RAM killing itself

[shadowbreaker513]

My RAM seems to have finally kicked the bucket. After running Memtest86+ for around 23 minutes the results were:
Test 3 - 3 errors
Test 4 - 2 errors
Test 6 - 5 errors
Test 7 - 4 erros (still running when I left)

Total errors - 14

Obviously I need new RAM, but is there anything I can do to my current RAM so I can at least use my computer until I get the money.

[Doobie]

My RAM seems to have finally kicked the bucket. After running Memtest86+ for around 23 minutes the results were:
Test 3 - 3 errors
Test 4 - 2 errors
Test 6 - 5 errors
Test 7 - 4 erros (still running when I left)

Total errors - 14

Obviously I need new RAM, but is there anything I can do to my current RAM so I can at least use my computer until I get the money.
Whats your computer do now? Does it boot or do you just get an occasional error?

[shadowbreaker513]

Runs for about 15mins and then a BSOD with IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

[mjkovis]

Obviously I need new RAM, but is there anything I can do to my current RAM so I can at least use my computer until I get the money.If your RAM is bad or defective, then that is exactly what it is. You cannot really do anything to it to make your system work without errors. Basically you can still use your computer unless the crashes are too frequent that you cannot accomplish anything. I suggest ordering new RAM right now so you have to spend less time dealing with the crashing issues.

AK

[shadowbreaker513]

I don't have any money. I only have $71 and I have to pay back $400 to my dad because he advanced me money for a new video card because my old one died as well. Also the warrenty for the RAM was up on friday. I kept trying to email the people for a month but they did nothing but ignore me and refuse to honor my warrenty.

[mjkovis]

Talk to your father and tell him what the deal is. You can get 2x512MB of PC3200 RAM from Corsair for $135.00. It is just Corsair's ValueRAM, but it will do the trick just fine if you are not planning on overclocking this computer.

Have you tried calling the company you purchased the RAM from? They should have a direct number that you can contact them at.

AK

[shadowbreaker513]

I didn't buy the RAM seperatly. I got the computer custom built back in august when I knew less about computers. One stick Is Ateck which I haven't been able to dig anything up on and the other stick is unknown and unmatched. The problem is, I WAS planning to overclock the computer once I got better RAM. Cheapest I've found is HyperX from outpost.com for $180. I got a feeling I'm going to be digging through all my old dells and parting them out.

[mjkovis]

Have you tried using each stick of RAM seperately within your computer? Your problem could be the fact you are using mismatched RAM within your system. One stick may work fine by itself.

Also, if you dont know much about OC'ing I suggest you just leave the computer alone. You need good RAM, great cooling and some experience to OC. The system you have is super fast already, but it is your decision to void the rest of your systems warranties and take a chance at frying a component.

AK

[shadowbreaker513]

I may just get value ram for now, and then if I want a speed jump later I can get a 3700+ when I have more money. I'll try using one stick at a time and running memtest for about 20min on each.

[mjkovis]

I may just get value ram for now, and then if I want a speed jump later I can get a 3700+ when I have more money.I recommend you check the link below for compatible modules for your motherboard. It is for Corsair RAM only though. I am going to be building a new AMD 64 system and Corsair PC3200 2x512 MB ValueRAM is what I will be using. It is priced very fairly and I do not plan on overclocking. This RAM is also what a lot of other have recommended. Why spend the extra money when you dont really NEED to overclock?

Corsair Memory: Find the Right Module (http://compatible.corsairmemory.com/)

I'll try using one stick at a time and running memtest for about 20min on each.Actually, you can just try one stick at a time and see if your crashes persist.

AK

[shadowbreaker513]

I was looking at this

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=20-146-299&DEPA=1

or this would allow some overclocking headroom if I do decide to do it
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-156-026&depa=1

Also according to the sticks themselves, they are matched. Everest says otherwise. Right now I'm running Memtest on one stick at a time.


Also after two hours with both sticks there were 50 errors.

[mjkovis]

That should do the trick as well. Check on Mushkins website though to see if they have a compatiblity table so that you know this RAM will work for sure with your computer.

AK

[shadowbreaker513]

First stick had 7 errors after 20min. It has latencies of 3-4-4-6

Running second stick now. Has latencies of 3-3-3-6

EDIT: Second stick had 10 errors after 20min

[ktkendall]

Thats pretty rare to have 2 ram modules go bad at the same time, I'll bet either the test is not running correctly or the prob may be deeper rooted and be on the motherboard.. Would be a good thing if U had a known good ram module from another system to test with also to be sure the prob is the ram itself..I also just for the time being would just run 1 of your ram modules, whichever one gives you the least problems, and you could try going into your BIOS and slowing down the memory timing settings just till you can afford new ram. That may at least keep you ticking along for a while longer. It may not though if there is truly bad segments on the module but it can't hurt to try at this point since you have to wait awhile till you can afford new..

[shadowbreaker513]

I can pull a 128mb stick of PC2700 out of this Dell and test it, but that's the only other RAM I have. To slow I down I can put it in the second and third slots, which will make it run at PC1600 speeds. Would that help?

[spyder003]

Yeah, throw that stick of 2700 in by itself and test it. If it comes up bad too, you've got something deeper than memory problems.

[Panama Red]

Shadow, empty your pm box.

[shadowbreaker513]

Oops. Sorry

[spyder003]

Actually come to think of it, IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, can mean a million different things. In your case, it may be your RAM since it's failing Memtest.

I got an IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error the other day and it ended up being an nVidia 6xxx series driver problem.

What's the exact error number that you are getting? Mine was a 0X8051EC1C. After doing a little research on some other forums, it was the nVidia drivers. I upgraded to the latest DNA drivers and the problem went away.

Post the error you're getting if you get a chance.

[shadowbreaker513]

I'll switch do a different nVidia driver and see if it still happens, but I'm pretty sure the RAM caused at least 1 of the errors.

EDIT: Running a 128mb PC2700 stick out of this Dell through Memtest to see if there is another variable messing things up.

[shadowbreaker513]

This is messed up. I stuck the RAM in the second and third slots so now it runs at PC1600 DDR200 speeds, and it works perfectly. Did the same 20min test that resulted in at least 7 errors for the individual sticks at 3200 and not a single error. I'm still going to need new RAM, but at least I can use my computer until then.

[ktkendall]

I'm thinking that you may have just proved that the problem is not the ram unless for some reason the ram is not bad but just can not run at its rated speeds anymore, which I suppose is possible for the modules to have degraded in some sort of way, but as I mentioned earlier, that would be one very rare case for both modules to have gone bad at the same time. They weren't overclocked in the original slots were they??

[shadowbreaker513]

No overclocking. I ran a stick of RAM from this computer in the first slot to make sure it wasn't the slot and no errors. It seems like the RAM just flat out stinks and can't run at it's rated speed.

Also it wasn't at the same time. They've been bad for a month but only recent got to the unusable point. I have been trying to get a hold of the people since mid january.

[glc]

Whoever built it used garbage ram. We learned our lessons years ago with generic ram.