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FX-8350 faulty mem controller?

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Xilosciente

New Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Hey guys, I seem to be having a bit of trouble here.

My FX-8350 just came a few days ago and I've been building and tinkering ever since. However, I've run into a huge roadblock.

None of my memory can get past memtest.

I ordered Corsair Vengeance 2 x 8GB 1866Mhz RAM (to advantage of the new native 1866 dual channel support) and I'm installing it on a Sabertooth 990FX Rev2.0 board.

The first stick failed memtest, so I immediately backed it down to JEDEC 1333Mhz 2T. But no matter what I try, testing memory in recommended configs or just testing a single stick in each DIMM slot, test 6 throws up repeated and consistent errors, over 100 of them on each pass.

Corsair says the memory should run fine in the config I've got. Asus says the same about their board, though I've yet to test it with different memory... could be a bad mobo. That'll be the next thing to test and/or replace. So now I'm down to this.

Have there been any reports of faulty memory controllers in the FX-8350?
 
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Have you checked the voltage and timing of the memory to be sure that those are set correctly in bios? "Auto" sometimes can't be trusted. Try this: Download and install CPU-z. Run the program interface. You will see a number of tabs that give info about the system and bios settings. Pay close attention to these two: "Memory" and "SPD". Compare them. "Memory" will display your current memory frequency as it is set in bios. "SPD" will report what the memory manufacturer recommends for voltages and timings at various standard frequencies (See the JEDEC and XMP columns toward the bottom). So you can check the correctness of the timings at the frequency you are currently running the ram at this way. Take note of what SPD says the voltage should be for that frequency and then go into bios and manually set the ram voltage to that amount.

Also, some versions of Memtest86+ were buggy. Perhaps a better and more realistic test for the memory is just to run the Prime95 blend test for about an hour. The blend test puts a lot of stress on the ram as well as the CPU. You can also choose a custom test in Prime95 and designate a heavier amount of memory to be tested if you want, Say at least 75%
 
I cannot run CPU-Z, there's not even an OS on this new computer yet, I went straight to memtest first. I also cannot run Prime95 for the same reason.

And I cannot install Windows 7 x64, because I am given a 0x00070570 error, and some searching turned up that error is caused by faulty memory. So I have no OS.

The chip detects in BIOS as it should, at JEDEC 1333Mhz with 9-9-9-24-2T at 1.5v. The XMP profile shows up as well, but I'm definitely not going to use that if JEDEC doesn't test without fail.

I ran the exact same memtest86 v4.20 on my current computer, and everything came up green. I disabled legacy USB on the new computer and booted from CD to avoid any false positives.

Every stick and every slot throws up consistent test 6 failures, and windows 7 x64 not installing definitely confirms it's a memory problem. So it's either the RAM, the motherboard DIMM slots, or the Vishera's memory controller. And I'm about to test out the motherboard right now with different memory.
 
It is beginning to sound like a bad IMC. Do you have access to another computer you could try that ram in?

I would also try running one of the Ubuntu versions that loads completely from the CD via ram disk and bypasses the HD. You can burn it on the other computer. See if it will load, run and be stable.
 
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Confirmed, the motherboard is not bad. I just ran memtest on my Corsair XMS 2 x 2GB sticks on the Sabertooth in both the dual-channel memory slots and they passed with flying colors.

It's interesting, memtest86+ 4.20 only shows errors on test 6 when it gets past 4GB. Definitely is sounding like the IMC there.

Now running version 5 beta of memtest to weed out any problems with the program... if it throws the errors again in the same place again, I'm returning the processor for a new one. Poor Vishera...
 
my Corsair XMS 2 x 2GB sticks on the Sabertooth in both the dual-channel memory slots and they passed with flying colors. < That test very likely shows the CPU is good as well. I am suspicious the ram is not compatible with the cpu and motherboard.

Having actually worked for a motherboard company for 6.5 years, am familiar with the idea that it 'should' work but does not.

You need to see if that ram is on the motherboard companies QVL list for the mobo. If it is then it is up to them (ram maker or mobo maker) to make it work. But your ram sticks might be bad and need replacing. I see very few issues with Gskil and AMD setups. That might be a better choice for ram.

The reason I focus more on the ram than cpu or mobo is that 'you' will be the first person I have seen in these forums in two years that the IMC was the cause of your type problem. Don't get me wrong, it could be an IMC but the odds or more likely the problem is otherwise.
 
Memtest 5.0 is a little more detailed and detects sections of RAM that are failing repeatedly, and sure enough, certain addresses are failing time and time again on these sticks. Gonna return these and pick up new RAM asap.
 
Memtest 5.0 is a little more detailed and detects sections of RAM that are failing repeatedly, and sure enough, certain addresses are failing time and time again on these sticks. Gonna return these and pick up new RAM asap.

Did you try the vengeance in the other computer? Did it throw errors? If so, make sure you go with a different brand or at least a different model of Corsair ram. I never hear of GSkill ram products producing incompatibility issues.
 
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I love the look of the Vengeance heat-spreaders, honestly, and they're going in a C70 Vengeance case, so it's only appropriate. Plus the Vishera is topped with a CLC, so no problems with size. If I get another bad batch, I'll give Corsair the finger, but my XMS sticks have served me just fine in my previous build, so I'll give Corsair another go.

Putting a single 1866Mhz 8 GB stick in my MSI 790FX-GD70 and Phenom II x3 720 makes it not even POST to BIOS, so that's a no go. I'll check a few friends, but it definitely looks like these are getting returned.

Being super-picky about the QVL list... looks like I'm going with 4 x 4GB 1600MHz CL9s this time.
 
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