News How to Test RAM: Making Sure Bad Memory Isn't Crashing Your PC

[Admin]

Here's how to test RAM in your computer to see if it's working properly.

How to Test RAM: Making Sure Bad Memory Isn't Crashing Your PC : Read more

 

[mitch074]

I recently had problems with brand new DDR4-3200 ram that caused BSOD. I overvolted it by 0.01 V and then everything was right.
The problem can also be improper voltage delivered by the motherboard. Such an overvolt is well within tolerance margins and can save you quite some headache.

 

[R_1]

I recently had problems with brand new DDR4-3200 ram that caused BSOD. I overvolted it by 0.01 V and then everything was right.
The problem can also be improper voltage delivered by the motherboard. Such an overvolt is well within tolerance margins and can save you quite some headache.

yes. I had an ASUS board with MEMok and it set the RAM voltage too high, but it worked, when I finally found out a year later or so and set the RAM to stock, bluescreen city.
double check the voltages of your RAM.

 

[bit_user]

I've long been a fan of Memtest86, now owned by PassMark. I recommend running at least two full passes. Ideally, after installing or changing your memory configuration, just let it run overnight.

The reason is that I've seen memory test fine, in the first pass, but encounter errors in subsequent passes.

 

[MaCk0y]

TestMem5

 

[PMKing]

Hi.
I have a rebuilt desktop but Windows 10 won't install on a clean hard drive it stops at 5% when getting things ready.
I found a few workarounds online none of which work and have since found a how to test RAM from command prompt.
I have 2 4gb RAM modules and obtained the following information. It's the same on both banks.

BankLabel=BANK 0
Capacity=4294967296
DataWidth=64
Description=Physical Memory
Device Locator=Channel 1B-DIMM0. (BANK 2 has Channel 1B)
FormFactor=8
HotSwappable=
InstallDate=
InterleaveDataDepth=
InterleavePosition=
Manufacturer= Micron. (BANK 2 has Samsung)
MemoryType=24
Model=
Name = Physical Memory
OtheridentifyingInfo=
PartNumber=16JTF51264AZ-1G4M1. (BANK 2 has M378B5273DH0-CH9)
PositionInG=
Powered On=
Removable=
Replaceable=
SerialNumber=31877266. (BANK 2 has 647E6513)
SKU=
Speed=
Status=
Tag= Physical Memory 0. (BANK 2 has 2)
Total Width=64
TypeDetail=128
Version=

Can anyone tell me what I've missed here. As far as I can tell everything else is fine.
The machine has a new motherboard, PSU, Hard drive. Beforehand the memory was working, the machine had a motherboard failure caused by faulty PSU.

Many thanks.
Pete.

 

[rluker5]

I like OCCT for testing stability. When my ddr5 gets hot it will show instability quickly. Hot and stable is good enough for regular use. Even 20-30 min

 

[bit_user]

In the distant past, I've seen an article which showed that power supply quality can impact memory error rate. For the test, they modified memtest86 (or one of its open source ancestors) to extend the bit-fade test period to 8 hours. They found one PSU had twice the rate of flipped bits as most of the others.

This was like 20 years ago, but it'd be great to see if that still holds, @zhiyeliu . Maybe try it with DDR4, since DDR5 has built-in ECC that could mask such issues, if they're occurring only to a minor degree.

 

[htelectrical]

TestMem 5:

Secure Connection Failed

An error occurred during a connection to testmem.tz.ru. SSL received a record that exceeded the maximum permissible length.

Error code: SSL_ERROR_RX_RECORD_TOO_LONG

The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified.
Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem.

 

[Nikolay Mihaylov]

I recently ran MemTest86 8.2 on a new build. The only test that was failing was the last one - №13 - for RowHammer and it took quite a while for a single bit flip to occur. I ran several passes and it's only that one that fails. I wonder if that means memory is ok for general use.

 

[bit_user]

I recently ran MemTest86 8.2 on a new build. The only test that was failing was the last one - №13 - for RowHammer and it took quite a while for a single bit flip to occur. I ran several passes and it's only that one that fails. I wonder if that means memory is ok for general use.

According to the docs, they do 2 types of RowHammer attacks. The first is as aggressive as possible, while the second stays within JEDEC-specified limits. If it fails the first phase, but not the second, it's considered within-spec and you only get a warning message. If it fails the second phase, then you can consider the RAM defective (though it's still a fair bet you can safely use it):

​

https://www.memtest86.com/tech_individual-test-descr.html​

​

ECC memory is pretty good at withstanding RowHammer attacks, but I've heard even it can be vulnerable to a carefully-designed RowHammer. That was something I read pre-DDR5, so I wonder if that's still true of even ECC DDR5 DIMMs, because they have 2 levels of ECC.

 

[qwertymac93]

I wouldn't trust any memory tester that runs while you're using the computer. Not only is it unable to test any of the RAM being used by windows (which is several GB at this point), if your RAM is unstable, you might get some file corruption while you're using the computer.

Honestly, I'm surprised to see no mention of the built-in Windows memory tester. It's fairly quick and the results are visible from event viewer so if you lose power or whatever, you don't lose your results.

 

[MRTJ2004]

Are you aware you have a link in this article that launches a potentially infected site?
When I click the link for "TestMem 5" (https[://]testmem[.]tz[.]ru/testmem5[.]htm) ThreatDown EDR redirects to a null page and reports the following error.

ThreatName: Trojan.Web
Domain: testmem.tz.ru
IP Address: 89.21.139.19
Port: 443
Type: OutboundConnection
File: dragon