Help with Memtest86 stability

Hello all,
I just put a system together, system spec is:

CPU: Athlon XP 2500+ Barton unlocked
MB: Abit NF7 rev2 BIOS 20
Memory: two sticks of 256MB Geil Golden Dragon PC-3200 rated at 6-3-3-2
Video: Radeon 9600 Pro
Power Supply: Antec 400 Watt (not the TruBlue)

I am currently running 215x11, CPU 2.03v, Mem 2.9v, Chipset 1.7v, memory timming 11-3-3-2. CPU Interface Enabled (for Non NF7 owners, this means that CPU/memory is set to Aggressive as oppose to Optimal). With this setup, I can run Prime 95 (the latest version) in Blend setting for 13 hours straight without errors. It was still running when I left home this morning.

The thing is when I run memtest86, I get tons of errors at step 5. And only at step 5. No other step reported any errors. I tried bumping my FSB down and tried relaxed memory timings, I still get errors at step 5. Even at 180 FSB and 6-3-3-2.5 memtest86 still report errors at step 5. What the hey! Is memtest86 reliable? I didn't try anything lower than 180 FSB as I didn't care if it's stable at that low of an FSB.

Please advise. Thanks.

I bumped my FSB to 166 and setting of 6-3-3-2 and memtest86 ran all night long without errors.

Does this means that I don't have bad RAM, but it's just that the RAM is falsely advertised to run at 400 Mhz?

Anyone?

if its prime95 stable i wouldnt worry about it

also try and run 3dmark2001SE or 6hours looping

Memtest86 is a GREAT tool for testing ram stability and is very reliable for weeding out the good from the crap. I don't know about OCZ, but Corsair will send out a replacement stick if the said stick does not pass memtest86 at spec timing/settings.

I would give them a call and tell them... Don't want to sound like a Corsair fanboy, but the Corsair service reps DO use proggies like memtest and prime to test their sticks and are familiar with them.

I personally do like to get what I paid for... and if the label on the package says pc3200, then i would like it to perform at that speed without ANY errors...

Thanks for the replys.
Steven, I thought the same as what you said. If I ran Prime95 set to priority 10 and ran the blend torture for 24 hours+, I shouldn't worry. But in the back of my mind, I'm still have this nagging feeling that my setup isn't 100% rock solid. I talked to other people and they said pretty much the same, not to worry if Prime 95 runs for 24+. My PC isn't running any mission critical apps, I will probably never run into any problems with anything I run on this PC, probably. I don't have 3Dmark 2001, but I do have a registered version of 3DMark 2003. I ran the demo in loop for 6 hours straight.

Mfjonny, thanks for the info. Yes I believe Corsair is a top notch product. I didn't know they use memtest and prime to test their RAMs, that's cool. I'll get Corsair next time. I haven't called Geil yet, but I will. I don't have a good feeling that they will replace my RAM though.

Thanks again.

Try running memtest with each memory stick individually.
Also,do you need 2.9v vdimm at 215fsb? Try running the memory at stock voltage and timings and working up from there.

nf-7 overvolts ram,try going 2,7 in bios,my corsair will start doing errors,if i up my voltage to maximum,and i dont know why...

Malph,
I have not tried just using one stick at time. I will try that.

Twister,
That's very useful info to know. I used 2.9 volts because I thought I'd give it as much juice as I can. Heat was not an issue because during the memtest run I opened up my case and used a large household cooling fan blowing at max speed right into the case. Im going to put it back down to 2.7 and see what happens.

Thanks guys.

Hey spazz, i hope everything works out for ya... I completely know what you mean by that "nagging feeling" - from one anal guy to another i hope everything runs smooth for you in the near future.

Also, running as much juice as the memory can handle is fine (2.9 shouldn't be a problem)... Often times, extra voltage is REQUIRED to run at spec.

I've discovered something new. The Geil Golden Dragons that I have do not want to run in dual channel mode. I tested each individual stick in single channel modes and they both ran memtest86 successfully event at 215 FSB at timings of 6-3-3-2 (2 is the CAS latency). Then I put both sticks in slots 1 and 2 still running in single channel and memtest86 ran for hours without errors. The minute I put them back to dual channel mode memtest86 craps out in test 5 even at FSB of 133!!!!

So does this makes sense? that the RAM I have isn't support under dual channel mode?

