best performance but sometimes it's un-avoidable so as long as the system is stable you should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire99X Posted January 15, 2007 Author Share Posted January 15, 2007 Okay, thanks again for the help. :): Just wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be future problems, since both sticks are the same revision #. Take care! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted January 15, 2007 Corsair Employees Share Posted January 15, 2007 As long as its stable there shouldn't be any problems, but should you have any questions please let us know and we will be happy to help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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