Friends nearly new computer BSODs often. Need advice on RAM.

[JQB45]

I'm blaming the BSOD's on the fact that none of his memory is matched. He does have 2, nVIDIA 770's but the problem persists in single GPU configuration.

He is able to run and complete 3DMark benchmarks and get decent scores for his hardware. Don't pay attention to prices as everything is already brought. I had him put together a pcpartpicker example so you can see his hardware.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($317.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper T4 70.0 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme6/ac ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($250.85 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($88.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 850W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit) ($139.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $817.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-04 20:40 EDT-0400

 

[capt_taco]

If they're all the same speed and timings, have him bump up the voltage manually - somewhere between 1.52V and 1.55V should be good. That may be able to get it stable. If that fails, I would just try playing musical chairs with two sticks of RAM at a time until he finds a pair that's stable. There really is nothing else that jumps out as a problem, so I'm thinking your guess is correct.

 

[JQB45]

Do you know of any decent memory only tests (prefer free) he can run to validate memory as ok?

 

[capt_taco]

memtest86+ is the standard. Run it on one stick at a time. If it comes back with any errors, then you've isolated your bad stick.

If they all test OK, which seems quite likely, then it's not that they're defective, just unstable, which doing the settings manually can often fix.

I would give 50-50 odds that the problem simply disappears when running only two sticks of RAM at a time. A lot of the time, a motherboard will handle two fine with its default settings, but everything comes unraveled with four.

That reminds me - if there is an XMP (Extreme Memory Profile) option in your BIOS, which there should be on a motherboard that expensive, enable that and see if it sorts out the problem. Sort of the new built-in shortcut equivalent of setting the timings and voltage to the correct settings manually.

 

[MarkW]

Well that list is not going to help us if the memory is mismatched. We need the memory model numbers for each stick of memory. He can use CPU-Z to get that info, on the SPD tab. He will need to change slot number on that tab to get the model number for each stick.

We also need to know what the Blue Screen errors are showing. You can download WhoCrashed and have him run that after he has a BSOD and restarts. He can cut and paste the output into this thread.

 

[JQB45]

Working on getting the numbers and WhoCrashed info. Thanks aLOT for the feedback so far.

btw: My mom loved the Packers. Hated the Stealers - said they cheated.

 

[MarkW]

With the way they are playing right now, 4-0, who knows what they could end up doing this year. But when you look at their schedule, you wonder how they could possibly win like this. I guess we will see who is still playing in late January...

 

[JQB45]

I took the bate and i'm sold - we not only love computers but we can talk sports . Seriously though I feel its a memory issue. He is doing single chip benchmarks right now.

 

[MarkW]

With what little we know right now, it could be almost anything.

 

[JQB45]

i'd say 75/25 that its memory

 

[MarkW]

I won't even guess. I simply do not know enough to make a valid estimate.