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I think my RAM is Flakey


toleary

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a few days ago my pc is stopping during POST at the point where it lists the RAM

i shut it off and restarted

today it happened again and i had to restart three times for it to get going

 

i installed this RAM a few weeks ago,

upgrading from XMS2 2X512 TWIN2X1024A-6400 which I was running for about two and a half years without ever having this issue.

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  • Corsair Employees
I would recommend testing the modules one at a time in the slot closest to the CPU. Download Memtest 2.01 from http://www.memtest.org, and run each module through 2-3 passes. If one of the modules fails and the other works, then we will need to replace both of them for you. However, if you get errors with both of them, that would usually suggest some other problem.
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I'm not having any success running the memtest.

when I boot with it in the a drive, i see the word loading, then numbers scroll down the left side of the screen until i turn off the computer.

installing the app on the floppy seems to be ok, I click install.bat and get a prompt asking me for the destination drive which i enter a

then it says to hit the enter key, then it stops and says of i want to run the test leave the disk in and restart.

i tried exploring the floppy and i get a message that the floppy is not formatted.

I have reformatted the floppy a couple of times and am getting the same results.

the PC is booting fine with either of the RAMs installed. just slower i think

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Here is a guide to help you get memtest working:

 

Step:

 

1. Go to http://www.memtest.org and click on the "Download (Pre-built & ISOs)" link near the top of the page. This will take you further down the page to the download section.

 

2. The most common way to run Memtest is to burn it to a CD/DVD and boot the system from the disc, so you will want to click on the "Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)" link. Make sure you are downloading the most up to date version of Memtest; the most current version will normally be listed first underneath a header with red text.

 

3. Once you have downloaded the .zip file you will need to extract the file inside. The easiest way to do this is to simply double-click the file you just downloaded, and then drag the file that you find inside to your desktop. The file you downloaded and the file you extract have very similar names, so try to make sure you know which is which. Once you have extracted the file that you need, please delete the .zip file which you originally downloaded, so you do not get the 2 files confused.

 

If you do not know which file is which, then you can right click each file and select "Properties" to view its file size. the file you are going to use will be larger than the .zip file, so you can delete the smaller file..

 

4. So now you have your .iso file and you are ready to make your Memtest disc. You will need to have some CD/DVD burning software installed such as Nero or Roxio, although there are many others which will work fine as well. You can not burn this correctly using the built in Windows burning utility. The easiest way to properly burn the disc is to right click the .iso file, select the "open with" option and then locate and select the CD/DVD burning software that you are going to use. When opening the file this way all proper settings should be automatically set, so just make sure you have a blank disc in your drive and click "Burn."

 

If you have trouble burning the disc this way then you will need to open your CD/DVD burning program and find the option that says "Burn Image to Disk", or "Burn Backup from .ISO file." Once you have selected the correct way to burn the disc, locate the Memtest .iso file on your desktop and either drag it into your programs burn window, or locate it using the built in browser in your program, and then click “Burn.”

 

5. Once you have successfully burned your Memtest disc, its time to run it. You will need to make sure that your BIOS has been setup to boot from your CD/DVD rom before your Hard Disk. Once you reboot your system you may need to "Hit any key to boot from CD/DVD" so keep your eyes peeled and hit a key when it requests it.

 

6. If everything was done right, then you should see a blue screen with a lot of numbers and progress bars. At the top right you will see a "Pass %" and a "Test %." The Pass % tells you how far you are from making one complete pass through Memtest. The Test % tells you how far you are from completing the current test. There are 8 different tests, and once you make a full pass, Memtest will automatically loop back to the first test and start over. If you see the Pass % is over 100% then you have already made a full pass.

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Greetings:

 

I ran the memtest as instructed.

2 passes for each RAM stick installed in the slot nearest the CPU.

No errors occurred.

 

of course when I replaced the RAM into its proper location and re-booted, it froze up again, and I had to re-boot. that was yesterday.

this morning it booted without a problem

 

back to square 1?

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thanks for the screenshot.

 

now try changing some setting in your bios, you can do that by setting AI Overclock to manual.

 

http://www.houseofhelp.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4229&stc=1&d=1222620207

A lot more option will apear after that and now you will need to find "Dram frequency" and set that to DDR800

 

another option you need to change is "Dram voltage" set this to 2.1 Volt.

 

now we go to another field in the bios, wich also can be found under the tad "advanced"

 

http://www.houseofhelp.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4230&stc=1&d=1222620954

 

you will need to set the dram timing by SPD to disabled in order to manually input these numbers: 5-5-5-18

 

 

after that has been done save the data and exit the bios and start running memtest again ;):

1619089234_p5w32ai.JPG.76494678708243dd91c2df290a11ea2d.JPG

182136732_p5w32spd.JPG.3ae50cbb87ef005d9992deb4deb12b3c.JPG

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ok

i'll try it.

Is this the correct configuration I should have set when I upgraded?

my 'old' ram was CM2X512A-6400.

it ran fine but i wanted more and better.

 

i am attaching the SPD tab screenshot if it has any bearing on the situation

 

what will the results of changing these settings be with respect to the memtest and performance of the PC?

are you expecting the RAM to then show errors?

 

can i operate the pc with the new settings until i can set aside the time it will take for the tests to cycle?

 

Thanks for the support, I am learning!

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I sent two screen shots today, and both were taken today, without me going into BIOS and following your suggestions.

 

I was only advising you of my previous setup (which I confess I did not do, I sent it to a shop for the initial system setup).

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in BIOS i was not offered DDR2 800,

only 400 and 533. i took 400

the timing: the order in which the settings were listed and i set were:

lat =5

pre =5

CASdel =5

Dram RAS =18

write recovery =5

 

were these the correct ones?

maybe i was supposed to change the fsb so the 800 would be an available setting.

anyway the pc started up noprob

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i went back into bios and was unable to change the fsb from 133 although it said there were other speeds available on the right side panel of the screen.

(system booted fine again)

 

so am i understanding that in order to run the

ram at 800 i need to OC the cpu a little bit?

how, by upping the cpu voltage?

 

i may not reply immediately i got to take care of a few things,

but i shall return,

and i want to thankyou again for sharing your knowledge

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enermax will cross ship me another power supply, so I can see if the POST prob is caused by the PSU.

My PC starts up OK perhaps 70% on first boot, and eventially iyt will boot. like this morning I had to reboot.

Once I've swapped out the power supply I will re-evaluate.

 

There is limited support available for troubleshooting BIOS issues.

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