Question Memtest86+ versus. Memtest86 - - which one to use ?

[Miki53]

This question exists on the internet though the answers are either:
1. Obsolete - because they're from 6 years ago (memtest86+ started having new updates since 2022).
2. Don't provide valid reasoning - they just write their opinion and I don't understand why they think that way.

URL to memtest86+ website:

Memtest86+ | The Open-Source Memory Testing Tool

Memtest86+ is an advanced, free, open-source, stand-alone memory tester for 32- and 64-bit computers (UEFI & BIOS supported)

www.memtest.org

URL to memtest86 website:

MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool

MemTest86 is the original self booting memory testing software for x86 and ARM computers. Supporting both BIOS and UEFI, with options to boot from USB.

www.memtest86.com

Previous thread about this subject was from 2018:

Memtest86 vs Memtest86+ ( Which one should i use?)

I am going to buy used RAM, so before buying i want to test it with Memtest86.I don't know should i test it with Memtest86 or Memtest86+? Memtest86+ was last updated in 2013 while Memtest86 gets updates frequently. Despite having similar names, i guess these programs are designed by different...

forums.tomshardware.com

The "How to test your RAM" thread is from 2021:

How To - How to Test your RAM

How to Test Your RAM Before testing your RAM, you need to know what type of firmware is on your PC. Either Legacy BIOS which is usually on pre-2012 PCs or UEFI which is usually on newer PCs. You can find this information in your motherboard manual. Or, run msinfo32.exe and look for BIOS...

forums.tomshardware.com

The thread is before the time when memtest86+ started having new updates from 2022.
Also the thread doesn't specify pros & cons of each or any experience-based reasoning to use any of those software.

 

[CountMike]

Use newest version for DDR5.

 

[bill001g]

Your major issue as you have found is there is a massive amount of old information. Memtest86+ was rewritten recently and because of that it also has attracted others to work on updates.
Memtest86 is a commercial product and like many of these thing the company behind it needs to pay their bills so they choose to put some of the tests behind a paywall. They also spend money on advertising so you have to be careful about reading some review sites because they are actually paid advertising.

In general I always advocate for the open source platforms. The last time I saw a comparison of the new memtest86+ to the free version of memtest86 memtest86+ had more tests. I have not see a comparison of memtest86+ to the paid version of memtest86. Even then I am not too sure how important some of the extra test really are. I think the big thing that the rewrite of memtest86+ was the USB boot. This is a stupid microsoft bios thing where even though you were not running windows you were not allowed to boot stuff they did not approve. I forget the details.

I maybe run these tools every couple years when I build a new machine. I test to verify that the memory is stable at the XMP profile I purchased. I no longer overclock memory manually since it is a lot of effort and you can really only see the difference in benchmarking software. Most times you see memory issues in the simpler tests so I don't know how much value some of the advanced ones have.