[SOLVED] Does this confirm that my RAM stick is faulty?

[waffl212]

My PC has a history of BSODs, no boot after being off for a while or after the crashes. It worked for the most part so I kinda just went along with it. Reseating the RAM usually helps. Today it happened again and so I tried testing the RAM stick individually and altogether. Same story, no boot after pressing the power button, fan, lights and GPU goes on but nothing. I removed RAM stick (1), and it boots no problem, I put back RAM stick (2), same issue. I tried (2) on slot 2 and 4, same results, while (1) works with either slot. Specs are;


Ryzen 3 2200g
ASUS b450m-a
x2 Corsair Vengeance LPX 8gb DDR4 3200MHz
RX 570 Sapphire Nitro 8gb
Corsair VS450

All bought from the same shop around 9 months ago.

 

[Darkbreeze]

If one DIMM works fine in both slots, and one DIMM fails to work in either slot, then yes, it's pretty likely that that DIMM is faulty. Be sure if you return it for warranty that you get them to replace the WHOLE kit, not just one stick. Memory is sold in matched sets for a REASON, so getting only a single stick replaced that is not matched and tested with the remaining working stick, is no better than buying separate memory kits and trying to run them together. You will get mixed results. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. They WILL try to replace only one stick if it's under warranty, unless you insist on the entire kit being replaced.

 

[waffl212]

If one DIMM works fine in both slots, and one DIMM fails to work in either slot, then yes, it's pretty likely that that DIMM is faulty. Be sure if you return it for warranty that you get them to replace the WHOLE kit, not just one stick. Memory is sold in matched sets for a REASON, so getting only a single stick replaced that is not matched and tested with the remaining working stick, is no better than buying separate memory kits and trying to run them together. You will get mixed results. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. They WILL try to replace only one stick if it's under warranty, unless you insist on the entire kit being replaced.

The thing is, I've lost the warranty a few months back when I moved places. I'll have to see if this is 100% the issue after a couple of days maybe. Is it not an option to buy another stick that's exactly the same from top to bottom? If not, and if it's indeed a faulty stick then I might just have to buy another kit.

 

[geofelt]

Corsair has a lifetime warranty.
Open up a rma incident.
Likely you will be requested to
Run memtest86.
It boots from a usb stick and does not use windows.
You can download the free edition here:
https://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

If you can run a full pass with NO errors, your ram should be ok.

 

[waffl212]

Corsair has a lifetime warranty.
Open up a rma incident.
Likely you will be requested to
Run memtest86.
It boots from a usb stick and does not use windows.
You can download the free edition here:
https://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

If you can run a full pass with NO errors, your ram should be ok.

I ran it once, a couple of months back. It froze at some point. Never did again. Maybe I'll try with this one working stick after it goes flawlessly after a few days.

 

[Darkbreeze]

How To - Troubleshooting problems with PC memory (RAM) and XMP profile configurations

In the beginning, there was......BIOS Before you go ANY further, go to the manufacturer product page for your specific motherboard model AND revision. Revision is an important aspect because for any given motherboard there may be more than one version of that model which will be identified...

forums.tomshardware.com

Memtest86​

Go to the Passmark software website and download the USB Memtest86 free version. You can do the optical disk version too if for some reason you cannot use a bootable USB flash drive.

Create bootable media using the downloaded Memtest86 (NOT Memtest86+, that is a different, older version and is outdated). Once you have done that, go into your BIOS and configure the system to boot to the USB drive that contains the Memtest86 USB media or the optical drive if using that option.

Click here to download Memtest86 USB package​

Create a bootable USB Flash drive:

1. Download the Windows MemTest86 USB image.

2. Right click on the downloaded file and select the "Extract to Here" option. This places the USB image and imaging tool into the current folder.

3. Run the included imageUSB tool, it should already have the image file selected and you just need to choose which connected USB drive to turn into a bootable drive. Note that this will erase all data on the drive.


No memory should ever fail to pass Memtest86 when it is at the default configuration that the system sets it at when you start out or do a clear CMOS by removing the CMOS battery for five minutes.

Best method for testing memory is to first run four passes of Memtest86, all 11 tests, WITH the memory at the default configuration. This should be done BEFORE setting the memory to the XMP profile settings. The paid version has 13 tests but the free version only has tests 1-10 and test 13. So run full passes of all 11 tests. Be sure to download the latest version of Memtest86. Memtest86+ has not been updated in MANY years. It is NO-WISE as good as regular Memtest86 from Passmark software.

If there are ANY errors, at all, then the memory configuration is not stable. Bumping the DRAM voltage up slightly may resolve that OR you may need to make adjustments to the primary timings. There are very few secondary or tertiary timings that should be altered. I can tell you about those if you are trying to tighten your memory timings.

If you cannot pass Memtest86 with the memory at the XMP configuration settings then I would recommend restoring the memory to the default JEDEC SPD of 1333/2133mhz (Depending on your platform and memory type) with everything left on the auto/default configuration and running Memtest86 over again. If it completes the four full passes without error you can try again with the XMP settings but first try bumping the DRAM voltage up once again by whatever small increment the motherboard will allow you to increase it by. If it passes, great, move on to the Prime95 testing.

If it still fails, try once again bumping the voltage if you are still within the maximum allowable voltage for your memory type and test again. If it still fails, you are likely going to need more advanced help with configuring your primary timings and should return the memory to the default configuration until you can sort it out.

If the memory will not pass Memtest86 for four passes when it IS at the stock default non-XMP configuration, even after a minor bump in voltage, then there is likely something physically wrong with one or more of the memory modules and I'd recommend running Memtest on each individual module, separately, to determine which module is causing the issue. If you find a single module that is faulty you should contact the seller or the memory manufacturer and have them replace the memory as a SET. Memory comes matched for a reason as I made clear earlier and if you let them replace only one module rather than the entire set you are back to using unmatched memory which is an open door for problems with incompatible memory.

Be aware that you SHOULD run Memtest86 to test the memory at the default, non-XMP, non-custom profile settings BEFORE ever making any changes to the memory configuration so that you will know if the problem is a setting or is a physical problem with the memory.

 

[SamirD]

The thing is, I've lost the warranty a few months back when I moved places. I'll have to see if this is 100% the issue after a couple of days maybe. Is it not an option to buy another stick that's exactly the same from top to bottom? If not, and if it's indeed a faulty stick then I might just have to buy another kit.

Warranty is usually tied to the serial number of the unit and a purchase receipt, so if you have those you should be good.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Warranty is usually tied to the serial number of the unit and a purchase receipt, so if you have those you should be good.

Agreed. Actually, just having the receipt or the purchase invoice is usually good enough. Anything that proves YOU purchased the memory or have the original purchase information.