• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Rampage Forumula can't pass memtest86+ HELP!

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Rickpatbrown

Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2008
I've been having serious problems with this board. I posted in XS Forums, but I'd like to spread the love. Maybe someone can shed some light on what I'm doing wrong.

1st post
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=181921&page=20
Follow up
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3098709&postcount=615

As you can see, I received a new MB and new RAM. I thought they were incompatible,so I got G.skill. I received the G.Skill RAM and am having the same problems. The problem must be operator error or Memtest is boloney (or is it bologna?).

I am stable with prime95 on blend torture test (lots of RAM). I always thought that Memtest86+ was the holy grail of RAM diagnostics. If it doesn't pass Memtest, send it back!

Here's my BIOS with the G.Skill (pretty much the same for the Ballistix also)
Picture001.jpg

Picture002.jpg

Picture003.jpg

Picture004.jpg
 
Last edited:
So, with the bios set to total default settings and not changing anything, memtest still fails with any dimm you put in there?
 
So, with the bios set to total default settings and not changing anything, memtest still fails with any dimm you put in there?

Yes.

The only thing I can think of at this point is that there is a problem with Memtest. There seems to be two website memtest.com and memtest.org. I think I have the one from memtest.com (v3.4). I can't find a blank CD to make a new bootale memtest disk. I'll get one and try tomorrow.

The other thing that I haven't considered is my CPU. I can't imagine how that would affect my RAM, but it's the only other new part in my system.

Or my GPU, can that affect memtest?
 
REF - WRITE - READ should be set to auto and the REF should be turned down alot...

DRAM controller: ddr_ref
DRAM A V: ddr_ref
DRAM B V: ddr_ref

Try different perf. levels also...I found 5 to be a sweet spot for mine.

Also if these are the D9GHM's...turn up the voltage to around 2.3v...

Heres the settings I use at 1300Mhz...see if these might help...
 

Attachments

  • memt.jpg
    memt.jpg
    41.8 KB · Views: 291
REF - WRITE - READ should be set to auto and the REF should be turned down alot...

DRAM controller: ddr_ref
DRAM A V: ddr_ref
DRAM B V: ddr_ref

Try different perf. levels also...I found 5 to be a sweet spot for mine.

Also if these are the D9GHM's...turn up the voltage to around 2.3v...

I've had them on "auto" as well. These are the values that the MB gives for auto.
What do the DRAM voltage reference values do?
G.Skill has DDR2 1066 spec'd at 2.0-2.1 volts. I should go higher?
Ballistix had DDR2 800 CAS 3 spec'd at 2.2 volts.

Higher performance levels should be more stable right?
 
Hmmm.

I downloaded and made a memtest86+ v2.01 bootable CD and still got errors. This version of memtest seems better than v3.4 though. v3.4 identified my CPU as a pentium III and would show thousands of errors and just loop at that part of the test until I reset my computer. v2.01 correctly id'd my CPU, continues to check the rest of RAM even after it finds errors, and allows me to hit escape and end the test without having to hold down the power button.

I'm thinking that it might be the CPU. I borrowed a Pentium E2160 from a friend. Does anyone know if the Rampage supports this CPU? It is 775 pin.
 
Last edited:
sorry havent really been around this weekend...

Yes the E2160 will work on the rampage

Have you checked in your hardware monitor to make sure the dram voltages are not in red...if any are...this would be from overvolting the memory which in turn would cause the memory to fail if too far out of sync...becareful about leaving a lot of voltage settings at auto...the rampage tends to overvolt real bad in auto mode...especially the PLL...

Have you tried the Dram CLK Skew A/B...I had to set mine to 250 before my ballistix's became stable...

Something else you can try with the memory...program called MEMSET you can adjust your memory in windows...

Use Prime to test the settings you change with MEMSet...nice thing about MEMSet is it shows all memory timings...
 
A bad CPU can certainly throw off your memory tests to make you think it's bad memory, so I'd bet it's your CPU.
 
A bad CPU can certainly throw off your memory tests to make you think it's bad memory, so I'd bet it's your CPU.

I am thinking the same thing...there are so many options for the memory on the rampage was just making sure they had the BIOS setup correctly before yanking stuff out of the system...

One little thing off on mine and my whole system is unstable...mine have to be just right for everything to work correctly...at least for the hour or so (MB/memory compt. issues)...
 
Thanks guys. I actually just figured it out this evening. :bday::santa::beer::santa2::soda::attn::clap::D

...there are so many options for the memory on the rampage was just making sure they had the BIOS setup correctly before yanking stuff out of the system...

Ha! Way too late for that. I've been switching RAM and moving it to new slots, removing motherboard, removing waterblocks, unplugging sata cable, ribbons, molex plugs, fan plugs, removing fans etc. for the past three weeks.

So here's the solution. I can produce the errors when I plug my Saitek back lit keyboard into a Dtek USB hub. When I plug the keyboard directly into the MB, I get no errors. When I have my logitech G5 plugged into the Dtek hub, no problem.

This hub is from years ago. It is actually one of the first components I ever bought. I had problems with an iPod about three years ago when plugged into the hub. It would cause my computer to crash. It was actually the catalyst for me to build my first system (good old 939 single core clawhammer with x800 GT :p). It seems that the hub has come back to haunt me.

I will do some more testing tomorrow. I still haven't done a complete memtes86+ pass because of time restraints. I've only gone up to test 8. Before it would fail immediately, usually in test 3 or 4. I will also try to reproduce it on another machine.

I am a little dissapointed that it wasn't the E8400. I was kind of looking forward to a reason to RMA it. 3.9Ghz at 1.4v isn't all that much to get excited about. Oh well.

The memtest86+ FAQ was very helpful at http://forum.x86-secret.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14 was very helpful. It was here that I realized that I needed to get rid of all unnecessary components and check everything one by one. It seems like common sense, but I assumed all my stuff was fine since I hadn't had problems until I upgraded. I didn't run memtest after I added my keyboard though.
 
Last edited:
I had a similar problem a while back. I posted on the memtest forums, and the author of memtest told me to disable legacy USB support in the BIOS. I would have never thought of that, and it worked like a charm!

*I also have an Asus Mobo.
 
Back