Freezes when 2 sticks in Dual Channel. Individual sticks work fine one at a time

[davrob01]

Hello,

I previously had an older CPU (athlon 64 x2) and older memory (DDR2 sticks) with no problems.

I wanted to upgrade, so I have recently purchased a used CPU and used memory on ebay.

With the new CPU and memory installed, my current problem is that the computer randomly freezes, no blue screen though (usually within 10 - 30 minutes of use). And I am forced to turn it off. This has happened in Windows AS WELL AS in the BIOS menu.

After trying to reseat the CPU and other various troubleshooting, I have determined that it only freezes when 2 of the memory sticks are present. If I put in either stick alone (ie only one stick at a time), it works flawlessly.

My Hardware and configuration:

Memory (the new memory I just bought):
G.SKILL 8GB (2X4GB) DESKTOP RAM MEMORY DDR3 PC3-12800

Tried changing the voltage from auto to 1.53 (MOBO has no option for 1.5 exactly and the previous option is 1.48 but it would not boot at 1.48v, when set to 1.53 though, it works and windows shows it as 1.5 (via CPU-Z)), and also changing the speed to 1600 (800MHz), as well as setting the timing according to the label: CL9-9-9-24.

Freezes still happen with 2 sticks.

Motherboard:
ASRock N68C-GS4 FX

I have reset the BIOS multiple times and it is the latest version.

CPU:

AMD Athlon II X3 450 3.2 GHz Triple-Core (ADX450WFK32GM)

I am not doing any overclocking in the BIOS. I am mainly leaving defaults, although I have toggled the setting 'Cool and Quiet' a few times when troubleshooting, but that seems unrelated.

Other Hardware:

I have not changed any of the following and do not think it is related, but here is the rest of what I have in case it matters:

575W Power Supply (I forget the brand - at work right now sorry)

Nvidia Geforce 8400GS Graphics

PNY 120 GB SSD

Troubleshooting I have done so far:

Since determining the issue with 2 mem sticks vs 1 I have done the following:

Put 1 RAM stick in and ran Memtest86 from USB drive, ran thru 1 pass only cause I didnt have time to let it run more.

Did the same for the other stick (replacing the previous one in the same slot on the mobo).

I plan to do more memory testing tonight and may also test the other DDR3 slot on the mobo (this mobo only has 2 slots).

I may also test/try using increased voltage for the memory.

Please let me know if there is anything else I should try to troubleshoot this issue.

Thank you
-David

 

[cin19]

1) May reset the RAM speed to 1333mhz, because the Athlon II X3 450 can support up to 1333mhz, if you set the RAM to 1600mhz, the PC may or may not run stable, that causes the pc freezes. http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Athlon%20II%20X3%20450%20-%20ADX450WFK32GM%20(ADX450WFGMBOX).html

2) Or test the new cpu with old RAM, or old cpu with new RAM ( set the speed under 1600mhz too) to see the PC will run fine or not.

By the way, if you test the RAM with Memtest86, you need to run few passes, something 4 or more at least.

 

[martin.carline]

I've had a similar issue with my Corsair 2400mhz 2 x 8gb.

PC freezing within a minute of starting, but it's currently working now fingers crossed.

I updated the Bios, but probably what solved it was I increased the voltage of the memory. I don't think you are supposed to go over 1.65v so try increasing it up slowly and testing it.

Also, if auto in bios gives you a speed of 1333mhz, then just stick with that if it's stable. Hardly any difference anyway.

Increasing voltage is probably the answer