BSOD after upgrading RAM

[Guest]

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3 AMD 790X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100282-3SR Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Upgraded just a few days ago from 4GB to 8GB of RAM (G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB). The 4GB were identical aside from the size difference.

Now I've been lucky enough to have never had a BSOD on a personal computer so I'm hesitant to blame the RAM immediately even though its new. Here's what I've done so far:
* Swapped out RAM to different DIMM slots - seemed to have no effect in preventing BSODs.
* Left one RAM stick in - no BSODs (I went up to 45% RAM usage for each)

The following I did after the fourth BSOD so I haven't had much time to determine if they resolved anything:
* Adjusted DRAM timings in BIOS - auto settings had everything at a higher value than what was recommended (CAS was 11 instead of 9)
* Did a Windows Memory Diagnostic sweep - no memory errors detected

I still haven't done a memtest because I have no CD drive and having my USB plugged-in when entering BIOS is causing keyboard input to lag (I'll work on this some more later).

So far I've gotten four BSODs in span of three days. Two the first day, two the third. I had the computer on for quite some time for the BSODs to occur causing them to be far between.

Here are the error codes. I missed the first BSOD. For some reason, no dumps have been generated. System recovery settings have it set to small dump to the system root\minidump:
* Video memory manager - x10e
* SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION - x3B
* PFN_LIST_CORRUPT - x4E

I'm probably going to send them in for a replacement tomorrow and use my old 4GB, but I'd like to know if there's the chance of it being another component if the BSODs continue. The video card would be my next guess, but its been working flawlessly since I got it last year.

 

[jsc]

The first thing to do is reinstall the original RAM. If the BSOD's go away, the new RAM is the problem. If the BSOD's continue, you have something else wrong.

The first rule of upgrading is, as much as possible, to upgrade one thing at a time.

The second rule is to immediately stop and back up when you encounter a problem.

 

[Hawkeye22]

You said you can't currently run memtest, but I highly suggest you do or find a way to do it. Also, I had this problem with a gigabyte motherboard. A bios update fixed it. Check gigabyte's web site for an updated bios.

 

[mcnumpty23]

cas 9 is actually a faster speed than cas 11 so if its the ram going to cas 9 is more likely to

cause crashes than cas 11

check the ram voltage is set correctly

try the new memory on its own if its fine then the issue is down to using 8gb

check if the command rate is at 1t if so try 2t

 

[Guest]

All my drivers and BIOS are up to date.

Ran Memtest86+ (USB plugged into the USB 3.0 port would cause issues with BIOS) and did four passes with no errors. Might do some more later.

12 hours now and no BSOD. I did open up my case and made sure everything was secured in correctly. I moved my HDD away from my GPU to allow for better airflow towards the GPU and RAM.

I forgot to mention when the BSODs occurred:
1) Was archiving some folders with 7zip.
2) Was watching a video
3) BSOD as soon as I executed the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool (did this mintues right after BSOD 2)
4) Was watching a video

 

[iam2thecrowe]

since you put the second stick in and it failed there are a few possible causes.
1 - now you have 2 modules installed, it is running in dual channel mode, but the ram is not matched and not designed to do this. solution - disable dual channel mode.
2 - ram timings are slightly different between modules. solution - set timings manually for the slowest timed ram.
3 - the ram is actually faulty.
4 - this ram is not on your motherboard manufacturers supported list and may not work.

 

[Guest]

Got two more BSODs, one right after the other. Both SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION:
5) Rebooted Windows to install updates
6) Opened Firefox after previous BSOD

.dmp files were generated for these so I attached them. Here's the error info for the initial screen:
[cpp] Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 3b
BCP1: 00000000C0000005
BCP2: FFFFF800032CAC85
BCP3: FFFFF8800748F110
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 256_1[/cpp]

Summary of the .dmp files since I can't read them in their entirety:
[cpp]Unable to load image ntoskrnl.exe, Win32 error 0n2
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for ntoskrnl.exe
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7601 (Service Pack 1) MP (4 procs) Free x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff800`03258000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`0349d670
Debug session time: Wed Oct 12 22:49:51.675 2011 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:36:43.205

Unable to load image ntoskrnl.exe, Win32 error 0n2
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for ntoskrnl.exe

BugCheck 3B, {c0000005, fffff800032cac85, fffff8800748f110, 0}

Probably caused by : ntoskrnl.exe ( nt+72c85 )[/cpp]

Went ahead and put in the old 2x2GB modules and hoping for the best. Sending the 2x4GB in for replacement.
Also, booting up BIOS, the 2x2GB timings were automatically set to the manufacturer specs unlike the 2x4GB. Not sure if that holds any significance since both kits were nearly identical.

Also, found this post on a different forum to be similar to my issue.