computer is insane

Ferris

just a quick update, i've been away so unable to do much testing. however, i got hold of the Ultimate Boot Disk, and have run a couple of diagnostic tests...

i ran memtest86+ for about 5 hours overnight, and it found not a single error. i know it is not a long time for a memtest test, but i concentrated testing on the only test it failed previously, so by the end of the night it had completed 180 passes of that test. the last 20 or so passes were concentrated on the specific 100MB or so of memory where the errors were always flagged up prior to the BIOS upgrade (when i did that single test/specific memory location thing before, it found tons of errors). but this time, nothing. very strange.

then, last night, i ran the M$ Windows Memory Diagnostic, and it came up with 4 errors, similar to those found before (i.e. in the form xxxxb53c). i am getting more and more confused about whether my memory is faulty or not. i wish i had a hardware memory tester...

so, back to more testing tonight...

t4i, how do i know if the correct RAM timings are being picked up? bios, memtest, everest all pick it up as 2.5-3-3-8. cpuz says the memory voltage is 2.5v, CPU is 1.5v, altho i'll post the BIOS voltage readings later...

thanks!

T4i

Something like aida32 will tell you the manufactorer and model of your RAM. Your timings are far from aggresive so i'd say its picking them up correctly.

You can try up your VDimm (RAM) voltage in the BIOS to 2.6v, then re-run M$ memtest.

Very strange problem.

Ferris

i have just tried aida, and found that it is an older version of everest which i have been using up till now, and neither of them give any info about my memory manufacturer or model, so i guess they must be some form of generic stuff (despite the computer builder's assurances that it is 'branded').. unless i'm looking in the wrong place...

will upping the memory voltage cause damage to the memory (a moot point, i know, if it is already damaged )?

voltages: CPU(core)=1.504v, memory=2.5v, agp=1.5v

thanks!

T4i

In Aida32, goto Motherboard and expand the tree, click SPD.

In the top window might be the manufactorer of your RAM. The chipset option in the tree will give you info about chipset and RAM timings.

Alot of RAM runs at 2.6v, 0.1v isn't a damaging increase. You should know if its a fix or not just by running one of the mem testers that keeps failing it.