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[Recommend] I need new RAM
Synthesis
Honda Today!Registered User regular
Honda Today!Registered User regular
So, I guess, every so often RAM fails.
Recently, I've been getting a lot of blue screens. Including a few while booting up Vista. It started with Firefox constantly crashing, but not the OS itself, and eventually led to that.
Finally, I got the idea to use the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool while swapping in and out RAM modules. I've gotten no errors (and no blue screen) operating on one module, so I'm suspecting (but not sure) that it's only one bad module that I can just avoid using.
So here's the question--should I just try and buy one new module to replace the bad one (they're each 1GB), or replace them all to avoid speed issues? I'm still a RAM novice in pretty much every regard. My current setup consisted of 4 1GB sticks of Corsair 800mhz XMS2-6400, and I'm running Vista 32-bit (I've been meaning to switch to Windows 7 64-bit--I have the RC on a CD--but I've been a bit cash strapped to buy a new HDD).
In either case, I'd appreciate any recommendations on what brands or models to go with, since I'm not so familiar with the options anyway.
Recently, I've been getting a lot of blue screens. Including a few while booting up Vista. It started with Firefox constantly crashing, but not the OS itself, and eventually led to that.
Finally, I got the idea to use the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool while swapping in and out RAM modules. I've gotten no errors (and no blue screen) operating on one module, so I'm suspecting (but not sure) that it's only one bad module that I can just avoid using.
So here's the question--should I just try and buy one new module to replace the bad one (they're each 1GB), or replace them all to avoid speed issues? I'm still a RAM novice in pretty much every regard. My current setup consisted of 4 1GB sticks of Corsair 800mhz XMS2-6400, and I'm running Vista 32-bit (I've been meaning to switch to Windows 7 64-bit--I have the RC on a CD--but I've been a bit cash strapped to buy a new HDD).
In either case, I'd appreciate any recommendations on what brands or models to go with, since I'm not so familiar with the options anyway.
Synthesis on
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With RAM, you pretty much get what you pay for in terms of reliability. Go for at least the middle price in any size/timings configuration.
If you buy a 15 dollar stick of RAM, don't be surprised when it goes bad.
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these
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
But yeah, RAM is so cheap, a few bucks makes a big difference in quality.
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On a side note, Corsair seems to have a 'lifetime warranty' of sorts--at least, they gave the indication that they'll allow me to RMA the bad stick for a replacement. Though I'm still waiting for follow up information (then again, just did it last afternoon). Generally speaking, Corsair seems to be a well-regarded brand, or at least it was...is this still the case?
Corsair is one of the better brands.
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PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
I think it's better to use identical pairs, but I don't tihnk it's horrible to mix.
You may have a bad slot. You may have a bad stick of memory. You may have both or neither, but this is the surest way of determining which it is. If it is a bad stick of memory, you can send it first class mail with delivery confirmation for much cheaper than buying a new stick, probably a couple bucks. I typically buy Corsair, Crucial or Kingston. I wouldn't worry about mixing and matching speed or types of memory unless you are overclocking or seriously tweaking your system. 4x1gb is plenty for your system, I don't think I would invest in upgrading the memory at this point.
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Prime95's torture tests should be able to handled that.
I'm fairly certain that it's not a matter of the RAM sockets being bad...at least, according to the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool, since a non-broken RAM module in the slot that held the bad module did not cause an error (basically, switching around to test).
Which is good. Because I like my motherboard (I have an EVGA 780i).
I also don't think it's a matter of having too much RAM, since I think I tried 3 modules at once--basically good-good-good and then good-good-bad, and only the later caused a diagnostic error. I really do need to try Memtest and Prime95, I think.
Corsair still hasn't contacted me further about my RMA, but I only started yesterday. Probably not being patient enough.
If your memtest comes back clean and you still get memory related blue screens then I'd say the most likely culprit is on the motherboard.
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Phenom, Athlon64, amd Core i7 processors have the memory controller as part of the CPU. I also believe the Atom has an on-die memory controller.
I feel I should also mention that a defective PSU is also capable of causing memory errors.
When you get right down to it, I suppose pretty much anything wrong with the PC could cause memory issues. And within that, it's hard to say which Blue screens are memory issues and which ones aren't.
On the bright side, I haven't gotten any more blue screens since I ran my tests. Once I figure out how to properly run Memtest and Prime95, I'll try and check if there's anything wrong with the motherboard (to the best that you can with those things, anyway).
Signs seem to point towards it just having been the bad module, but of course, you can't tell. I haven't reformatted this machine in 2 years (a record for me--Vista's been pretty good to me), so that's probably caused its own problems.