Faulty Memory Stick - Upgrade

balkieb2002

I recently upgraded my machine and it was working fine for the first week but since then I have been getting random blue screens (about 1 a day) with the usual one being to do with MEMORY_MANAGEMENT. I've attached my latest BlueScreen report.

This led me to test the ram using Windows inbuilt memory tester and that concluded that there was an issue with the ram. I also started having issues with corrupted rar files (files that are working fine on another machine) as well as corrupted installations i.e. start installation of a game and its complains of a corrupt file during the install.

My motherboard is a ASUS P8P67 PRO (rev. 3.1) and I have Corsair 2 x 4 GB DDR3-1600 Vengeance Sticks (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9) in XMP profile and based on my initial testing it seems that the issue is with the ram stick in Slot B2 (they are currently in slots A2 and B2) as I got no errors with just 1 4GB stick in slot A2.

I've decided to keep that working 4GB stick and buy another 4-8gbs but just wondering what my best option would be?

Serephucus

Before you buy, try swapping the RAM modules around. Make sure it's not a faulty slot.

Nothingbetter2d

http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/166572-0x0000001a-bsod.html

see that thread you might have a bad chipset driver causing it

i once had a bad chipset driver that caused 2 slots to not work right.... when i updated the driver the slots started working properly

Monotype

These boards have been fairly bad for RAM issues. I'd say to make sure that you have the latest BIOS (make sure you don't update with a suspected faulty stick in though).

balkieb2002

Serephucus wrote: »

Before you buy, try swapping the RAM modules around. Make sure it's not a faulty slot.

I initially had the memory in slots A1 and B1 (as read it's best for dual channel compatibility) but can't remember when or why I changed them to A2 and B2 (it may have been because the crashes started happening). Would it make any difference if the memory was was in slot A1 and A2?

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/166572-0x0000001a-bsod.html

see that thread you might have a bad chipset driver causing it

i once had a bad chipset driver that caused 2 slots to not work right.... when i updated the driver the slots started working properly

Unfortunately I didn't update or install any drivers before it started happening. Have in the meantime updated different drivers to see any improvements but crashes still occurring.

Serephucus

Moving to different slots could introduce other problems. Just move module A to slot B2 and module B to slot A2, and retest. If module A (in B2) fails, then you know it's the slot. If B (in A2) fails, then it's that module of RAM.

balkieb2002

OK after more testing it definitely seems like one of the sticks are faulty.

I left one stick in A2 and ran the memory diagnostics tool which proceeded fine and reported no errors.
I then turned off the machine and tried again with the other module in the same slot, this time the machine didn't even turn on while the memory light on the board turned red.

With both sticks in the machine (in Slots A and B swapped around) the PC turns on fine and reports all 8GB of ram but is prone to those earlier issues I mentioned.

Just curious as to why the system seems to be working with both modules in use but not with the "faulty" one on its own.

ED E

I'm a total noob when it comes to ram but could it be that you arent using stick two(or the bad module on it?) when both are in? Like idling you're using about 2-3GB with 7. That said, I would have assumed it was balanced over all sticks in a system.

Monotype

I suppose a simple explanation would be that the stick is faulty and not actually broken so its behaviour is erratic.

Send them back.