Effects of faulty RAM?

[sloan1209]

I am curious what the effects of having faulty, or incompatible RAM is.

I have been pulling my hair out since I built my computer. Ever since I played the first game on it, it crashes, freezes and gives black screens. All the parts are brand new too. I assumed it was graphics card problem since integrated graphics work fine, but I can't figure out what else to do and the product's tech support is of no help.

I wanted to know if bad RAM could possible be the culprit of problems like this. I have already replaced the PSU with a higher wattage one, and replaced the graphics card with a new one of the same model.

Motherboard: Z170-HD3
RAM: 16GB DDR4 Gskill
PSU: EVGA 850W B
GPU: Sapphire NITRO R9 380
CPU: i5 6600K

 

[maxwellmelon]

give details, and the results of anything you have tried/check such as temperatures. and info like is only during a specific games, all games, type of games, idle....anything you can provide or you will get a list of 100's of things to check.

 

[BadActor]

Try running WhoCrashed. It may give you an answer as to what is causing your problems. RAM can be one of the causes for what you're experiencing (you can run memtest to check), but so can a bad motherboard, CPU, GPU, PSU, etc. Check your temps while gaming and have a look at the performance tab in task manager to see if there is anything unusual there.

http://www.memtest86.com/

http://www.resplendence.com/whocrashed

 

[sloan1209]

give details, and the results of anything you have tried/check such as temperatures. and info like is only during a specific games, all games, type of games, idle....anything you can provide or you will get a list of 100's of things to check.

Motherboard: Z170-HD3
RAM: 16GB DDR4 Gskill
PSU: EVGA 850W B
GPU: Sapphire NITRO R9 380
CPU: i5 6600K

 

[sloan1209]

give details, and the results of anything you have tried/check such as temperatures. and info like is only during a specific games, all games, type of games, idle....anything you can provide or you will get a list of 100's of things to check.

I accidentally tagged this as solved.. I didn' t mean to and I dont know how to undo it.

My temps are fine, Ive uninstalled and reinstalled graphics drivers, Ive re-seated the card and RAM and nothing has worked.

 

[sloan1209]

Try running WhoCrashed. It may give you an answer as to what is causing your problems. RAM can be one of the causes for what you're experiencing (you can run memtest to check), but so can a bad motherboard, CPU, GPU, PSU, etc. Check your temps while gaming and have a look at the performance tab in task manager to see if there is anything unusual there.

http://www.memtest86.com/

http://www.resplendence.com/whocrashed

memtest found no errors, but whocrashed said there were crashes like : "PFN_LIST_CORRUPT" and "VIDEO_MEMORY_MANAGEMENT_INTERNAL" and " KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED" I have had two blue screens that say video memory management internal. I don't know how to fix these though, any help?

 

[BadActor]

You didn't say if you were overclocking or not, but if you are, return it to the default settings. If you aren't overclocking, try increasing your vcore to 1.3v and bumping up your DRAM voltages.

Update your Bios and reinstall all the latest motherboard drivers. Use Display Driver Uninstaller for the graphics driver. Get the drivers from Gigabyte and AMD, don't just uninstall and let Windows install them. You might also try using a few older drivers from AMD if the problem persists. Use the Defer Upgrades option in the Windows Update settings. If you do have a bad driver, Windows will keep downloading and reinstalling it unless you do this. Run SFC Scannow. If after all this and you still have crashes, I would probably RMA the motherboard.

 

[sloan1209]

You didn't say if you were overclocking or not, but if you are, return it to the default settings. If you aren't overclocking, try increasing your vcore to 1.3v and bumping up your DRAM voltages.

Update your Bios and reinstall all the latest motherboard drivers. Use Display Driver Uninstaller for the graphics driver. Get the drivers from Gigabyte and AMD, don't just install and let Windows install them. You might also try using a few older drivers from AMD if the problem persists. Use the Defer Upgrades option in the Windows Update settings. If you do have a bad driver, Windows will keep downloading and reinstalling it unless you do this. Run SFC Scannow. If after all this and you still have crashes, I would probably RMA the motherboard.

thanks for the suggestions, I will try those out when I get home from work. would you maybe suggest reinstalling Windows before RMAing the motherboard? I had PCRepairkit scan the PC and it said there were all sorts of issues with Registry things. I'm sure they blow it out of proportion to make you buy it but I don't know if it would maybe be worth reinstalling windows first if you think that would fix anything.

 

[BadActor]

A reinstall might help, but usually SFC Scannow catches the major problems, if any.

 

[Tradesman1]

What model of DRAM? Is the CPU OCed at all? Do you have the latest BIOS?

 

[sloan1209]

What model of DRAM? Is the CPU OCed at all? Do you have the latest BIOS?

yes i have latest bios version, though its not too clear if its overclocked. there is no "overclock on/off" anywhere

 

[Tradesman1]

And what's the model # of the DRAM? Can look at the sticks or get the free app CPU-Z and look at part number in the SPD tab

 

[sloan1209]

And what's the model # of the DRAM? Can look at the sticks or get the free app CPU-Z and look at part number in the SPD tab

Its GSKILL DDR4
F4-2400C15D-16GVR
Is that what you need?

 

[Tradesman1]

OK 2400 should be fine. Might try raising the DRAM voltage + 0.05 and see if that helps, might have a weak stick

 

[sloan1209]

OK 2400 should be fine. Might try raising the DRAM voltage + 0.05 and see if that helps, might have a weak stick

the default was 1.200V I typed in "1.205" but it would auto change it to 1.220V

Ether way, I started the game and about 40 seconds it, it crashed and an error popped up saying that "the application has been blocked from accessing graphics hardware"
I have had this error before, but its less common than the typical black screen, or freezing coupled with the loud screeching.

any idea what that means? The answer I've gotten for this problem before is to make sure graphics drivers are up to date. I can't count how many times I've uninstalled and reinstalled up to date drivers. One suggestion I haven't tried is to use old drivers, but I don't know where to find those or where to even start!

I'd like to know what YOU think though.

(thanks for your help)

 

[BadActor]

You can find older drivers below. You might try downclocking the graphics card or testing it in someone else's machine on the slight chance you received two defective cards. What PSU make and model do you have?

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/embedded/previous?os=Windows

 

[sloan1209]

At this point, I'd believe anything, but what are honestly the odds of two faulty GPUs? My PSU is an EVGA 850W. That is an upgrade from the 600W I first had. Nothing changed when I upped it

 

[sloan1209]

OK 2400 should be fine. Might try raising the DRAM voltage + 0.05 and see if that helps, might have a weak stick

its taken me a while to make this reply, but about 2 weeks ago it started working!!
it seemed like it was a combination of upping the voltage and also turning on "virtual super resolution" with both of those, it works! granted, it still happens once every couple of days after hours of playing, but its also only on one game, it might be the games fault at that point.

can I ask, what about the model number of the ram made you suggest upping it by .05? I just want to know how you got that idea so I can know for the future.

I can't thank you enough! thanks so much, I can enjoy my pc