How did my RAM simply just *stop*?

I mean...I have a set of GeIL Ultra-X PC4400 512x2 and it just simply died. I mean, I figure it's the RAM because I tried different RAM and it the system worked just fine. It was in an Athlon 64 box running DDR400 with 2.6vdimm and about 4 ~ 5 months after getting the RAM it starts to BSOD once a week, then once a few days, once a day then every hour then soon enough, you can't even get into Windows. How can *both* sticks just go caput? This makes me a sad zig

Sorry to hear about the rotten luck. I'm hoping the sticks are still under warranty. I would definitely send them back.

inkfx said:

Sorry to hear about the rotten luck. I'm hoping the sticks are still under warranty. I would definitely send them back.

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Well, I bought them off a member here at OCF so there is no chance for a RMA. They were originally purchased from NewEgg in like...June 2006, thats the only info I have on them. How can both sticks just die at the same time?

Sometimes if you contact the RMA department, they will still replace them if they have a lifetime warranty. I got some used Crucial ram and they replaced that no questions asked.

Silly question, but have you tried placing the ram in the other two slots?

Gillbot said:

Sometimes if you contact the RMA department, they will still replace them if they have a lifetime warranty. I got some used Crucial ram and they replaced that no questions asked.

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Actually I had sold some Geil ram on the forums that wouldn't do the rated timings/speeds (I had thought it was the mobo holding me back). Instead of sending it back to me for a refund, the buyer contacted Geil and explained the situation and got a replacement. Mind you this guy was the third generation buyer, and we had no chance of getting a receipt (I got them off eBay).

I would try for an RMA.

ziggo0 said:

Well, I bought them off a member here at OCF so there is no chance for a RMA. They were originally purchased from NewEgg in like...June 2006, thats the only info I have on them. How can both sticks just die at the same time?

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Sometimes it's a case of poor manufacture. I recently had a 2GB PC4000 kit that couldn't even hit DDR500 no matter what I tried (loosening timings, changing VDimm, etc.). Used MemTest86+ on one stick, both sticks, tried all sorts of DIMM slot combination on my board, no dice. I didn't bother sending the sticks in for failure to hit the advertised specs because they otherwise still worked fine. Then the BSODs and crashes started happening. MemTest86+ started revealing errors on settings that used to be known-stable. Even down-clocking to stock showed up errors. No choice then but to RMA the RAM. This, I'm sure, is a case of defective RAM.

Sometimes it could be that the RAM was damaged by overvolting too much for too long. Push any machine past its limits, and you're bound to accelerate its failure rate.

The worst case, though, is if your own motherboard may be responsible for damaging RAM. I've come across stories of poor voltage regulation to the DIMM slots which slow-cooks the RAM.

Clearly, there are myriad possible reasons why both RAM sticks can fail simultaneously.

Hope that helps some!

I've had many sticks just "die" out of the blue. One reboot or power down and they'd never work again. In my experience, that's how it goes with electronics. They just give up once never to recover.

I started getting goofy BSODS and random crashes. I felt they were memory related, but MEMTEST and Windows Mem Diagnostic didn't show any errors. I called ASUS to inquire, and those idiots hung up on me 3 times. I then called Mushkin and as soon as I explained the problems I was having, he told me to RMA the memory and if that didn't fix it, then at least I would know that the memory was good. I went through their RMA process and it was flawless. I was up and running again in short order, and no more crashes/BSODS. No idea why I wouldn't get errors in MEMTEST.

1hawaii50 said:

I started getting goofy BSODS and random crashes. I felt they were memory related, but MEMTEST and Windows Mem Diagnostic didn't show any errors. I called ASUS to inquire, and those idiots hung up on me 3 times. I then called Mushkin and as soon as I explained the problems I was having, he told me to RMA the memory and if that didn't fix it, then at least I would know that the memory was good. I went through their RMA process and it was flawless. I was up and running again in short order, and no more crashes/BSODS. No idea why I wouldn't get errors in MEMTEST.

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That is a bit strange, the no error thing. I had a stick of Crucial Ballistix go bad about a month ago and it gave almost 500 errors in 1 pass of Memtest.

I usually just contact the RMA department and tell them I don't recall where it was purchased. If they have a lifetime warranty, they will usually replace them no questions asked.

its wierd how i always hear ram and harddrives ussually fail the fastest or most its not shocking but never buy those 2 without long warranties sepcially harddrives =)