Help with Ram / Motherboard crashes

[toolman]

This is insane. When I got my new computer I was having all kinds of problems after loading windows with all types of crashes etc. My board can take up to 32 GB of memory, 4 Dimm slots. After a long trouble shooting process I narrowed it down to one bad stick of ram. Computer worked great on the 3 sticks. I got 2 new sticks of 4 GB 1600 mhz, Pc 1280, DDR3 made by Supertalent to match my other 2 sticks so there would be no conflicts. Oh yeah my board is an ASUS P8Z77- V lx.
I removed the 1 stick I had out of channel B and installed the 2 new sticks in channel B - B1, B2. The only difference between the sticks is the manufacturers date. The original ones were made Jan 2012 and the new replacements were made Feb 2011.
Anyway once the new sticks were installed I had nothing but problems with crashes and windows not starting, certain programs not even working. I removed the 2 new sticks and put back in my 3rd original stick back into slot B1. Everything worked a lot better again however all of the screw ups the other ram caused were not repairable so I had to do a restore back to the 24th and now everything is fine again. This is a bloody joke. It seems the ram must not be the problem but that last Dimm slot = B2 must be bad. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
It seems the only way I will get 16 GB dual channel on this board would be to buy 2 8 GB sticks for slots A1, A2.

 

[James7679]

Hello toolman. If you would like for us to be able to effectively help you, we will need you to follow the http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/96879-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html Please be sure to do each step, as outlined in the tutorial. By doing this, we will have the necessary information to help you.

RAM test with Memtest86+
Certain Bug Check Codes(BCCodes) or combination of BCCodes, are indicative of faulty RAM. Memtest86+ is an offline program specifically written to test RAM and uncover errors. Memtest86+ tries to verify that the RAM will accept and correctly retain arbitrary patterns of data written to it, and that there are no errors where different bits of memory interact, and there are no conflicts between memory addresses. Memtest86+ is open source, which means it is free to use.

Systems may have one or more sticks of RAM. These individual sticks are called DIMM. If Memtest86+ finds ANY errors, most likely, you have defective RAM. There are some cases where the DIMM slot, themselves, can be bad.

**Important!**
Should you receive any errors during the tests, stop the test. You will need to test each stick independently in each DIMM slot. Follow proper ESD Safety! Remove all but the first stick. Resume testing. If you receive(or dont) errors, note on a piece of paper that DIMM 1 failed(or passed) in Slot A1. Stop the test, move the stick to slot A2, resuming testing and taking notes in this manner, until all DIMMs have been tested in all DIMM slots.

** Memtest86+ V4.20 (25/01/2011) **
​

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• Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
  
  
• Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable Binary (.gz)
• Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable Binary (.zip)
  
  
• Download - Auto-installer for USB Key (Win 9x/2k/xp/7) *NEW!*
• Download - Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win)
  
  Above download links are directly from Memtest.org
  
  

Should you need more help with any of the testing or setting up for it, you may either post back with any questions, or refer to our tutorial here http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html

Thank you,

James

 

[toolman]

Memtest+86 I do not think is that good as I have already used these and they find nothing wrong at all with the memory, ran for 10 hours = 10 passes. Which is obviously wrong unless it is a bad DIMM slot. As for the BSOD app you want me to install, I have not had any BSOD's so I do not think that would be of help either. I posted here for crashes etc. I have had explorer crashes, program crashes, windows not starting up, but no BSOD's that I know of. No automatic restarts.
I know my "A" channel DIMM's are good as that is what I have been using all along with no problems. I will try each of the other sticks in each of the remaining 2 slots B1, B2. I know I have a good spare stick that I will try in B2 (the questionable DIMM slot and if it works there with no problem then the problem is a bad stick out of the other 2 sticks that I just bought.

 

[James7679]

If you do not wish to give us the requested information, then we will not be able to help you.

Good luck.

James

 

[Golden]

Hi Toolman,

Please follow the instructions from our BSOD Team members - they are highly experienced and have a very high success rate in fixing problems. Failure to follow their instructions means that they will be unable to help you.

Regards,
Golden

 

[toolman]

Thanks guys but I figured it out doing it the quick way without downloading and installing any added software or doing tests. It was simple (lucky) as I have 4 DIMM slots (A1,B1,A2,B2). The A channel has always worked great. I originally had 4 sticks of 4 GB , 1600 mhz, DDR3, PC1280 by Supertalent. I had one bad stick out of those but this was a previous problem with installing windows (just background info for you guys).
This post was for the new ram I got (2 sticks of 4 GB , 1600 mhz, DDR3, PC1280 by Supertalent) which when installed caused crashes all over the place. So I took one of my spare sticks that I knew was good and used it in B1, B2 separately and no problems so that told me the DIMM slot in question was in fact good. So obviously I needed to test each of the new ram. The first one I put in B1 and gave me blue screens right after the windows is starting screen so I knew that stick was no good. I then tried my 2nd new stick and it worked perfectly in B1. Since I previously tried my spare stick in B2 and knew that worked as well I then installed it there and now have all 16 GB of memory working with no problems. Thanks anyway guys, I got lucky with the trial and error.
However is there some sort of epidemic going on with Bad Ram ??? 1 out of 4 bad with new computer and then 1 out of 2 bad with new ram bought ???

 

[writhziden]

Did you avoid static damage to your PC while installing your RAM both times?

Further reading: Avoid Static Damage to Your PC | PCWorld.

 

[toolman]

Wow that sounds like something the manufacturers made up so whenever someone comes back on them for a defective part they can blame it on the ghost of static electricity and get off without honouring their warranty.
At any rate I was aware of static electricity and made sure I was always touching my case as I changed ram and placed the ram not in the computer inside one of those static free bags.
Thanks

 

[writhziden]

I have a background in electrical and computer engineering. I have also worked with NASA with electronics. Both have taught me to be extremely careful with electronics that have miniaturized transistors installed. Here is a good article as to why it happens and what the failure rate seen in the industry is: E.S.D ELECTRO-STATIC DISCHARGE          

That is not a gimmick used by manufacturers to not have to honor the warranty; in fact, companies often honor the lifetime warranty no questions asked. I have never heard of an instance where a manufacturer blamed ESD and voided the warranty.

That said, good job with the ESD safety. Glad you were careful.