Trouble Shooting Ram

[NineLives]

My computer just wont quit freezing, and its driving me nuts, at least 5 out of the 7 days of the week it freezes, which it never used to do until I got my second set of DDR3 ram. I guess Ill RMA it but im not 100% certain that its what is causing the problem. Do I just start out by pulling out the 2 new sticks of ram that I have (I have 4 sticks; 8GB in total). OR do I just pull out one of the new sticks of ram?

UPDATE!!!:
I have a feeling that it may not actually be my RAM, around the same time that I installed my ram I also installed a program called "key scrambler" which is an anti-keylogging software that gets integrated into firefox. Yesterday I got a BSOD because of the stupid program. It said clearly that the driver for keyscrambler had crashed my system.

I do recall at least half of the times that I have either been opening firefox, or doing something related to it which freezes my PC. I am going to hold off on re-installing my new set of ram for the time being to see if it still freezes, and at that point ill just uninstall keyscrambler to see if it stops the freezing!
So far, other than the BSOD yesterday my computer has yet to freeze, but I have to wait at least another week to really make sure it wont.

[francisw19]

Originally Posted by NineLives

My computer just wont quit freezing, and its driving me nuts, at least 5 out of the 7 days of the week it freezes, which it never used to do until I got my second set of DDR3 ram. I guess Ill RMA it but im not 100% certain that its what is causing the problem. Do I just start out by pulling out the 2 new sticks of ram that I have (I have 4 sticks; 8GB in total). OR do I just pull out one of the new sticks of ram?

To target the exact DIMM that's causing the issue, you just install one stick at a time. So, to start put in just one stick of the new RAM and test it. When you're done testing ,do the same thing with the other stick of new RAM. To check your RAM, run Memtest86+. Be sure to let Memtest run for at least a few hours for each DIMM.

To run memtest, just download it and burn the .iso file to a CD. Once you do that, just put in the CD and reboot your computer and it starts up automatically (just remember to enable booting from the CD in your BIOS).

Hope this helps! :)

[NineLives]

Hey, thanks for the reply, I was going to use Memtest, but I just dont have the time nor do I have a CD Burner or CD's LOL I SKIMPED OUT ON IT :( Anyways, I just pulled out both of the new sticks of DDR3 Ram, and Im gonna see if my computer still freezes without it. Is this a good way to test it? If it does freeze Ill figure out what to do from there, but TBH Im like 90% sure that this is what is causing it. Last summer I played for 2 months every day for at least 6-7 Hours a day and my computer probably froze once throughout all of it. Ever since I popped in this new set of memory I've been getting freeze after freeze (at least 30+ of them) Lets see if that is what is really causing it, it could be that or maybe its my dual graphics cards (I got a second 5770 about 2 weeks after) even though I remember my computer freezing like twice before I got the second card with the new ram installed. Last thing, does g.skill have a year warrenty? I spent $70 on this ram, and Im not going to just throw it away (Maybe Ill keep the good stick if they dont)

[francisw19]

No problem!

About memtest...I think it would be much more conclusive if you run it. If you run it and it starts throwing a bunch of errors, then it's pretty easy to say the RAM is at fault. Especially since there is another question mark in the problem (the second graphics card). I should mention there is a version for a USB thumb drive too...so if your motherboard can boot from a USB device, you should be able to run it no problem ;)

Also, to answer your question about the second graphics card...it could cause stability issues as it will stress your PSU a bit more. So, if your RAM tests OK, that's the next thing you should look into.

And don't worry about the warranty on the RAM...G.Skill has a lifetime warranty. If your RAM is indeed pooched, just contact them and they should help you out getting it replaced.

[NineLives]

TBH I dont think it really is my 2nd video card, as Ive reseated both in opposite PCI-E slots, and on top of that I have a Corsair 750Watt PSU which is WAY more than enough for my build (I havent even overclocked my CPU yet). I will hold off on the mem test because it seems like it must be some really small thing with the ram that may take hours to find which again I dont have time to look for, but since I use my PC so much Im better off taking the two sticks out to see if my computer freezes at all. But again thanks for the Idea I may try out memtest if I freeze again with just my old ram (which means maybe my new ram is good or my motherboard is toast)

[sswilson]

Did you bump the NB voltage a tad when you dropped in the second set of mem? How's the mem voltage holding out? Is it still within spec, or did it drop a bit when you started powering 4 sticks vice 2?

[Perineum]

I always test RAM first with all the RAM installed. Otherwise there is the potential to give yourself the runaround.

For instance, I have had one computer that would test okay with 2 of 4 sets of RAM installed. However, when all four sticks of RAM were installed (2x4) then the system would start throwing up errors.

Again, it's just easier to set it up to do a memtest86+ without removing any RAM at all and it makes more sense, as that is the environment that you are trying to make the system work in anyway.

Removing the RAM and testing individually would give you a false negative and leave you wondering what was wrong.

Just run then test with all RAM installed like it was. If you get an error after (at least) one pass (about 40 to 60 mins for 8GB) *then* you can start removing sticks to narrow it down.

[NineLives]

Originally Posted by sswilson

Did you bump the NB voltage a tad when you dropped in the second set of mem? How's the mem voltage holding out? Is it still within spec, or did it drop a bit when you started powering 4 sticks vice 2?

Hmm I didnt take that into account, there is a seperate section for inputting your RAM voltage, which I set to 1.35 as it said on the package. Im gonna just do it tomorrow since my mom took my usb key to work today...

[NineLives]

BTW other than a stick of memory being bad could it be my motherboard by any chance?

[francisw19]

Originally Posted by NineLives

Hmm I didnt take that into account, there is a seperate section for inputting your RAM voltage, which I set to 1.35 as it said on the package. Im gonna just do it tomorrow since my mom took my usb key to work today...

I think sswilson is suggesting increasing the actual memory controller voltage (i.e. the CPU-NB voltage setting if you are running AMD)...not the RAM voltage.

Originally Posted by NineLives

BTW other than a stick of memory being bad could it be my motherboard by any chance?

Definitely...the slots on your motherboard could be bad, for instance.