Question Bad RAM or faulty DIMM?

[Tocoe]

I've been experiencing occasional BSOD, and have narrowed the issue down to either RAM or DIMM slot/s. I tested my ram a week ago with memtest86 and got over 30 errors (oof.) However, I have since tested all 4 modules individually in DIMM 1, and all passed without any errors. I also tested all 4 at once again, and this time they passed. Am I correct in assuming that bad ram would be more pervasive? the issue seems quite temperamental, which (in my limited experience) seems indicative of a weak connection to the mobo, just wanted to ensure that I'm correct in this assumption, as I would like to move forward with RMA.

 

[kanewolf]

I've been experiencing occasional BSOD, and have narrowed the issue down to either RAM or DIMM slot/s. I tested my ram a week ago with memtest86 and got over 30 errors (oof.) However, I have since tested all 4 modules individually in DIMM 1, and all passed without any errors. I also tested all 4 at once again, and this time they passed. Am I correct in assuming that bad ram would be more pervasive? the issue seems quite temperamental, which (in my limited experience) seems indicative of a weak connection to the mobo, just wanted to ensure that I'm correct in this assumption, as I would like to move forward with RMA.

Were these 4 DIMMs purchased as a set ?

 

[Tocoe]

Were these 4 DIMMs purchased as a set ?

They were purchased in sets of 2, (2x8gb @ 3200mhz)

 

[kanewolf]

They were purchased in sets of 2, (2x8gb @ 3200mhz)

It is quite possible the two sets do not play well together. Matched sets of DIMMs are sold for a reason. They are guaranteed to work as a set. Mix and match of RAM is always a gamble. If you know which two DIMMs were in set 1 and which two were in set two, you should start by trying set 1 alone and set 2 alone. If they both work as a set, then you have some incompatibility between sets.
Have you tried the four DIMMs at default (2133) speed ?

 

[Tocoe]

It is quite possible the two sets do not play well together. Matched sets of DIMMs are sold for a reason. They are guaranteed to work as a set. Mix and match of RAM is always a gamble. If you know which two DIMMs were in set 1 and which two were in set two, you should start by trying set 1 alone and set 2 alone. If they both work as a set, then you have some incompatibility between sets.
Have you tried the four DIMMs at default (2133) speed ?

Yes I tested with default speed and with XMP profile 1, memtest passed on both accounts. Worth mentioning that although it's two separate sets, they're the exact same model, and this PC has operated without issue for over a year.

EDIT: Wanted to add, I have no way of identifying which belong to which set, as the serial numbers are not neighboring. I have 4 modules ending with the following serial numbers, 582, 592, 593, 594 (which is odd as well right?)

 

[Tocoe]

It is quite possible the two sets do not play well together. Matched sets of DIMMs are sold for a reason. They are guaranteed to work as a set. Mix and match of RAM is always a gamble. If you know which two DIMMs were in set 1 and which two were in set two, you should start by trying set 1 alone and set 2 alone. If they both work as a set, then you have some incompatibility between sets.
Have you tried the four DIMMs at default (2133) speed ?

What you said about XMP stuck out to me for some reason, so I decided to investigate that further. Turns out yes! The ram errors (and BSOD) are only occuring when XMP profile 1 is enabled, however it's still not happening consistently. Only some boots result in BSOD and memtest errors (around 50% of boots.) I have run memtest 4 iterations with XMP enabled without any errors, yet also; I have run it with errors in first iteration (and over 30 by the end.) Like I said, sometimes it boots perfectly fine, and sometimes it boots with memory issues.

Also worth mentioning, the above is only true when more than 2 DIMM slots are occupied, otherwise the computer boots fine even with XMP enabled