Bad ram on "Nightmare" build

I call this my nightmare build because I've had soo many issues with something that has gone so smoothly in the past.
Issues resolved so far
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=705507
and
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=705437

Now my rig started to randomly freeze when idle for some time. I've turned off all sleep and power saving options. I hit the ram first, i booted into memtest 4.0 and cannot get past five mins with out memtest FREEZING!, not errors but freezing, glitching screen, and just going plain nuts. I've tried all ram slots, yet to single the chips out 1 by 1. What i've done though is put my 2x4g set in my wifes gaming rig and running memtest on it, NO errors yet.... wtf?? (She has a dual core athlon II,biostar 880g mobo) it's running at 1600 on hers. On my rig I got errors at all speeds and timings. It wouldn't run anything.

I thought maybe the cpu? then again, it passed prime95 and occt and linpacks for hours upon hours with no hiccups. Currently im running her g.skill 1600 2x4g set in my rig on memtest with no issues so far..

Could it possibly be the cpu or even the mobo? (fx 8120 ) causing memtest to fail? Or do I probably have a bad stick (or two) of ram even though so far so good in another rig.

thanks!

Have you tried running single sticks?

Seems like a bad kit, especially since you are running the other kit with no issues.

I would return the bad kit asap, the reason it is probably running fine on the other rig is because it is running under spec. When you try to run it at spec(1866) is has errors, classic corrupt kit.

pwnmachine said:

Have you tried running single sticks?

Seems like a bad kit, especially since you are running the other kit with no issues.

I would return the bad kit asap, the reason it is probably running fine on the other rig is because it is running under spec. When you try to run it at spec(1866) is has errors, classic corrupt kit.

Click to expand...

Would that same situation apply if I ran the (bad) kit at the same specs it is running on in my wifes rig. And it still got errors?

Ahh, the irony, right when i posted that the kit from my wifes computer just locked up on my new rig as well....hmmm

Try name brand memory instead.

larrymoencurly said:

Try name brand memory instead.

Click to expand...

He is using a GSkill kit...

OP this leads me to believe you have a bad slot on your mobo. Unless...

Have you tried manually setting all timings and voltages? Sometimes asus boards run ram at wacked out specs(usually below required) which can cause issues.

Try setting all specs to stock specifications manually in the bios.

pwnmachine said:

He is using a GSkill kit...

OP this leads me to believe you have a bad slot on your mobo. Unless...

Have you tried manually setting all timings and voltages? Sometimes asus boards run ram at wacked out specs(usually below required) which can cause issues.

Try setting all specs to stock specifications manually in the bios.

Click to expand...

Ive set the timings, voltages, and speed all manually and still freaked out me. Even under specs. I'm to the point im just going to RMA the whole bundle for replacement, and try again with a new/same mobo cpu and ram. The cpu seemed fine but since I'm RMAing both the mobo and ram might as well get a new CPU while i'm at it.

larrymoencurly said:

Try name brand memory instead.

Click to expand...

pwnmachine said:

He is using a GSkill kit...

Click to expand...

GSkill made with what brand of memory? I know I sound like a broken record, but when a computer is inconsistently erratic, I want to run brand name RAM chips (Samsung, Micron, Hynix, Nanya, Elpida) so I can completely rule out the DIMMs.

I wouldn't use a BioStar motherboard to test memory because many of them default to a higher than normal voltage, and even an extra 0.1V can sometimes completely cover up memory defects. Also I've seen memory work fine at slow speeds but fail at exactly its rated speed.

Some mobos are a lot more stable with marginal memory than others are. Maybe there's a BIOS update, but never flash an unstable system.

I'd measure the positive voltages from the power supply (or try another PSU) and the voltages for the CPU core, memory, and PCI-E slots with a digital meter.

larrymoencurly said:

GSkill made with what brand of memory?

Click to expand...

Are you referring to who manufactures the chips?

larrymoencurly said:

GSkill made with what brand of memory?

Click to expand...

Ahh you mean the memory chips themselves, I believe GSkill uses Powerchip IC chips which are pretty good.

OP: Srry Ekoh I am all out of ideas

pwnmachine said:

Ahh you mean the memory chips themselves, I believe GSkill uses Powerchip IC chips which are pretty good.

OP: Srry Ekoh I am all out of ideas

Click to expand...

no problem pwnmachine, if i could give you 1000 reps i would, you pointed me in the right direction.
I concluded that the memory may not be bad, what it boils down to is either my mobo has 4 bad memory sots (i tried them all) or my CPU has an issue in the IMC. (AMD still puts the memory controller in the cpu eh?) none the less, I RMA'd all three pieces for an exchange / replacement. Hopefully this way i'll be safer than sorry.

pwnmachine said:

Ahh you mean the memory chips themselves, I believe GSkill uses Powerchip IC chips which are pretty good.

Click to expand...

Powerchip ICs that fully passed the same kind of testing that Powerchip requires of its fully finished chips go out on the commercial and industrial markets, marked with the Powerchip logo and part number?

And G.Skill may or may not be the company that thinks it's OK for sub-2133MHz modules to show 2 errors in overnight testing. One non-chip making module company actually said that of their products.

And long ago, a VP of Kingston said that his company did different levels of testing (PC or $1M+ testing machine), depending on what the computer maker specified. (some had their own $1M+ machines)

larrymoencurly said:

Powerchip ICs that fully passed the same kind of testing that Powerchip requires of its fully finished chips go out on the commercial and industrial markets, marked with the Powerchip logo and part number?

And G.Skill may or may not be the company that thinks it's OK for sub-2133MHz modules to show 2 errors in overnight testing. One non-chip making module company actually said that of their products.

And long ago, a VP of Kingston said that his company did different levels of testing (PC or $1M+ testing machine), depending on what the computer maker specified. (some had their own $1M+ machines)

Click to expand...

Interesting. None the less, I went with this ram because it was on the qualified ram list by Asus and i've always used g.skill in my builds.