Did you try both slot combination available for Dual channel? I had bad luck using 1 and 3, but 2 and 3 ran fine.

Hoot

I have PC3500 GEIL Gold Dragon. 512meg DC on a NF7-S 2.0.

Does the same thing. Not sure whats up with that.

I have mine running ddr 460 24/7 at 3.0v cl2 3-3-6 T1. Never trips up except step 5 of memtest. I wouldnt worry about it.

EDIT: Oh and GEIL loves voltage. I gave it all I could but I have yet to vdimm mod the board. I have a feeling those errors will go away at 3.1 or 3.2v. Plus I bet this stuff will run ddr480 with some overvolting.

Hoot said:

Did you try both slot combination available for Dual channel? I had bad luck using 1 and 3, but 2 and 3 ran fine.

Hoot

Click to expand...

Hoot,
Yes I did. I tried both 1&3 and 2&3, and both combo run into problems with memtest86, even at below specs FSB and timings.

Also, I'd like to take back what I said here:
"I will probably never run into any problems with anything I run on this PC"

This isn't true, when I play Rise of Nations, the game usually crash or system reboots after 15-40 minutes into the game. Also StudioDV would crash while rendering MPEG-2 videos. Amazingly, Prime95 never run into problems. However, when I run single channel, I never run into any problems with RoN or StudioDV or any other apps.

Fushyuguru said:

I have PC3500 GEIL Gold Dragon. 512meg DC on a NF7-S 2.0.

Does the same thing. Not sure whats up with that.

I have mine running ddr 460 24/7 at 3.0v cl2 3-3-6 T1. Never trips up except step 5 of memtest. I wouldnt worry about it.

EDIT: Oh and GEIL loves voltage. I gave it all I could but I have yet to vdimm mod the board. I have a feeling those errors will go away at 3.1 or 3.2v. Plus I bet this stuff will run ddr480 with some overvolting.

Click to expand...

Fushyuguru,
I tried to ignore the step 5 error in memtest86, but I think the errors are important and cannot be ignored. At least for the applications that I run. I experience game crashes and StudioDV crash when memtest failed.

I have heard that for soem reason test 5 is know to fail on most NF2 MB's.

I have heard that for some reason test 5 is know to fail on most NF2 MB's.

spazzmattah said:

Fushyuguru,
I tried to ignore the step 5 error in memtest86, but I think the errors are important and cannot be ignored. At least for the applications that I run. I experience game crashes and StudioDV crash when memtest failed.

Click to expand...

Hmm. Yeah that doesnt sound good. It coulld always be something else though, because the errors are the same and I run my ram much much faster and to its limit than yours. I dont experience crashes in games or 3DSM, CD software or while encoding movies with virtualdub ect.

Are you sure youve ruled out all other problems?

Im not saying it isnt the ram, it could very well be. Its just that we both have the same error with almost identical modules, and they both experience the same memtest error that may be manufacturer specific (cant say between 2 module sets). If it was a memory problem for me I know I would have RMA'd my GEIL a long time ago.

One thing that does perk my intrests is the 2.03v CPU core. Im sure you probably werent running it that high during all of your testing. If you were though you might wanna try a CPU specific bench for a while like burnk7 and start troubleshooting all of your components. See if the core can handle that.

Other than that, adquate NB cooling?

Also, testing voltages with a multimeter. NF7-S' have a fluctuation in the vcore under load on MBM but it isnt always real.

Lastly I would suggest a Vdimm mod. Again GEIL loves voltage. Not everybody is happy with em, but if they work for you theyre rediculous for the price (like mine, $120 with ddr460 without vdimm mod or NB vmod).

Also, if you have a buddy with fast modules. Swap em in for a memtest run at close to ar at the same speeds. See if you can bluescreen while encoding ect.

-Matt-

Fushyuguru said:

Hmm. Yeah that doesnt sound good. It coulld always be something else though, because the errors are the same and I run my ram much much faster and to its limit than yours. I dont experience crashes in games or 3DSM, CD software or while encoding movies with virtualdub ect.

Are you sure youve ruled out all other problems?

Im not saying it isnt the ram, it could very well be. Its just that we both have the same error with almost identical modules, and they both experience the same memtest error that may be manufacturer specific (cant say between 2 module sets). If it was a memory problem for me I know I would have RMA'd my GEIL a long time ago.

