Possible RAM/MB Problem

[Skiller.]

I am completely puzzled here and would like some opinions. I have been trying to get my CPU stable even on all stock BIOS settings. It fails IBT on maximum stress (on the 2nd or 3rd pass, so very early. Same results also on LinX). I have tried all different combinations of settings in BIOS, but nothing worked.

I began to think that this problem could be related to something else - RAM (I am running 2x4GB Corsair Vengeance 1.5V 9-9-9-24). I started to test the RAM and upon running 4 applications of memtest with all available RAM tested (I manually set each application to 1/4 of free RAM), it failed nearly immediately on more than one occasion. At that point, I knew that at least one of my sticks of RAM were bad, or there was some sort of problem with the memory, so I started testing them one by one. I believe I completely cleared one stick of RAM because it passed over 30 minutes of memtest in both DIMM1 and DIMM3. Here's the thing.....the OTHER stick passed the test in DIMM1, but failed very quickly in DIMM3. What should I blame at this point??

Is the stick that failed in DIMM3 bad, or is it something else? Also, when I tried to test the CPU stability using IBT with only 1 stick of RAM (I don't recall exactly which stick of RAM that was used), it passed 10 passes on max with all stock settings....

I'm worried that the DIMM3 memory slot could be bad, because that would be much more of a problem than a bad stick of RAM. If I did get a BSOD, it was very rarely, but I did get some corrupt files in my starcraft 2 folders quite often, causing the game to have weird graphical glitches, and slow down to a crawl. I'd have to restart the game in order to solve the problem. When I contacted blizzard support, they did mention bad RAM as one of the possible causes.

I am still in the process of testing the RAM, so if there is anything else I should be doing in order to test, please let me know. Going back to the 2nd paragraph - I am going to re-test the same stick of RAM that failed quickly in DIMM3 again in a few minutes to see if the same behavior reoccurs.

The RAM testing was all done on default BIOS settings.

Thanks for reading! I tried to include all the information I could.

EDIT: The same stick of RAM that failed before in DIMM3 failed again just now! Almost immediately into testing with 4 applications open testing 675 MB in each one.

"Memory error detected! Pair 4618837 does not store values accurately."

Another one..."Memory error detected. Copying between 390b76b and 390b655 did not result in accurate copy."

 

[GhOsT1321]

If the stick of RAM that failed fails in more than one slot, then it's the RAM. If the stick of RAM that did not fail fails in another DIMM slot, then it's the motherboard. It would be a bad DIMM slot.
No RAM should fail memtest, not even after many passes over the course of a day or so. If it fails memtest, it's likely bad RAM.

 

[Skiller.]

Thanks for the reply...

I am currently testing the "good" stick of RAM right now in DIMM3 and there are no errors. My problem seems weird. Both sticks seem to have no errors in DIMM1, and only 1 stick has errors in DIMM3....What would that be?? Blame the RAM? I don't see how it could be the DIMM slot if the other stick of RAM works fine in that slot.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Memtest may not see every error every time. I'd say, get new RAM.

 

[Skiller.]

Replace just the stick that failed? Or both sticks?

 

[MindoverMaster]

Why replace a good working stick? Just RMA the bad stick to Corsair.

 

[Skiller.]

Is it best to run these memtests on BIOS defaults, or with XMP enabled? XMP would set everything to what's rated for the module, correct?

 

[-RockMan-]

Thanks for the reply...

I am currently testing the "good" stick of RAM right now in DIMM3 and there are no errors. My problem seems weird. Both sticks seem to have no errors in DIMM1, and only 1 stick has errors in DIMM3....What would that be?? Blame the RAM? I don't see how it could be the DIMM slot if the other stick of RAM works fine in that slot.

Your in good luck man, I found this while looking at your problems here.
Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 992002
If you want I would just rma the thing back to the manufacturer and see if they will replace the faulty sticks.

I know that corsair ram is good and is highly rated on 3 or 4 sites by now, but I would look into a different brand.
Normally I would choose kingston, but that should negate any more problems with your mobo.

 

[Skiller.]

Your in good luck man, I found this while looking at your problems here.
Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 992002
If you want I would just rma the thing back to the manufacturer and see if they will replace the faulty sticks.

I know that corsair ram is good and is highly rated on 3 or 4 sites by now, but I would look into a different brand.
Normally I would choose kingston, but that should negate any more problems with your mobo.

Thank you, but I'm not sure what you mean....Is there compatibility issues with this RAM and my MB? Did you post wrong link?

EDIT: As an alternative, I just ran memtest86 from a bootable CD and tested both modules in DIMM3 slots and neither of them had any errors. I am currently testing with memtest86 with both modules installed in dual channel. 36% completed on the first pass without any errors yet....If it passes with both modules installed, is there any reason to individually test each module in slot DIMM1??

EDIT 2: Now I'm really confused. The RAM passed memtest86 both individually and as a pair....All BIOS settings on default except for X.M.P. Profile set to 'Enabled'.

I did all the testing with memtest in windows with all BIOS settings on default (even X.M.P. profile). That's when I got errors with 1 stick in slot DIMM3.

All problems not solved yet, I still need to test with Intel Burn Test, but does this rule out a problem with the RAM?

EDIT 3: Still failing maximum stress level on Intel Burn Test with everything stock except X.M.P. profile. Totally lost now! No clue where to go from here.

EDIT 4: I just ran memtest in windows again and received 7 errors in less than 20 minutes with both sticks installed, X.M.P. enabled.

 

[Skiller.]

I think I may have identified the problem for sure!!

I am testing the RAM sticks individually while running Intel Burn Test on maximum stress...The same stick that was erroneous in slot DIMM3 before also failed IBT on the second pass, just like it always does with both sticks installed! After that, I tested the other stick of RAM in slot DIMM3 and it passed 10 runs of IBT!! Is this a good indication that one of the sticks of RAM is bad??