Okay. Got my PC booted up with only 2GB of RAM and running the test. All I can say is wow. This thing is totally unusable with the test running! Fortunately I still have a laptop.
I'll be keeping an eye on it as it tests and such. I'm kind of curious though: would it be more efficient to test the sticks two at a time instead of testing all four one by one? Then try to isolate one of the sticks should a pair fail?
Probably best to do one at a time, you won't save much time (if any) as if one pair fails, you'll have to test both sticks again. Just carry on as you're going.
If you get an error on a stick, report back.
Okay. I wasn't sure if it'd save any time so thought I'd ask about it (thought I read something somewhere when testing sticks of RAM about doing it that way). So far so good! Thanks again for the help!
We'll fix this eventually! :)
Okay, I've run 3 out of 4 sticks successfully for times ranging between 1.5hrs to 2hrs each. This last stick I'm running now was originally my third one to test, but I set it aside.
For this stick (I'll call it Stick#3) it originally didn't want to boot the PC, I was staring at a black screen. I thought maybe it wasn't seated properly, so I took it out and reseated it. It booted up after that then got to the desktop, then the computer locked up before I could load anything to begin testing. After this I thought it was best to take Stick#3 out, set it aside and begin testing the final stick.
I'm retesting Stick#3 now. The test just began 10minutes ago, I'll report back when it finishes/if something happens.
Testing done. No actual errors to report.
The fact that module 3 caused problems is concerning. That in itself may have been a result of a bad module. Try running sticks 1,2, and 4 and seeing if the system is stable. Do your normal routine for twice as long as you normally do to get a crash. Post back if you get a crash of if the system then seems reliable again.
Further reading: Finicky RAM
I agree. Boot using only sticks 1,2 and 4 and try gaming for a while as that's when they occur most (I think... Correct me if I'm wrong) and see how stable the system is. If it seems stable (or if it doesn't), report back.
I also recommend running Memtest86+ on just stick #3 for 21+ passes this time. It'll take a while but if it's going to show anything, it will do so after that many passes. However, the RAM could still be at fault even if memtest runs that long. Less likely but still possible.
Stephen
Okay, I'll switch out for the other three and see how things run. As for running Memtest, I'll be sure to set that up one night when I'm going to be gone all day the next day. I can foresee this happening soon since I just got three cards in the mail from Starbucks giving me free coffee, yum!
I'll report back ASAP, thanks Stephen and Writhziden!
Just a head's up on progress. I've gotten no bluescreens since that stick was removed, but I'm not overly optimistic since the issue has hidden itself before.
I just set my computer to run memtest on that single stick, it'll run for a good 14-15hrs before I get home to mess with it tomorrow afternoon. That should give it enough time for all of those passes!
I'll add another update when I get home.
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