Bad DIMM Slot?

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AnthonyThompson

Commendable
Aug 23, 2016
2
0
1,510
I currently have an Asus Crosshair II Formula with 8Gb of RAM. I’ve been trying to do a bit of imagery processing but need a bit more memory so I got a 16Gb kit off eBay. I installed the memory and then booted into Linux. Everything seemed to be fine but every app I opened crashed so I knew that something was wrong. I’ve spent the most of last week doing memory testing and reading forums such as this. I’ve come to a point now where I’m thinking the board (or something else) may be near death (the SATA controller is dead so I’m using a PCI SATA controller) and wanted a second opinion. Here’s what I’ve learnt:


  • ■ All sticks tested individually pass
    ■ All DIMM slots tested individually pass
    ■ Pairs of sticks in DIMM slots 1, 3 pass
    ■ Sticks in the slot 4 pass
    ■ Pairs of sticks in DIMM slots 2, 4 fail (immediate errors)
    ■ All 4 sticks together fail (immediate errors)

The RAM is DDR2-800 (PC2-6400), everything matches. The BIOS is set to default. All data on the memory test screen is good except for that 4th slot, which I noticed reads DDR2-400 and runs at 200 MHz, whereas all the other slots read DDR2-800 and run at 400 MHz. I’m at the limit of my knowledgeable about the hardware side of things but I assume that’s my problem.

[strike]I haven't tried or tested the old memory yet but I plan on starting that tonight to see if I get the same problem.[/strike] Ok So I tested the old RAM and it passes, no errors. Same deal with slot 4 and the lower frequency though.

I know it’s time for an upgrade but I’m hoping there is a fix. Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.
 
Solution
C
I assume you have 4 RAM sticks, from the looks of it one of your RAM sticks may be malfunctioning. Does your old memories still work? If the old ones work then one of your new RAM stick may have a problem.

I highly recommend you upgrade though, its better in the long run.
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crimson comet

Reputable
Sep 8, 2015
5
0
4,520
I assume you have 4 RAM sticks, from the looks of it one of your RAM sticks may be malfunctioning. Does your old memories still work? If the old ones work then one of your new RAM stick may have a problem.

I highly recommend you upgrade though, its better in the long run.
 
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Solution
A

AnthonyThompson

Commendable
Aug 23, 2016
2
0
1,510
I finally finished testing each stick in each slot individual and did some more research and this is what I learned.

Turns out if I manually reduced the RAM clock in the BIOS from 800 to 667Mhz and bumped up the voltage to 2v everything works and is relatively stable (I left all other settings on auto). Not sure if the increased voltage is required but it was recommended to try on another forum. I dual boot Linux and Windows 7 and in Linux it seems to be stable. Windows freezes from time to time but I've always had issues with my Windows installation(s) so I have no idea if it's due to these changes. I only use Windows when I'm forced to anyways and it seems like if I'm gentle and limit heavy multitasking it works as well as it always has.

Next step it to play with the voltage (for better stability), run the memtest for a few days, run a few imagery processing scripts, and upgrade from Windows 7 to 10. I'm saving up for a dedicated imagery workstation so hopefully this will continue to suffice in the meantime.

After some research (which I should have done prior to buying new RAM in the first place) the motherboard only officially supported 8Gb of RAM. I ran across a forum post that suggested reducing the frequency so that's the only reason I tried it.

Hopefully this info helps others who are frugal and enjoy screaming/crying at their old, senile computer :)
 
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