I smell something, think its my ram

[cbrei10213]

I just out together a new computer and installed Windows 7. Worked great the first time I booted it up. Now when I turn it on it will run for a little and I start to smell the heat. It then blue screens but isnt fried. It will start back up and be happy. The smell comes back so I shut it off and came here. I did physically check that all fans were running, and that CPU temp wasnt too high. The CPU temp sits happily around 109-111*F. So now I am onto RAM. Im not sure where to start with it but was thinking running it through MEMTEST86+. I also went to newegg to check out the 1 and 2 egg reviews on the RAM that I bought. This is the RAM that I purchased.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

I purchased 2 pairs of it for 8gigs. I noticed a few things mentioned in responses rom G.Skill.

"The memory package you purchased is a 4GB kit. It is only guaranteed for 4GB. If you are in need of 8GB, you will need to purchase an 8GB kit. When operating 4 modules on any motherboard, it can stress out the memory controller so additional BIOS settings are needed. The memory you received was not defective, your memory controller was simply overloaded. You can confirm this by testing each set by itself, it should have absolutely no problems until you install all 4 together. Furthermore, with an AMD platform, not all CPUs will be able to operate 4 modules so you will need to confirm that with AMD. If you would like further assistance with this matter, please feel free to contact us directly."

"We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please make sure the BIOS settings are set properly. Have the memory frequency set to DDR3-1600, timings to tCL 9, tRCD 9, tRP 9, tRAS 24, Command Rate 2 and voltage set to 1.5V. With these configurations, the memory will be running fine. If you continue to have issues, or need further assistance, please feel free to contact our technical support department."

"We apologize for the incovnenience. please make sure your cpu can operate 4 sticks. according to AMD, not all cpus can operate 4 sticks and may be limited to one dimm per channel. When running 4 sticks, you will also need to increase the NB and HT Voltage. If you continue to have issues and need further assistance, please feel free to contact our technical support and they will be able to further assist you."

The first one sounded kinda dumb but really im not sure. Should I have picked up an 8GB kit, the 2x4GB kits was cheaper. As for the other two I'm guessing I should try them.

What are your thoughts on it? Could this cause a heat problem?

Thanks

 

[Maziar]

Don't trust Newegg reviews much.
Try to test it with Memtest and check if it reports any errors or not

 

[cbrei10213]

Good news all around. Memtest passed and after throughly going through the BIOS I got the settings configured properly. Before going through BIOS I was only running at 1333 and something like 7-11-9-32 timing. After much trial and error I got the BIOS reading at 1600 and 9-9-9-24. The system is stable now but I did notice that in CPU-Z my timings read correct at 9-9-9-24 but my RAM speed is only showing at 667mhz which would be 1333 right? Why would I not get the 800mhz?

 

[Maziar]

Glad its working then always make sure you set the timings/speeds/voltages manually in BIOS because sometimes setting it on "auto" will cause problems
Well CPU-Z sometimes reports false.
For example i installed 4GB DDR2 800 RAMs on a ASUS P5K and when i opened CPU-Z it reported that i have DDR3 RAMs !
So try other softwares such as Everest and see what they report

 

[cbrei10213]

I spoke too soon. Random crashes started again. I know the RAM is good and I even reinstalled Win 7. Dont know where to look. Any suggestions?

 

[Maziar]

How many hours did you test with memtest ?

 

[cbrei10213]

The first time I ran it for about 7 hours. I then ran it again a few days later when I began to get memory management blue screens, i started, left and came back in a few hours and it had halted with 4 errors. I am now testing each stick independently overnight. So far the first stick passed, and windows boots up and runs fine on that single stick. I will test a second when I get home from work, the third overnight, and the 4th tomorrow while im at work. Also contacting G.Skill customer support for an RMA number. I really hope its the RAM and not the motherboard.

 

[cbrei10213]

I also noticed that when starting memtest you are prompted with 3 options. the current release, an experimental one for multi CPU cores and the previous release. The only one that will work for me is the previous release.

 

[Maziar]

Do you have the latest edition of memtest ?
Let me know when you fully tested the sticks

 

[cbrei10213]

I got my memtest from this site.

http://www.memtest86.com/

After reading it more closely, with more than 4 g of ram i have to use v 3.4. Ill try running the individual sticks off of 3.5.

I have been in contact with g.skill as well about the problem. and they are waiting for me to let them know how each individual stick tests.

Thanks for all the help ive recieved so far.

 

[Maziar]

Let us know how it goes

 

[cbrei10213]

Alright, the first pair tested fine with each stick indivifually and then together. The second pair was not so lucky. less than 10 seconds into the test and it started reporting errors. I contacted newegg and they are allowing me to RMA the RAM. So that looks like its now finally solved. I'll be crossing my fingers though. Could a bad memory slot on the motherboard make the RAM go bad?

 

[Maziar]

You can test the faulty RAM in the slot that the first stick worked fine to make sure

 

[cbrei10213]

The faulty RAM was tested in the same slots that the good RAM was tested in. So I do know for sure that the RAM is bad.

 

[Maziar]

So have you RMA it ?

 

[cbrei10213]

yeah, im shipping it tomorrow since im off work.