Question Memory Issues

[Verdipro]

One of my machines is older that I am not ready to give up on yet since it has some programs on it that I don't know if the licensing will transfer over to a new machine.

The computer was running fine for ever, and then a few months back started to have memory issues.

Specs:
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz 3.40 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST (2 GB)
System Type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Windows 10 Home

Originally only 16 GB of RAM were installed, but I increased it to 32 GB a couple months back with no noticeable difference. When I only had 16 GB of RAM if the computer got to around 70% Memory usage some programs would crash, unless I closed others, or restarted the machine. Now with 32 GB RAM if I am around 40% Memory usage, I have similar issues. So as mentioned I haven't really noticed much of a difference.

I downloaded and installed CPU-Z to make sure it was seeing all 4 DIMMS in use, which it does.

I am wondering if there are any other tests that I can try, or anything else to look at? My other assumption is some driver update affected all of this, but I am not sure if there is a good way to test that. The only other thing I will add is I typically have around 50 browser tabs open. I used to have way more open then that, for years, without issue, but have since decreased to about 50 based on the issues. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

 

[jeremyj_83]

One of my machines is older that I am not ready to give up on yet since it has some programs on it that I don't know if the licensing will transfer over to a new machine.

The computer was running fine for ever, and then a few months back started to have memory issues.

Specs:
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz 3.40 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST (2 GB)
System Type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Windows 10 Home

Originally only 16 GB of RAM were installed, but I increased it to 32 GB a couple months back with no noticeable difference. When I only had 16 GB of RAM if the computer got to around 70% Memory usage some programs would crash, unless I closed others, or restarted the machine. Now with 32 GB RAM if I am around 40% Memory usage, I have similar issues. So as mentioned I haven't really noticed much of a difference.

I downloaded and installed CPU-Z to make sure it was seeing all 4 DIMMS in use, which it does.

I am wondering if there are any other tests that I can try, or anything else to look at? My other assumption is some driver update affected all of this, but I am not sure if there is a good way to test that. The only other thing I will add is I typically have around 50 browser tabs open. I used to have way more open then that, for years, without issue, but have since decreased to about 50 based on the issues. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Have you tried running memtest86?

 

[Verdipro]

I have not tried running memtest86 yet. I did just download it and add it to a USB stick.. I started to run it and it froze 22 seconds in at test 3 moving inversions, ones & zeroes.

While it was frozen I was reading more about it, and it sounds like I should run it overnight. Which I will do later this evening. Is there a rough estimate of how long it normally takes to run?

I didn't see any errors show up prior to the freezing. It just froze and I let it sit for a good 10 minutes before seeing if it would start running again.

 

[geofelt]

Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
The internal workings are designed for the capacity of the kit.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards, can be very sensitive to this.
This is more difficult when 4 sticks are involved.
The XMP settings embedded in the sticks themselves may well be different, causing issues.

If you do buy more disparate sticks, they should be the same speed, voltage and cas numbers.
Even then your chances of working are less than 100%
I might guess 90% success for intel.

If you can run memtest for a full pass with NO errors, then your ram is probably OK,
If you get even ONE error it is not ok.

What is the make and motherboard we are looking at?
What is the make/model of the ram sticks involved?
The CPU-Z SPD tabs will tell you.

Is your motherboard bios current?
If not, look to see if any fixes address ram compatibility.

If your motherboard bios allows you to specify ram voltage, increasing it may fix your issue.

 

[Verdipro]

Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
Model 787-K
Bus Specs. PCI Express 3.0 (8.0 GT/s)

RAM
Slot #1 & #3 are the same
PNY Electronics PC3-12800 (800 MHz) 8GB

Slots #2 & #4 are the same
Crucial Technology PC3-12800H (800 MHz) 8GB SPD Ext. XMP 1.3

Slots #2 & #4 are the recently purchased RAM that hasn't seem to fix the issue. I assumed that doubling the RAM would prolong the computers life.

According to CPU-Z the BIOS is showing a date of 10/25/2013 & Version 0903 from American Megatrends Inc. Is there a way to show if I am running the latest version?

 

[geofelt]

Here is the list of bios updates for your motherboard:

https://www.asus.com/us/supportonly/z87k/helpdesk_bios/

0903 is way out of date, and many updates address memory compatibility issues.

There is reference to a bios updater tool.
I would update that first, then apply the latest 1302 update.

In the event that does not resolve your issue, the Z87 bios should allow you to set the ram voltage a bit higher than standard. That increase often allows mismatched ram to run.

 

[Verdipro]

ok thank you for this. I was not aware there were any updates. I assume I should start with 1103 which seems to be the one after 0903? And then work my way up the list from there?

By making any of these updates could I potentially run into any other issues?

 

[geofelt]

Unless advised differently, one can usually only update to the most current version.
In this case, I would start with the version that includes the updater tool first.

Updating a bios is scary.
It might look like nothing is going on, particularly with older motherboards.
Resist the urge to interrupt the process. 15 minutes or more may be how long it takes.
Research the process for your motherboard first so you know what to expect.

 

[Verdipro]

Thank you. Yeah I definitely don't want to make it worse then it is or the machine not usable at all.

I will definitely consider the next steps. Is there a reason 1302 and BIOS updater should be used over 1401 & BIOS updater? It seems that the 1401 package is the most recent that also contains the BIOS updater?

 

[Verdipro]

I just wanted to provide an update. I tried to run memtest86 2 more times and got to test 4 before it froze. I then went into the BIOS and changed XMP to auto. That then let me get through the entire 5+ hour test without any issues and it showed zero errors.

So far things seem to be running smoother with XMP set to auto, so I am going to see what happens over the next few days before deciding to update the BIOS.