One thing that does perk my intrests is the 2.03v CPU core. Im sure you probably werent running it that high during all of your testing. If you were though you might wanna try a CPU specific bench for a while like burnk7 and start troubleshooting all of your components. See if the core can handle that.

Other than that, adquate NB cooling?

Also, testing voltages with a multimeter. NF7-S' have a fluctuation in the vcore under load on MBM but it isnt always real.

Lastly I would suggest a Vdimm mod. Again GEIL loves voltage. Not everybody is happy with em, but if they work for you theyre rediculous for the price (like mine, $120 with ddr460 without vdimm mod or NB vmod).

Also, if you have a buddy with fast modules. Swap em in for a memtest run at close to ar at the same speeds. See if you can bluescreen while encoding ect.

-Matt-

Click to expand...

Fushyuguru, thanks for your reply.

Well, I can't say that I've ruled out everything else. But I can answer some of your other questions. As for CPU stability, I even tried running _everything_ at default. I reset the CMOS and let it boot up on default settings. And with memory in dual channel, memtest86 failed on step 5!! I tried do MPEG-2 encoding, I didn't run into any problems, nor do games crasch after several hours of constant playing. So it seems to be stable at low FSB and consertive timings in dual channel So I can safely ignore memtest there. But when I bumped it up to 180x10 and left everything else at default, CPU is within spec, memory is well below spec, Rise of Nations would crash, but after a long time, like 4-6 hours of running. And StudioDV never run into any problems at 180x10. So I can say screw Rise of Nations, it's a software problem. But if I run in single channel mode, even at 215x11 Rise of Nations ran for 12 hours straight! I just let the computer players play against each other. Yeah, surprisingly no one wins after 12 hours, but that's a different story. So you see, it kinda boils down to the memory not being able to handle dual channel. I can't RMA it now, because it's been ~6 months since I have this RAM and I've lost all the packing. Or can I?

spazzmattah said:

Fushyuguru, thanks for your reply.

Well, I can't say that I've ruled out everything else. But I can answer some of your other questions. As for CPU stability, I even tried running _everything_ at default. I reset the CMOS and let it boot up on default settings. And with memory in dual channel, memtest86 failed on step 5!! I tried do MPEG-2 encoding, I didn't run into any problems, nor do games crasch after several hours of constant playing. So it seems to be stable at really low FSB and timings in dual channel, even though memtest86 crapped out on step 5. So I can safely ignore memtest there. But when I bumped it up to 180x10 and left everything else at default, so CPU is withing spec, memory is well below spec, Rise of Nations crash, but after a long time, like 4-6 hours of running. And StudioDV never run into any problems either. So I can say screw Rise of Nations, it's problem software problem right? But if I run in single channel mode at 215x11 Rise of Nations ran for 12 hours straight! I just let the computer players play against each other. Yeah, surprising no one wins after 12 hours, but that's a different story. So you see, it kinda boils down to the memory not handling dual channel. I can't RMA it now, because it's been ~6 months since I have this RAM and I've lost all the packing. Or can I?

Click to expand...

GEIL does have a lifetime warranty,

Strait off their website (www.geilusa.com)

Q: What type of warranty do I get for purchasing GeIL memory?
A: GeIL offers Lifetime Warranty on all Memory Modules.

So you can always contact them, tell em it wont run in spec and see what theyll offer you.

Other than that I would def try and troubleshoot with some spare PC3200 memory.

Oh, also, did you try it without CPU interface?

Fushyuguru said:

GEIL does have a lifetime warranty,

Strait off their website (www.geilusa.com)

Q: What type of warranty do I get for purchasing GeIL memory?
A: GeIL offers Lifetime Warranty on all Memory Modules.

So you can always contact them, tell em it wont run in spec and see what theyll offer you.

Other than that I would def try and troubleshoot with some spare PC3200 memory.

Oh, also, did you try it without CPU interface?

Click to expand...

Cool, thanks for the warranty info. I will call them. My brother from Chicago is coming over on the 26th. He has 2 sticks of Corsair TwinX that does 440 FSB in dual channel on his Shuttle NForce2 board without a hickup. I asked him to bring the RAM over to test my setup. I have a feeling it will work just dandy in my setup. Yes, I did disable CPU interface, it did drop my score a little. However, that didn't help.