P5KC and memory problems

[vrocipes]

Hi, i am getting desperate of trying to find a solution for my memory problems.

I am using motherboard ASUS P5KC and Intel Core 2 DUO E6550, BIOS updated to last version. All settings in bios are default. Power supply is LC power 550W, and graphics card is XFX 8800GT.

Memory is 2x1gb Patriot extreme.

So what i am experiencing is random memory problems (random because one day i get the a lot, one day i dont get them). Sometimes memtest finds errors, sometimes game is suddenly closed with "unknown" problem, sometimes my USB stuff don't work propery.

I know that memory modules areN'T causing the problems directly because i tried more of them (different). I also tried to change every memory parameter in BIOS and just can get it to work propery. After i tried all this, i figured out that memory modules cant cause those problems directly, so it has to be something else.

Is it motherboard/chipset, is it CPU itself (could CPU even cause memory problems like that?)? So i am completely lost, if i wont be able to solve this problems i will probably buy P5Q pro, hopefully it has different memory support or whatever. But i am afraid that maybe something else is causing the problems.

Anyone experiencing same problems or maybe somebody knows what to do, or have an advice for me about what should i do/try, please tell me, cause i am really getting frustrated of this, specially cause it is for a while like this now.

Thanks a lot to anyone who will help or try to help me!

 

[Mondoman]

To start with, download and run memtest86+ through at least 2 complete passes and make sure there are no errors.
If you get through that successfully, download and run Orthos (or similar PRIME95-based stress-testing program) in "blend" mode for at least a couple of hours without any errors, and without your CPU or other part overheating.
Make sure you have set the memory (DIMM) voltage in the BIOS to the spec voltage value printed on your memory modules.

 

[mikeynavy1976]

Also, I've found that you may need to look at what voltage your memory actually shows. For example, my Gigabyte board experiences what I'm told is called Vdroop. I set the DDR voltage to 2.1V (Corsair spec) yet HWMonitor and other diagnostic programs show it at more like 2.06V. I don't think memory manufacturers account for this in their specs. Therefore you may need to bump your voltage a little higher than the spec in the BIOS and see what it is actually getting. Just don't go too high unless you have an active cooling system or you could damage the memory.

 

[vrocipes]

I tried raising voltage already = same result. Also neither of my components in computer are overheating, that is for sure. About memtest, like i said, sometimes i get loads of error, but there are days with 0 errors aswell, strange i know. Thanks for answers.

 

[tojasiwy]

I have similar problems on my hardware, it's also P5KC mainboard, sometimes system work propertly, when another day system won't load on first time, there are problems with sound or USB. I check it twice by memtest and it was fine, however once inbuild memtest in Windows 7 show me some hardware problems. I realized that i don't have ground connected to my computer, can it cause the problems? I have that suspissions becouse when system have problems with run i remove DDR3 from motherboard touch it and insert again, and then system runs fine on first time, i'm really confused.