SUMMARY: Extremely thorough test for both RAM and system integrity.
The good guys at Ultra-X were nice enough to send a sample of their RST Pro PCI Express ™ memory tester to use in evaluating PC RAM.
RST Pro PCI Express utilizes over 100+ standard and proprietary algorithms to test for both base and extended memory (up to 64 gigabytes). RST Pro provides a graphic display to pinpoint the exact location of memory failures down to the chip level and even pinpoints failure locations inside the chip. RST Pro PCI Express supports the latest FB-DIMMs, SIMMs, DIMMs, RIMMs, (SDRAM 66-133, DDR-266/333/366//400/466/500, DDR2-533/667/800, RDRAM(RAMBus), SRAM, ECC, Parity and Non-Parity) memory technologies.
What’s different about RST Pro is that it’s a self-boot card so that there is no interference from any memory drivers, TSRs, Operating System limitations, or Windows protected mode; it runs complete testing in its own protected mode, which means testing can be run at the maximum possible speed while performing low-level memory testing and validation. This type of testing can uncover failures that may not show up at boot but may lead to quirky behavior under stress, such as while running games or cycle-intensive apps.
I’ve used an earlier version of the RST Pro tester (an example HERE) with great success.
The card is inserted into any PCI-e slot; however, it may not boot and if so you’ll have to change some setting in BIOS – I found with an Asus P5WD2-E Premium that it recognized the Ultra-X card as a boot device and I had to change the Boot Order to get it to boot first; after that, no problem.
In use, the card’s LEDs light as shown above – there is an LED cluster at the right side of the card which indicates that the tests are in progress – a nice addition as sometimes the RAM under test may freeze and it is not immediately evident, as some test patterns will not display any progress for some time.
I took some screen shots to give an idea of what information is captured and the tests included.
The menu is pretty straight forward – there are a number of sub-menus as well – I’ll hit some of the highlights.
The Memory Map basically shows what’s where:
The RST Pro reads out all the detailed information available on the RAM under test – in this case 512 MB of Crucial’s Ballistix (CL1115-Y):
The Memory Test Patterns are shown in the following screen:
When there is a failure, the location is identified in red.
Finally, there is a PCI editor which allows you to change certain registers without having to go into BIOS and reboot:
I’ll be testing some RAM and will report back on test results soon. I have found Ultra-X’s products to be quite robust and an extremely thorough test for both RAM and system integrity – worth a look!
To receive more information contact us at Ultra-X, Inc. at, 1765 Scott Blvd. Suite 101, Santa Clara, CA 95050 USA
Tel: 1-909-946-8321
Toll: 1-888-722-3734
Fax: 1-909-946-7639
E-mail: [email protected]
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