1 Bad, 1 Good (TWIN2x2048-6400)

[lodidodi]

I'm pretty sure that one of my two sticks was bad on arrival. I bought the RAM for a brand new build using an ASUS P5B-E. Right from the start I was getting various intermittent errors that eventually led me to believe I might have faulty memory. (Random crashes while installing Vista, unexplained application crashes, "Superfetch has stopped working", BlueScreen: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA, BlueScreen: PFN_LIST_CORRUPT)

 

Here are the troubleshooting steps I performed:

 

1. I downloaded memtest86 which showed numerous errors, using the default BIOS settings, with both sticks installed.

 

2. I then modified my BIOS to manually set 800Mhz, 2.1v, 5-5-5-15, etc as per the sticky about the P5B-X motherboard, and still received errors in memtest86 with both sticks installed. (I also tried setting just the voltage, just the voltage and frequency, and other combinations, and still received errors every time.)

 

3. I then took out the 2nd stick [#870591] and reran my memtest86 with only the 1st stick [#870590] installed. I never received a single error, even after rerunning the test multiple times using different configs. I got no errors using the default BIOS settings, and also no errors using the manual BIOS settings. I tried all 4 DIMM slots on the motherboard, and sometimes let the test run for 4 hours (7+ passes), and never once got an error.

 

4. I then took out the 1st stick and put the 2nd stick back in. Once again memtest86 reported errors every time, regardless of if I used the default BIOS settings or manual BIOS settings, or which motherboard slot I used.

 

5. I tried running my OS again with only the 1st stick installed, to confirm the problems were due to the 2nd stick being bad. No more application crashes, no more blue screens. Everything is running as smooth as could be.

 

To me this is pretty conclusive evidence that the 2nd stick is bad. Please let me know if you agree or if you have any other suggestions.

 

Thanks.

[RAM GUY]

Please Change ‘Write to Precharge delay’ in the BIOS (same page as for latencies) from default 10 to 15 and then test the modules again with the Voltage set to 2.1 Volts and the tested settings set manually! Then test with http://www.memtest.org to be sure! If you still have problems, let’s get them replaced' please use the On Line RMA Request Form and we will be happy to replace them or it.

[lodidodi]

Yeah, I had already manually changed that setting as well, following your recommendations in your sticky post, and I still got memtest errors.

 

Thanks for the reply, I'll request an RMA.

[RAM GUY]

Let's get them replaced, please use the On Line RMA Request Form and we will be happy to replace them or it.