RAM troubles

[Gohron]

I posted in my thread about uprading the video card that I purchased another 1GB of RAM. Since I installed it I've been getting occassional automatic system restarts. Any suggestions?

(All RAM chips are 512MB PC3200 for a total of 4 chips).

[bbobb]

Try running memtest and see what it says.

http://hcidesign.com/memtest/

[raystorm]

If you are using XP you should disable the auto restart when you get an error. Its in the control panel -> system -> startup and recovery -> uncheck "automatically restart" under system failure. If you get a system crash you'll probably get a blue screen with whats causing the problem. You may have bad ram.

Also, use memtest...get it here: Memtest86 That will test your ram upon bootup. Just follow the instructions and you should know if you have bad ram. You could also take out the ram you just bought and just try one at a time.


edit: bbobb beat me to the memtest suggestions.

[Dyne]

if they're not all the same brand you could be having timing issues betweent he different sticks. also even though (for instance in a p4 mobo) you have 4 slots, depending on quality and brand of ram (and other things) sometimes you won't be able to populate all the slots. first thing to do is try the new stick by itself.

[Burky]

use memtest86, it is the best memory program. If you fail (and I'm guessing you will, since that is the only new component) then read what I have to say below.

Usually running 4x512mb is bad news. It does work, but 2x1024 is better for performance.
What happens with ram is that you can run it at 1T or 2T. I can't remember what those two mean, but 1T is better performance-wise, however, whenever you more than two sticks of ram at the same time, at 1T, it is way unstable.
It has a large Influence on Bandwidth/Stability.

I think most computers normally run 1T as standard unless told otherwise. So my guess is that you are running 1T when you should be running 2T.

On my motherboard, this setting is called "Command Per Clock(CPC)" and is in the dram configuration in my BIOS. Set it to Auto and it runs 1T, set it to Disable and it runs 2T.

Try changing that setting. You might not be able to though, depending on your motherboard.
Did you load the optimised defaults when you installed the new ram?
That is an absolute must when you put any new component in, else you are just asking for trouble.

Dyne is also right when he says mixing and matching ram is bad news. If you buy more than one stick, you should always get matched pairs, and if you need two pairs, then buy them at the same time, then the 4 sticks are all from the same batch. Even if they are the same brand, they will perform differently depending on when they were made.

[Gohron]

Well I ran Memtest all last night. I had to run two of them at once as it says that my Windows version only allows a program to access up to 768mb of RAM at once. Both got to about 5,000% coverage and reported no errors. According the manaul it should've tested just about everything. My computer didn't reset overnight either.

In response to Burky:

I'll try that if the computer causes more problems but the last time I tried to get into my BIOS settings the screen was all fucked up (the fonts looked super huger and I could only see one or two partial options).

Also, what do you mean by loading the optimized defaults?

If it helps at all I'm running 2 sticks of 512MB Samsung 3200 and two sticks of PNY 3200. Unfortunately I think the receit for the purchase was thrown out so I may not be able to return them if a problem persists. In the event that the combo is not working out would you suggest selling all of my 512MB chips on E-Bay and purchasing two 1GB sticks?

[Burky]

memtest86 is better, but memtest is still fine, and if you didn't get any errors, then I would assume it isn't your ram. I used to use that test before memtest86 and usually I would get errors after 20% if I were unstable, so your ram is definately stable there.

When you say your computer restarts, what happens?
Usually if the ram is unstable (like the 1T would cause that), then you get a blue screen, and you have to reboot manually.
If it just restarts, then it could be your processor getting to hot perhaps, or maybe your motherboard too, though I have never had that happen, or perhaps your power supply.

Could you also list your processor, motherboard (brand, chipset), ram (just the timings, I know they are 4x512mb, PC3200, timings look like 3-4-4-8) and power supply. It will help get a bigger picture.

The weird thing is why the problem only just started now after you got your new sticks, it never used to reboot before right?

As for the BIOS thing, I don't know why you can't see more than two options...
Normally all BIOSes have an option "load optimised defaults" where it will set everything to auto detect, and where possible set the settings appropriately for your hardware.
If you don't run it, then it means everything is running the same as before, which in some cases can be bad, for example if you changed your processor, but used the same settings as an old one.

[Dyne]

In the event that the combo is not working out would you suggest selling all of my 512MB chips on E-Bay and purchasing two 1GB sticks?

definately.

[Gohron]

memtest86 is better, but memtest is still fine, and if you didn't get any errors, then I would assume it isn't your ram. I used to use that test before memtest86 and usually I would get errors after 20% if I were unstable, so your ram is definately stable there.

When you say your computer restarts, what happens?
Usually if the ram is unstable (like the 1T would cause that), then you get a blue screen, and you have to reboot manually.
If it just restarts, then it could be your processor getting to hot perhaps, or maybe your motherboard too, though I have never had that happen, or perhaps your power supply.

Could you also list your processor, motherboard (brand, chipset), ram (just the timings, I know they are 4x512mb, PC3200, timings look like 3-4-4-8) and power supply. It will help get a bigger picture.

The weird thing is why the problem only just started now after you got your new sticks, it never used to reboot before right?

As for the BIOS thing, I don't know why you can't see more than two options...
Normally all BIOSes have an option "load optimised defaults" where it will set everything to auto detect, and where possible set the settings appropriately for your hardware.
If you don't run it, then it means everything is running the same as before, which in some cases can be bad, for example if you changed your processor, but used the same settings as an old one.

Only know my processor which as an Intel P4 3GHZ.

When I installed the new RAM when I first started up it restarted before Windows was even able to fully load up. After that it restarted when I was copying a link and the third time I think it restarted when nothing was loading and I was typing or something. Also when it comes to the BIOS, I can't just see two options, I can only partially see two options because it comes up displayed all messed up and as far as I can tell, I can't do anything. The restarts were just the screen going black and it rebooting. I turned off the automatic restart option so if it happens again I'll look for the blue screen.

If you don't think it's my RAM I'll open up the case and see if I knocked any of the fans loose or if they just stopped working all together because I did have to pull a lot of stuff out of the way to get to the slots and the RAM didn't go in easy (and yes, I'm sure they're all plugged in right).

[Burky]

Ok, if it turns out there are no blue screens, and you check all your cabling is good, then use this program to see if you temperature is too hot for your processor: http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

I think a P4 should be under 40 degrees for an ok temperature.