What does this mean?

I am in the process of doing some diagnostics work on my buddy's PC (that I put together) and it appears as though it has ram problems.

Here are the specs:

It has a crappy 320watt PSU that I am getting ready to change to a 430watt, 2*512 PC3200 Muskin (blue heatspreaders, not sure of the exact model), Newcastle 3200+, 8kda3J, 9800pro... that's the main stuff.

Now, he keeps expereincing these reboot problems while doing random stuff in windows (run antivirus, spybot, etc). I had a feeling it would be the ram because I had these symptoms in one of my old systems (with some absolute POS komusa ram). Anyway, so I memtest86 his ram, and within 16 minutes he gets over 140errors.

Then I figured I would test each stick by itself in slot 1 (prior, they were in slots 1 and 3, and also 1 and 2 with both configurations failing). well, one stick has been passing tests for about 3.5hrs, so I swap it with the second one. That one too seems to be passing just fine.

What could this mean? They work, but not when they are together? Maybe the weak PSU is to blame? Maybe the motherboard is defective? Thanks for any input.

Yeah, I'd imagine that it would be the PSU.... especially if it's a crap PSU, as they don't even come close to supplying the rated wattage. I'm not sure how much power a memory stick uses though...... do you have a smaller graphics card that you could try? That would be an easy way to tell if it's the PSU IMO b/c the 9800's take a bit of power to run, so if the memory runs fine on a smaller card then it's the PSU at fault.

Good Luck

-Meatball


BTW, Go BUSH!!! sorry, just had to respond...

mtb856 said:

Yeah, I'd imagine that it would be the PSU.... especially if it's a crap PSU, as they don't even come close to supplying the rated wattage. I'm not sure how much power a memory stick uses though...... do you have a smaller graphics card that you could try? That would be an easy way to tell if it's the PSU IMO b/c the 9800's take a bit of power to run, so if the memory runs fine on a smaller card then it's the PSU at fault.

Good Luck

-Meatball


BTW, Go BUSH!!! sorry, just had to respond...

Click to expand...

I am hoping it is the PSU, I will find out saturday if it is... this one has something like 12A on the 12V line That's kind of low isnt it? What worries me is that the other 430w or maybe 450w is also a generic one, so I am not sure if it will be any better. Maybe he will just have to buy a new one then I guess.

I dont have a weaker card laying around, but that is a good idea.

Thanks for your input

this one has something like 12A on the 12V line

Click to expand...

Yeah, that is pretty low.... for Prescotts they recommend bare minimum 24A on the +12V rail, I'm not sure what's recommended for AMD 64's, but I'd imagine it's more than 12A.

I'd suggest to him that he get a Fortron PSU... they have some rock solid rails...even with the 430-450W versions. Cheap PSU's are asking for trouble.... they tend to die earlier and if the PSU fails it can take other components out with it.

Something like this isn't too bad of a buy

400W Fortron

18A on the +12V....if he's not planning on overclocking that should be enough.

Here's an Antec True 380W for the same price

18A on the +12V rail as well


Either of those should handle those parts without any trouble

Yeah, he is not planning on OCing at all. Those PSU's look good but Ididn't expect them to be that pricey, I mean 60 bucks isn't much, but I paid about 70 for my True480 so I thought those would be way cheaper than that. Thanks for the suggestions.

Yeah, you could probably pick one up off the forums for a lot less, I saw a Fortron 550W for about 75 bucks a while ago.... so that's a reasonable option.

[edit]

Like this for example. Antec true 430 for 45 shipped.... not a bad deal at all.

OK... I just put in a ~460watt PSU in and it still gives me errors with both sticks... what should I do??

You said that if you put the memory in Slot 1, the problem went away... try putting a single stick in Slot 2 or 3 and see if you get the problem. That should tell you if it's the second or third slots causing the problem.

Sorry about the PSU, I hope I didn't make you waste your money.... are you planning on RMA'ing the PSU or are you going to keep it?

What is the 12v rail on the new 430w PSU? I believe the A64s like at least 20A. I had an Austin 430 with 18A and it really limited my OC.

mtb856 said:

You said that if you put the memory in Slot 1, the problem went away... try putting a single stick in Slot 2 or 3 and see if you get the problem. That should tell you if it's the second or third slots causing the problem.

Sorry about the PSU, I hope I didn't make you waste your money.... are you planning on RMA'ing the PSU or are you going to keep it?

Click to expand...

Good advice, I will try them in slots 2&3, and then separately in slots 2 and 3. No worries about the PSU man, I had an extra one laying around. I can't quite recall what the wattage is but it is around 450Watts, and it has 18A on the 12v line, I think that is enough for stock (absolutely no OCing going on).

Oh man... they individually pass in all slots... but when together, they do not... How could this be? Anybody have any other suggestions please? your time is greatly appreciated.

Bump... anybody please?

Read this article I found on DIMM slots on certain motherboards

overclockers.com