Hardware problem - RAM or MOBO?
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From: M Bourgon on 21 Nov 2009 11:17 I just built a new machine and have been plagued with crashes. When I first ran MEMTEST on it, everything came out okay. Both sticks in bank 1 & 2 work fine (except for one set of errors when running it for 12 hours), and if they're in 3 & 4 they work fine, but in banks 2 & 4 I get errors. If I try one stick at a time in bank 1 or 2 they look fine too. How, without buying new hardware, can I determine if it's the motherboard or the RAM that's having issues? FOXCONN MARS G.SKILL 2x1gb RAM Intel e7500
From: Kent_Diego on 21 Nov 2009 16:33 It could be RAM, motherboard or power supply. Sometimes the power supply connector does not make good contact and gets better if moved. Do you have the latest BIOS for your motherboard? It has been my experience that Memtest errors were always the RAM. Can you over volt the RAM or lower the frequency to verify? "Replace with known good" is the only way to really trouble shoot this. Kent
From: Paul on 21 Nov 2009 19:52 M Bourgon wrote: > I just built a new machine and have been plagued with crashes. When I > first ran MEMTEST on it, everything came out okay. Both sticks in > bank 1 & 2 work fine (except for one set of errors when running it for > 12 hours), and if they're in 3 & 4 they work fine, but in banks 2 & 4 > I get errors. If I try one stick at a time in bank 1 or 2 they look > fine too. > > How, without buying new hardware, can I determine if it's the > motherboard or the RAM that's having issues? > > > FOXCONN MARS > G.SKILL 2x1gb RAM > Intel e7500 Is your BIOS flashed up to date ? It looks like their last BIOS was issued a year ago. Sometimes a different BIOS can give entirely different observable stability. Read the warnings in the flash descriptions here, as to what Foxconn tools not to use, to update the flash. (There appears to be an 8 pin serial SPI flash chip, and for a change, it is socketed. That is what you'd need to change out, if you brick the motherboard while updating the flash.) http://www.foxconnsupport.com/download.aspx?models=en-us0000338&category=C000000001&series=en-us0000002&keywords=&sort=BIOS Main Page. http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/Motherboards/detail_spec.aspx?ID=en-us0000338 CPUSupport page. The E7500 isn't in the chart that I can see. http://www.foxconnsupport.com/cpusupportlist.aspx?type=mb&model=MARS&cputype= Paul
From: Fishface on 22 Nov 2009 11:09 M Bourgon wrote: > I just built a new machine and have been plagued with crashes. > When I first ran MEMTEST on it, everything came out okay. Both > sticks in bank 1 & 2 work fine (except for one set of errors when > running it for 12 hours), and if they're in 3 & 4 they work fine, but > in banks 2 & 4 I get errors. If I try one stick at a time in bank 1 or > 2 they look fine too. For dual channel operation and maximum performance, you want to have the two sticks in like-colored slots, usually 1+3 or 2+4. As I recall, you purchased DDR2 1066 memory. Maybe these? www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231144 They're specified to require 2.0 to 2.1 volts at rated speed. All the motherboard BIOS configuration settings seem to vary, but it's generally very easy to set the memory multiplier wrong and be running memory out-of-spec. Download CPU-Z and make sure your memory is running within specification. You can view the SPD information with this tool, also. http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php The SPD may set it to run at lower voltage and at slower speed so that it will work initially in all motherboards. To run at rated speed, it is often necessary to manually adjust the voltage, speed, and timing. > How, without buying new hardware, can I determine if it's the > motherboard or the RAM that's having issues? Download and run the Prime95 torture test. http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/ If this test produces errors, and your memory is running within spec and getting enough voltage, you might try bumping your cpu voltage (vCore) a tad.
From: larry moe 'n curly on 23 Nov 2009 11:34
M Bourgon wrote: > I just built a new machine and have been plagued with crashes. When I > first ran MEMTEST on it, everything came out okay. Both sticks in > bank 1 & 2 work fine (except for one set of errors when running it for > 12 hours), and if they're in 3 & 4 they work fine, but in banks 2 & 4 > I get errors. If I try one stick at a time in bank 1 or 2 they look > fine too. > > How, without buying new hardware, can I determine if it's the > motherboard or the RAM that's having issues? > > FOXCONN MARS > G.SKILL 2x1gb RAM > Intel e7500 Plugging the modules into banks 2 & 4 puts the mobo into dual-channel memory mode (as would using banks 1 & 3 together), which often brings out errors that don't appear in single-channel mode. Try raising the memory voltage from the normal 1.8V to 1.9-2.0V, increasing the drive strength of the memory signals, or slowing some memory timings. I'd try the memory timings first, notably the 1T/2T command timing because it often works and has the least effect on speed of all the timing settings (barely measurable). Slower timings can be written permanently into the SPD chip of each module with an SPD editor like SPDtool, but use it on only one memory module at a time and test the module extensively before editing the other module because if something goes wrong, you'll need the other module and its still-good SPD information to boot the computer and restore the original SPD. Don't ask how I learned this. :( G.Skill, like most brands of memory, is usually made with no-name chips, and I wouldn't buy it except from dealers that are generous with exchanges and 100% cash refunds and pay for the shipping both ways. So I buy such memory only from local dealers, like Fry's, Staples, OfficeMax, and Office Depot, and would buy only Crucial memory from a non-local dealer. BTW if you buy Kingston and get a dud, their replacements seem to be a lot more reliable than the originals sold by dealers. |