DDR Memory Errors?

[quantass]

Im using GoldMemory 6.64 under DOS. My system specs:
~~~
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ @ 2.09GHZ
Gigabyte GA-7VT600-PL (Rev 1.0) Chipset: VIA VT8377 Apollo KT600
Award BIOS v6.00PG v F7
768MB DDR Ram (3x 256MB) ** I manually set the BIOS "DRAM Clock" to 166-DDR333.
+ 256MB OCZ Basic OCZ400256P PC3200
+ 256MB OCZ Premiere PC2700 DDR SDRAM
+ 256MB Micron 16VDDT3264AG-265A1 PC2100 (PC2400?)
30GB HDD Maxtor 53073H4
40GB HDD Maxtor 5T040H4
Lite-On DVDRW SOHW-832S
HP CD-Writer+ 8200a
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB (256Bit) AGP
Soundblaster Live! 5.1
~~~

We're using a surge protector and Enermax 365P 350 Watt PSU (1 yr old now). The PC is normally on for long hours, sometimes days straight using P2P apps like Bittorrent or the brilliant eMule. If it isnt downloading then its encoding to DVD and burning to DVDR. The stock AMD CPU fan seems to keep the CPU below 48'C and the motheboard temperature is around 35'C.

GoldMemory is consistently reporting errors for the "thorough" memory test settiong. I've tried modifying the BIOS so that the DRAM Clock is set to AUTO (no overclocking whatsoever) and still errors. I've also tried removing the Micron PC2100 stick (however the 2 OCZ sticks were kept in) and still errors were reported.

Is GoldMemory working correctly? Would it be better to use MemTest86+ default settings for a more accurate report? I've used MemTest86 and it reported nothing wrong but this was 10 months back and a few days ago I tried it again and it reported 1 error after 4.5hrs -- this was with all 3 sticks in and DRAM Clock set to 166-DDR333.

I just downloaded 3DMark05 and was trying the Demo option -- I set it to 1024x768 with no AA. More often then not it just switched my screen to black and sits there. Other times its as if the monitor goes into Power Save mode and never returns. The demo has appeared a few times but the title screen will come up all glitched. Is anyone having the same problems with the Demo? All the other benchmark tests appear to run fine on my system. Could this be system DDR memory related or just a known issue with 3DMark05?

 

[SHAWN]

Download memtest86 (see my sig for the download) and run that. Let me know if it passes. Let it run a few times.

 

[brady]

Have you tried switching up your RAM slots ? What about trying to take all sticks except 1 and see if it still errors on you.

 

[quantass]

Ok I went to OCZ and used their Mobo Compat list. It doesnt show Gigabyte GA-7VT600 on the list! I've been using the 3 sticks for over a year and found no memory errors whatsoever with MemTest86 1 year ago.

I also found this in the mobo docs:

Support Unbuffered DDR DIMM Sizes type:
64 Mbit (2Mx8x4 banks)
64 Mbit (1Mx16x4 banks)
128 Mbit(4Mx8x4 banks)
128 Mbit(2Mx16x4 banks)
256 Mbit(8Mx8x4 banks)
256 Mbit(4Mx16x4 banks)
512 Mbit(16Mx8x4 banks)
512 Mbit(8Mx16x4 banks)
Total System Memory (Max3GB)

I have 3 sticks each 256MB. I dont know how to relate this to the ram i have now but the stick in DDR1 slot appears to have 8 chips on one side, DDR2 has a metal sink overtop the chips so cant see but appears to be double sided with chips, and DDR3 is double sided with 8 chips on both sides totaling 16 chips.

If you can explain the meaning of the above in how it related to the sticks i have then i can give you some more info...

In the meantime i will try Memtest86+ v1.65 and will try it with 1 stick at a time

 

[quantass]

BTW I'm using Everest Ultimate's Benchmarking. Memory Read = 2130MB/s and Memory Write = 688MB/s. According to its comparison chart I'm consistently ranked lower than some KT400 - PC2100 systems. Are these values proper for my kT600 chipset based system which is currently using only the 2 OCZ sticks (PC2700 min'm) and no overclocking on CPU or DDR Ram ?

 

[quantass]

Memtest86+ update,,,

With only the 2 OCZ sticks in (512MB Ram):
Memory: 512MB @ 608MB/s
*Wall Time: 6:00:00, Cached: 512M, Rsvd Mem: 84k. MemMap: e820 - STD, Cache: On, Ecc: Off, Test: STD, Total Pass: 13, Errors: 4

Test:7, Pass:3, Fail Addr: 0000980c724 - 152.7MB, Good: c5fff188, Bad: c5fbf188, Err-Bit: 00040000, Count 1
Test:6, Pass:6, Fail Addr:0000930c724 - 147.7MB, Good:00040000, Bad:00000000, Err-Bits:00040000, Count:1
Test:3, Pass:9, Fail Addr:0000980c724 - 152.7MB, Good:04040404, Bad: 04000404, Count: 2


With only 1 stick (OCZ 256MB Premier) placed into DDR1 slot:
Memory: 256MB @ 612MB/s
Wall Time: 3:00:00, Cached: 256M
Test: 4, Pass:5, Fail Addr: 0000980c724 - 152.7MB, Good: ae371177, Bad: ae331177, Error-Bits: 00040000, Count: 2



With only 1 stick (256MB OCZ Basic) placed into DDR1 slot
Memory: 256MB @ 612MB/s
Wall Time: 3hrs, Cached: 256M
Total Passes: 13
**No Errors

With only 1 stick Micron PC2100 and setting BIOS DRAM CLock to 166-DDR333:
Memory: 256MB @ 566MB/s (** Why isn't this at 612MB/s like above sticks since overclocked?)
Wall Time: 6hrs, pass 27
** No Errors


Why does it take several passes before the error becomes evident? Does this mean the PC3200 stick is no good and I must scrap it? I was told Gigabyte mobos and OCZ are both good quality and would never have compatability issues if this could be the case. What happened? If overclocking by setting the DRAM Clock value to 166-DDR333 (I never overvolt) could have caused the probs then why is the PC3200 stick damaged when it is certified for these speeds or better? Shouldnt only the Micron PC2100 be affected?