steevie.h

Hey everyone my PC has been crashing heaps lately, i think it's a hardware problem and im trying to identify what the faulty component is. i've been suspicious of the RAM so i downloaded memtest and ran it.

Within a minute i got an error (... error copying xxxxxxx to xxxxx) and it reads in the manual that even one error is v. serious (you should be able to run memtest for days and not get an error) and that i have to replace RAM. so i though OK what RAM stick i have 3...

so one by one i did a memtest with a single stick in and they all got errors! sometimes it took 1 min, sometimes 15....

It is an old pentium 4 rig but i find it difficult to believe that all 3 sticks are faulty?? i read somewhere that memtest errors may actually indicate a problem with the motherboard, what do you guys think i should do? buy 3 new sticks? or is there something else i can do to see if the motherboard is the problem?

AMD+nVidia

Unless your speeds/timings are set too high/low (read: out of normal range) you have three bad sticks my friend.

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steevie.h

thanks for your reply AMD+nVidia.
I've never altered my speeds/timings on my RAM, so maybe they are just faulty... but is there a way i can check if they are out of range?
thanks heaps

AMD+nVidia

Check what they are rated for, and see what they're reporting under CPU-Z in the memory and speed section.

RAM does go bad though. I've handled probably 1,000 bad RAM cases in the past 3 years.

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steevie.h

ok ill see what CPU-Z gives me but how do i check what they are rated for? they are DDR1 ram 2 are "RAMBO" RAM and one is Corsair

Quantum Reality

If you have the part numbers you can look up the specifications online.

Last resort suggestion: Clear your CMOS. This will reset the BIOS to factory settings and most likely force it to read the RAM's SPD settings. Those are guaranteed to operate at JEDEC specs. If memtest STILL fails on those, I would point the finger at your motherboard.

Can you test your RAM on someone else's computer?

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AMD+nVidia

Normally they're on the sticker, if not Google!

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