Memory issues... too much booze

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blackbeard7

blackbeard7

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Jan 16, 2013
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So I'm getting pretty fed up with some new memory I bought recently. Enough so that I made a profile for this website. I read you guys all the time but this issue is pretty specific. I'll start off with my build.

Mobo: msi 770-C45 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130228)
CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808)
GPU: nvidia geforce 250 gts pny (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133266)
and a 500w power supply from ocz

I first put the system together about 4 years ago and had two 2g sticks of ram in it. This past black Friday I decided it was time for an upgrade. I go on newegg and buy their showcase brand of ram that fit the size and speed of my mobo's max. Since it was half off i decided to splurge and buy 4 sticks. They're gskill 4g sticks (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314). Now, when they came in the mail I slapped them on my motherboard and it blue screened almost immediately. I scoured the web for a solution and came upon the program memtest. After running it on each of the sticks, I found out that two were defective. I RMA'ed that *** and got a replacement. After the long wait I slap my replacement in. Blue screen. Memtest says one of the two new sticks is defective. I call newegg and make them pay for the shipping of the RMA this time because I just want my damn ram already. The third set arrived a few days ago and what do you know, one is defective again.

Is my system the problem? Perhaps my mobo? Or is defective RAM very commonplace? I ran memtest on a stick I knew was good in each memory slot and it passed for all of them. Maybe my mobo doesn't like running 4 sticks simultaneously? I dunno, but after going through 3 bad sets of RAM im beginning to think my computer is Taylor Swift, and that maybe it's the problem.
 
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smorizio

smorizio

Titan
Jan 22, 2010
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it could be that your bios needs an update to read low voltage memory. check with msi and make sure your mb has the newest bios update. also look at there test report for ram.
http://www.msi.com/file/test_report/TR10_1812.pdf
it tell you what ram is know good to max out your system. if the ram not on that guild email gskill and see if they tested theat ram on there mb. if not i would send all the ram back to new egg for refund.
 
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SPEED94

SPEED94

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Oct 29, 2012
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Its sometimes gives problem when one attempts to fulfill the maximum the mainboard's chipset can offer. Your main board's chip-set can max support upto 16 gb and it supports DDR3 800/1066/1333/1600* (OC) note it....the frequency 1600 ram is not supported by your mainboard but some lower frequency ram overclocked to 1600 mhz. And unluckily as far as i see from your provided links the sticks are 4 gb 1600mhz sticks. Try with lower frequency sticks and i guess your problem will be solved (best to check the specs of your old 2 gb ram).
My opinion is to avoid hardwares that are shown in red or star marks in your mainboard's official website.
 
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blackbeard7

blackbeard7

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Jan 16, 2013
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My RAM performs at 1333 and at the recommended timings and voltage (9-9-9-24 1.5v) as I custom set in my bios. Remember folks: some RAM works, some doesn't. And they're of all the same brand, size, timing, voltage, all that bullshit. Nothing is overclocked even though it can be. I don't like to meddle in that sort of thing. Just because it's capable of 1600 doesn't mean it has to run at that speed. Or does it? I'm not sure, and I posted this question for that reason.
 
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SPEED94

SPEED94

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Oct 29, 2012
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Yeah yeah...a higher frequency ram will operate at a lower depending on your mainbaord's capabilities and other sticks...but it will not lower frequency of those ram which is not supported by the mainboard...original ddr3 1600 are not officially supported on your board.
 
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A

abbadon_34

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Aug 7, 2008
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While it makes no sense, alot of motherboards have issues when all slots are populated, hence why most people use 2 sticks. That said, if you are not overclocking (reset to default to be sure, everything auto especially memory), there should be no memtest errors when testing stick by stick if they are good.
 
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blackbeard7

blackbeard7

Honorable
Jan 16, 2013
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As I said, the speed for each stick is set to 1333 in the bios, so its not running at 1600. I tested each stick individually and one of the sticks read defective on memtest. Maybe the stick really is just defective. It's so uncanny to get three defective sets in a row though
 
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bgunner

bgunner

Judicious
Feb 13, 2009
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Uncanny yes. I did a bit of searching and your ram is on the QVL list. Since only one stick fails and they were all tested individually That one stick is bad. Out of fear of receiving another set like that ( Your choice of course ) I would return that set and get a different Brand of ram. It is possible they had a few bad stick slip through but this is just speculation. After getting 3 set and having bad sticks in each, going with that same ram again seems foolish in my opinion.

Just for info: the Phenom II X4 series only native supports 1333Mhz for ram speed. Yes it is possible to Over clock to 1600Mhz but since you are not OC'ed this is not a concern. This is info for the rest of us.
 
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