I've been trying to add new, identical memory to my PC and getting crashes to black screen/reboot.
Specs:
Motherboard: MSI H67MS-E43
CPU: Intel i3-2100
GPU: PowerColor PCS+ Radeon R9 380 DirectX 12 AXR9 380 4GBD5-PPDHE (had to get a new video Bios from powercolor to get it to work because of old motherboard)
Old memory: G.Skill 2x2GB - F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH (built in 2011)
New memory: G.Skill 2x2GB - F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH (built in 2015)
I've already RMA'd one set of new memory. For that first set I ran MemTest86 and it didn't find any errors but if I took the new memory out, the computer stopped crashing so I sent it back. I wish I'd logged the steps I took so I while I think I put the new memory in the 1,3 slots and left the 2,4 slots empty to see if they are bad and I still had a crash I'm willing to try that again. However, I've found other anomalies with the 2nd new set of memory. I'm wondering whether I managed to get 2 bad sets of memory in a row, have bad 2,4 memory slots on the motherboard, or am having a problem with auto-set memory timings. This is the main thing I'm trying to figure out because if I have bad 2,4 slots that's a big problem.
I ran MemTest86 on the 2nd new set with no errors but MemTest86 said I had 8164 MB and it tested up to 9208 MB. Booting to Windows it says I only have 8 GB. My Bios says I have 8192 MB. So I don't know what is going on with those MemTest numers. If the 2,4 slots are bad, is it possible for MemTest86 to not find problems after 12 passes? Since MemTest tests in chunks I assume it will never find timing incompatibilities between physical sticks. Correct?
On memory timing - if I look at the timing settings there are things I can't explain. With auto settings, the 2011 and 2015 memory are both 9-9-9-24 vs. the 7-7-7-21 in the part spec and X.M.P support info I can read using my Bios. (I assume X.M.P info is programmed values from manufacturer - like a "readme" of specs actually on the memory.) Ok, fine at least they're the same. But the 2011 memory's tRFC is 74 CLK and the 2015 memory's tRFC is 174 CLK. Could that difference be causing the crashes and the new memory modules are good?
If I look in the X.M.P Support Info for each of the 4 sticks the 2011 memory has tRFC of 60 CLK and the 2015 memory has tRFC of 174 CLK.
The other X.M.P values for 2011 and 2015 are the same except for tFAW and tRC. 2011 has tFAW of 42, tRC of 30. 2015 has tFAW of 20, tRC of 28. The Bios auto-settings sets all 4 sticks to tFAW of 20, tRC of 33.
I think it is unlikely that I got a 2nd bad set of new memory. In fact, the first one was probably good too. But I don't have any knowledge that can make me confident that the 2,4 slots are good or bad as opposed to the problem being these memory timing numbers I don't understand. I'm hoping for some help understanding what is important and what is not. The crashes don't happen right away so randomly banging away at different memory settings to see if it will resolve the crashes could take a very long time. And I could spend forever with no luck if the 2,4 slots on the motherboard are bad.
Thank you very much for any help.
Specs:
Motherboard: MSI H67MS-E43
CPU: Intel i3-2100
GPU: PowerColor PCS+ Radeon R9 380 DirectX 12 AXR9 380 4GBD5-PPDHE (had to get a new video Bios from powercolor to get it to work because of old motherboard)
Old memory: G.Skill 2x2GB - F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH (built in 2011)
New memory: G.Skill 2x2GB - F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH (built in 2015)
I've already RMA'd one set of new memory. For that first set I ran MemTest86 and it didn't find any errors but if I took the new memory out, the computer stopped crashing so I sent it back. I wish I'd logged the steps I took so I while I think I put the new memory in the 1,3 slots and left the 2,4 slots empty to see if they are bad and I still had a crash I'm willing to try that again. However, I've found other anomalies with the 2nd new set of memory. I'm wondering whether I managed to get 2 bad sets of memory in a row, have bad 2,4 memory slots on the motherboard, or am having a problem with auto-set memory timings. This is the main thing I'm trying to figure out because if I have bad 2,4 slots that's a big problem.
I ran MemTest86 on the 2nd new set with no errors but MemTest86 said I had 8164 MB and it tested up to 9208 MB. Booting to Windows it says I only have 8 GB. My Bios says I have 8192 MB. So I don't know what is going on with those MemTest numers. If the 2,4 slots are bad, is it possible for MemTest86 to not find problems after 12 passes? Since MemTest tests in chunks I assume it will never find timing incompatibilities between physical sticks. Correct?
On memory timing - if I look at the timing settings there are things I can't explain. With auto settings, the 2011 and 2015 memory are both 9-9-9-24 vs. the 7-7-7-21 in the part spec and X.M.P support info I can read using my Bios. (I assume X.M.P info is programmed values from manufacturer - like a "readme" of specs actually on the memory.) Ok, fine at least they're the same. But the 2011 memory's tRFC is 74 CLK and the 2015 memory's tRFC is 174 CLK. Could that difference be causing the crashes and the new memory modules are good?
If I look in the X.M.P Support Info for each of the 4 sticks the 2011 memory has tRFC of 60 CLK and the 2015 memory has tRFC of 174 CLK.
The other X.M.P values for 2011 and 2015 are the same except for tFAW and tRC. 2011 has tFAW of 42, tRC of 30. 2015 has tFAW of 20, tRC of 28. The Bios auto-settings sets all 4 sticks to tFAW of 20, tRC of 33.
I think it is unlikely that I got a 2nd bad set of new memory. In fact, the first one was probably good too. But I don't have any knowledge that can make me confident that the 2,4 slots are good or bad as opposed to the problem being these memory timing numbers I don't understand. I'm hoping for some help understanding what is important and what is not. The crashes don't happen right away so randomly banging away at different memory settings to see if it will resolve the crashes could take a very long time. And I could spend forever with no luck if the 2,4 slots on the motherboard are bad.
Thank you very much for any help.
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