Can't pass memtest with 8gb of Kingston Memory

[bradygo]

Hey community--this is my first post here. Hopefully you guys can help me to solve a problem I've battled with for a few weeks.

Just built a system for my brother as a gift for high school graduation, and the memory is giving me trouble.

I have 4x 2gb Kingston Hyper-X Sticks on an Asus M3A78EM Motherboard (american megatrends bios).

Settings set to manufacturer's recommended 2.2v, 1066mhz (listed as 533 on the bios), 5-5-5-15 timing.

While each of these sticks has been tested independently through 10+ memtest86+ passes with no errors, I keep running into a bunch of errors, especially in passes 4+ with all gb's installed.

I've tried upping the voltage a few notches with no success. I'm running a test right now where I upped the NB voltage +50, but I'm not so sure it's going to change anything.

Any ideas? Is there something I am missing? I appreciate your help!

Best,
Brady

 

[o1die]

I would drop the voltage to 2.1, then 2.0. If it doesn't run, you can try 800 speed at the same timings, which is what I use on my memory. Normally, with all 4 slots filled, the board will default to a lower speed at command rate of 2T when set to auto. My board defaulted at 667 with all 4 slots filled. I manually set the speed at 800 5-5-5-15 and it runs fine. I don't even use memtest anymore as long as my system is stable.

 

[MikeJRamsey]

I went to Kingston's website, plugged your board into their memory finder applet and came up with the following:

Part Number                    Description                                                    Price      Buy
KHX6400D2/1G           1GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 (5-5-5-15) DIMM                             $20      BUY NOW
KHX6400D2/2G           2GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 (5-5-5-15) DIMM                             $33      BUY NOW
KHX6400D2K2/2G         2GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 (5-5-5-15) DIMM (Kit of 2)                  $39      BUY NOW
KHX6400D2K2/4G         4GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 (5-5-5-15) DIMM (Kit of 2)                  $65      BUY NOW
KHX6400D2LL/512      512MB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC Low-Latency CL4 (4-4-4-12) DIMM                 $14      BUY NOW
KHX6400D2LL/1G         1GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC Low-Latency CL4 (4-4-4-12) DIMM                 $20      BUY NOW
KHX6400D2LL/2G         2GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC Low-Latency CL4 (4-4-4-12) DIMM                 $33      BUY NOW
KHX6400D2LLK2/1G       1GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC Low-Latency CL4 (4-4-4-12) DIMM (Kit of 2)      $28      BUY NOW
KHX6400D2LLK2/2G       2GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC Low-Latency CL4 (4-4-4-12) DIMM (Kit of 2)      $39      BUY NOW
KHX6400D2LLK2/4G       4GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC Low-Latency CL4 (4-4-4-12) DIMM (Kit of 2)      $65      BUY NOW

Does the DDR2 memory that you have match any of these?

--Mike Ramsey

 

[bradygo]

My memory is not on that list--here it is: KHX8500D2T1K2/4G

I would drop the voltage to 2.1, then 2.0. If it doesn't run, you can try 800 speed at the same timings, which is what I use on my memory. Normally, with all 4 slots filled, the board will default to a lower speed at command rate of 2T when set to auto. My board defaulted at 667 with all 4 slots filled. I manually set the speed at 800 5-5-5-15 and it runs fine. I don't even use memtest anymore as long as my system is stable.

I actually was running the clock on AUTO at first, and started dialing it in only once I noticed errors in memtest.

Yesterday I dropped the speed to 400 (800), and the computer wouldn't even boot--and the post would scream at me. I had to pull out the CMOS battery to get it booting again. I could do this again, but I'd fear that the computer might not boot again.

I know the memory is not bad, but it's disconcerting that im getting 80+ errors

 

[o1die]

Kingston should have an rma program on their website. If you can't pinpoint which stick is bad, then return them all for replacement.

 

[bradygo]

I already RMA'd two sticks at newegg. I'm starting to think that that action may have been taken in error.

I have tested the sticks individually and in pairs, in all different DIMMS. I am mildly confident that they are not defective.

 

[MikeJRamsey]

My memory is not on that list--here it is: KHX8500D2T1K2/4G

Bummer dude. Your board has two channels. Channel 1 consists of DIMM_A1 and DIMM_A2. Channel 2 consists of DIMM_B1 and DIMM_B2.

http://support.asus.com/faq/faq.aspx?model=M3A78-EM&SLanguage=en-us


"Problem
I plan to buy AM2+ CPU and DDR2 1066. I found on that forum that AM2+ CPU does not support more than one DDR2 1066 memory module per channel. Is this true?

Answer
Yes, due to AMD CPU limitation, DDR2 1066 memory module is supported by AM2+ CPU for one DIMM per channel only. Please keep this limitation in mind when you purchase your DDR2 1066 memory module. "

With that memory, you can only populate DIMM_A1 and DIMM_B1. I would not recommend filling slots DIMM_A2 and DIMM_B2 with 800 MHz sticks but it might work, at least in theory.

To use all four DIMM slots, it is best to buy 800 MHz sticks off that list I posted.

Mike Ramsey

EDIT: Windows really only uses 4 GB anyway. 6 GB is useful if you plan on running a guest operating system using virtualization. I would just stick two of the sticks in and declare victory.

 

[bradygo]

Ouch.

Is all lost? Is it possible to work the memory stably at 800mhz?

I guess 8gb might be a bit excessive for most people--but I did switch to 64bit so I could run it. I could just run four gb and sell the other two sticks.

Or should I downgrade and keep 8gb? IS there really any scenario outside of movie editing and servers where 8gb would be worth it?

 

[MikeJRamsey]

Ouch.

Is all lost? Is it possible to work the memory stably at 800mhz?

I guess 8gb might be a bit excessive for most people--but I did switch to 64bit so I could run it. I could just run four gb and sell the other two sticks.

Or should I downgrade and keep 8gb? IS there really any scenario outside of movie editing and servers where 8gb would be worth it?

Only people doing specialized tasks make use of more than 4 GB of memory. I am putting 6 GB into the system that I am building but I plan on running Ubuntu as the host and windows 7 as a guest using Sun's Virtualbox as my hypervisor. I will be using tmpfs to load temporary files into RAM instead of disk. You can do the same thing in Windows using RAMdisk. But unless your brother is doing some really intense things, he will not notice the difference. Bet his paging activity will be nill.

 

[geofelt]

If you are mostly running one application at a time, then 4gb is sufficient. Only a few applications like photoshop CS4 have been programmed to take advantage of more than 3gb of ram.

There are 8gb kits of 2x4gb on the market, but they are pricey.

 

[bradygo]

Sounds good. Looks like i'm selling 4gb.

Thank you all for your help. It's good to have this resolved (albeit in a 'bummer' way)!