Bad memory

Hello Everyone,

I have a new computer I built, specs are as follows:

Q6600 B3
BFG n650i Ultra
2 GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2800
320 GB SATA 3.0gb/s
8800 GTX

I am having memory issues with the computer. The memory I have is 4-4-4-12 at 2.2v. My bios can only accept 2.1 max and it reads my RAM as 5-5-5-18. Should I switch to 4-4-4-12 manually? Should I return the RAM and get one that runs in lower voltages? I am really illiterate on this topic, I would really appreciate it if you shine some light on the topic.

Also, when I ran memtest, I found some errors. The thing is, it ran for 12 hours fine and then back to back 11 errors after. I did it again, for 15 hours, there were no errors, but then same thing. Is this normal? The problem is, almost all my games CRASH at some point. Battlefield 2, Supreme Commander, FIFA 07, all crash. The game just freezes and sometimes there is repeating sound, or sometimes it just restarts. Do you think this is about the RAM or something else?

I apologize for the length of my post, but I really need you guys' help. Thank you very much for your time, I am glad I joined this forum.

Regards,

ThePredator

If you can, just manually assign it the 4-4-4-12 timings.

When you say it found errors, was this at the 4-4-4-12 timings or the 5-5-5-18 timings?

And no, errors in Memtest are not normal and neither is the locking.

to the forums!!

Set timings manually if you can. As goes for voltage, at stock speed it should require less voltage than rated for.

Set thetimings manually, and if that doesnt work the RMA them as they are probably just bad RAM

Definitely set the timings manually, maybe lower the speed to 667 and see if you get errors. You might be best off exchanging it for other RAM.

I also bought that Crucial ram but didn't try it as my board only supported 2.1v as well (damn nvidia reference boards!). The OCZ I exchanged it for does DDR2-900 4-4-4-10 at 2.0v. Haven't pushed it much further than that yet.

Alright, here is the thing though, when i got the errors, i got them after 14 hours in boot memtest. For 14 hours, it didn't give any errors. Wherever I looked at (newegg, hardforum), nobody ever memtests for more than 8 hours. I am not saying the RAMs are good, but these things are machines, 14 hours non stop testing may produce errors i believe.

Back to voltages. What's the difference between 4-4-4-12 at 2.0 and at 2.2? Is more voltage better? If this ram is advertised 2.2v, does that mean my system isn't good enough to run it?

I also read that you have problems if you DON'T OC this ram. Apparently someone contacted crucial rep and the rep said Ballistix is for OCing and the way RAM was made, unless you overclock, you may have performance drawbacks.

I am really confused. If you guys say RMA it and get a refund and buy another RAM, I'll do that too, but if this 2.2v is a problem, then there is no point of getting a replacement for this ram.

Anyways, like I said, I am completely lost in the timings vs. voltage argument. Sorry, I am not very smart about the RAM stuff

ThePredator said:

Alright, here is the thing though, when i got the errors, i got them after 14 hours in boot memtest. For 14 hours, it didn't give any errors. Wherever I looked at (newegg, hardforum), nobody ever memtests for more than 8 hours. I am not saying the RAMs are good, but these things are machines, 14 hours non stop testing may produce errors i believe.

Back to voltages. What's the difference between 4-4-4-12 at 2.0 and at 2.2? Is more voltage better? If this ram is advertised 2.2v, does that mean my system isn't good enough to run it?

I also read that you have problems if you DON'T OC this ram. Apparently someone contacted crucial rep and the rep said Ballistix is for OCing and the way RAM was made, unless you overclock, you may have performance drawbacks.

I am really confused. If you guys say RMA it and get a refund and buy another RAM, I'll do that too, but if this 2.2v is a problem, then there is no point of getting a replacement for this ram.

Anyways, like I said, I am completely lost in the timings vs. voltage argument. Sorry, I am not very smart about the RAM stuff

Click to expand...

Yes while machines sometimes produce errors, it should NOT be ever throwing errors in memtest. Memtest is basically testing the memory's ability to write and read data correctly, if that fails, you have bad memory.

When you ran it at 4-4-4-12, did you run it at 2.0 volts? If you did, try 2.1.

I have never heard of a performance issues if you don't overclock, that doesn't really make sense. I could see it is slower, because that is why we overclock.

If it throws errors, just RMA the sticks and see if the new ones have the same issues (I doubt they would).

Alright, I can't deal with this, I am going to get a refund and buy a new one. Which one would you buy:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231065
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231087

I think you may have just gotten a bad set of ram. Crucial Ballistix is about the best DDR2 you can buy and you should have no trouble running those sticks @ DDR2-800 as low as 1.9v. You should just RMA for the same ones you already have as they are the best in my opion.

FYI, those G.Skill HZ's are using the same exact chips that are on the ballistix you have.

You are not gonna believe this, but after changing to 2.1 4-4-4-12, I ran memtest and it is actually still running as I type, I got no errors for more than 15 hours!!!! How is that possible? Should I still RMA it, or was it simply because inconsistent voltage (I was also OCing CPU at high voltage 1.40 - 3.0 Ghz, now it's 1.275 - 2.66)?