Prime rounding error but no memtest error

[essenbe]

Did you try bumping the vcore just 1 notch again?

 

[leebeloola]

I'm going to try that now.
I got distracted by researching loosening the RAM. The next set of timings according to CPU-Z are 9 9 9 24 41 2T. Should I be increasing just one of these at a time or all of them? I was tempted to do 1 at a time but I have no idea which one to bump up first.

 

[essenbe]

According to your CPUz screenshots in post #6, that is what you are running now, except for the 2T.

 

[leebeloola]

With vCore bumped up to 1.23125, Blend test errors started at 1h 20m which is 7m more than before. The max temperature got up to 51. Max temp seems to be increasing by 1 with every V increase.
Is it normal for one of the cores to always be hotter than the other? The difference seems to vary between 5-10 degrees.

 

[essenbe]

Yes, that is normal. One core is always hotter than the rest. How often do you have the BSODs if not running Prime95?

 

[leebeloola]

The weird thing is I don't have any BSODs. I did have some random BSODs 2 years ago when I tried adding more RAM, but once I updated the BIOS and only used 1 of the 2x2GB sets, I never had them again. Even when I try playing videos while also having a 3D game in the background, or having lots of images open in photoshop it slows down or freezes but I don't get any BSODs.

I was told by Corsair that the RAM sets were incompatible because the new set has higher ICs than the previous set, despite them having the exact same product "name". So now I'm still only using the 2x2GB "new" set and the old set is living in someone else's desktop.

I tried enabling the XMP 1600MHz profile of the RAM because I couldn't remember what Prime does. It got an error at 0m. So I went back to optimized defaults and only changed the command rate to 2. I got an error after 3m, which is the same as on optimized defaults.

 

[leebeloola]

My main reason for running Prime is to figure out if I can slightly overclock it and get some 8GB RAM. That will probably be good enough for another year.

If I can't, then I will get new: CPU, RAM, MOBO. If the reason Prime won't run for very long is the previously overclocked CPU, then next time I buy a CPU I won't overclock it. If the Prime errors are more likely because of something else I will overclock it.

 

[essenbe]

Prime95 is basically a CPU stress test but tests some ram too. It is the most used test for CPU Stability. If you can't run it at stock, forget ever overclocking it. From what you are telling me, it sounds like a ram problem of some type. Just an observation on my part, not a diagnosis.

 

[essenbe]

You need to also accept the possibility it is not the ram or CPU. It could be the motherboard causing the errors.

 

[leebeloola]

I also suspect there to be a RAM/MOBO/CPU problem but there's so little information about the MOBO that I can't check. I think I'll start looking into new RAM, MOBO, CPU.

So there is no way to figure out whether where the problem is coming from?
Does the fact that it took longer for prime to stop once I increased the vCore doesn't mean it's more stable at that voltage? I had the impression that increasing the voltage so the test runs for longer was one way to overclock the cpu.

 

[essenbe]

Increasing voltage to stabilize an overclock is the basic method. Only one problem. You are not overclocked. There is no reason you should have to increase voltage to run at stock. There is a problem somewhere. There is no test for a motherboard. It is possible that the voltage regulator for the motherboard is not distributing the voltage properly. There is also a possibility that your previous high overclocks of that CPU damaged it. There are other possibilities too such as the PSU not providing the power it should at high demands. The list is pretty extensive. Suffice it to say that your computer not running Prime at stock indicates something is definitely wrong.

It also seems that any changes to your ram causes problems. Simply changing from 1T to 2T (2T is more stable) causes it to crash right away. Even if you have done it already, do this again. Please follow the instructions exactly.

Please Run Memtest86+​

   Information

Please download from this site only http://www.memtest.org/ in the middle of the page are the Download links, you can download the ISO.zip or the Auto USB Flash Drive installer.zip

Extract the Zip file. If you chose the ISO image, burn it to a CD using Windows Disk Image Burner or any Image burner you may have. If you downloaded the Auto USB installer, extract it, insert your USB 2.0 Flash Drive and take note of the drive letter. Run the installer, select the Flash Drive Letter, check the format box and press next. It will install memtest86+ to a flash drive. You can use either V4.20 or V5.01. Boot from your selected media. If you use V5.01 it will tell you to press certain buttons at the start, please press no buttons. The test will begin on it's own and continue to run until you stop it. It needs to run for 8 complete passes or until you receive an error. If you receive an error, stop the test. Even 1 error is a fail. Each pass tests a different part of the ram and each of the 10 tests in each pass tests something different. It takes a minimum of 8 passes to completely test the ram, more passes are better. It is quite a long test and will take several hours depending on how much ram you have. Due to the time length it is best to run overnight. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Run it for 8 complete passes and lets try once more to see if it is a ram problem that will show itself.

 

[leebeloola]

I ran memtest overnight with no errors. I haven't tried loosening the RAM timings but seeing as the RAM is passing memtest again & again, I don't understand what that would prove. Also I don't know what to do about loosening RAM timings. Do I change 1 number at a time, in which sequence. There are so many possible combinations of numbers I could change... I would need some help with that

 

[essenbe]

In my opinion, you don't need to worry about the timings in this case. Your timings are 9-9-9-24 which is standard for any motherboard.

 

[essenbe]

What did you do immediately before this BSOD problem started? Are you having any problems with the computer other than running Prime?

 

[Layback Bear]

Reading this thread several time I'm somewhat lost.

What is the ram timing and volts at this time?

I'm thinking its are 9 9 9 24 41 2T with 1.65 volts.
Is that correct?

From post #6

 

[essenbe]

jack, it's 9-9-9-24 1T, but I think I had him change it to 2T @1333 1.5V. In the CPUz screenshot look at the memory tab.

 

[Layback Bear]

ops I miss that one.
My thoughts and concern was running XMP 1600 and 1.5 volts. (??)

I have never had luck running XMP. Some times it does strange things.
I set things manually.

 

[leebeloola]

I'm only having problems with Prime and there's a bit of a delay when opening programs. This game I'm playing (Dreamfall Chapters) keeps dropping frames and this improved a lot when I tried a small cpu overclock of 3.4GHz without the XMP profile. That's when I thought I should test the overclock. I got an error after 3m, so I tried testing the cpu at stock and got the exact same result.

Right now my RAM is set to the XMP 1600 at 1.65V. Previously the XMP wasn't on which is why it was running at 1.5V. I tried changing the comand rate and tRC, without the XMP profile. The comand rate at 2T change didn't make a difference, I got an error in 3m. Changing the tRC from 34 to 41 as well as the comand rate at 2T had an error at 0s, probably because I left it at 1.5V.

 

[essenbe]

I would think that your dropping frames in a game would be more of a graphics thing than ram. Your system specs list a HD 5770, which is a quite old card, especially for a newer game. It could also be the game itself. If that is the only game you are dropping frames in, I would suspect the game. Some games are just that way.

 

[leebeloola]

I know the droping frames is due to the gpu too. The gpu only has 1GB and the sys rec ask for 2GB from the graphics.
The game is a few years old and it wasn't a big budget fps anyway. It stutters when it gets to places where there's a lot of different character animation and the light changes frequently. Like when the shadows vary a lot because of different objects and light sources. The rest of the time it runs ok when the visual settings are at high. I did try going down to the lowest settings possible and it didn't improve things that much. Overclocking the cpu helped more with the stuttering and increasing to high quality video didn't make a difference.