RAM keeps REBOOTING my PC

[Asahida]

hi everyone, I find myself in need of assistance as it seems that I can't find an anwser to my problem on the internet.

My PC kept rebooting (shut downs abruptly and after ~1sec. just restarts; no BSOD or other error message) at specific times: when I play a memory intensive game (like skyrim or divinity: original sin), when i watch streams on the internet or other flash based browser applications (even youtube sometimes) or when i download torrents. Pretty much what I always do.

After various trials and errors (tried another PSU, another video card, reinstalled win7) I tried taking out a RAM stick thinking it could be related and to my amazement the issue disappeared completely. This is when my actual dilemma starts.

I need to mention that I have 2x1GB ddr2 800mhz Kingmax sticks (so 2GB RAM total) and when I take either of them out, the PC works without any issues. Whenever i plug both sticks in, my pc reboots when i watch streams, play high-end games, use torrent engines, etc.
I tried changing the 2 RAM sticks between the 4 slots in all possible combinations thinking it might be a problem with the slots on the motherboard, but to no avail.

My dilemma is that I don't actually know what's broken. The PC works with just 1GB stick (either of them) so it must mean the RAM is fine. Now as I'm writing this, I only have 1GB memory on a windows 7 32bit OS which obviously isn't enough so I need to address this problem as it's driving me crazy.

Any insight into what causes my PC to crash when I use 2GB RAM, but not when I use only 1GB, is welcome. Thanks in advance!

** I'll post my rig as it may be of help:
Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G motherboard
intel core 2 DUO CPU E7200 2.53 Ghz
2x1GB RAM ddr2 800Mhz Kingmax
Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 video card
a Noname 700watt PSU (the problem persisted when I tried a 500watt PSU with a Nvidia GeForce 9500 video card, because 500wat isn't enough for the GTX 560)

 

[JackNaylorPE]

1. 1st off, read your MoBo manual and see which slots the RAM is supposed to go in.

2. Then download Memtest86+ and run it (You put it on a CD and boot from it)..... if you see an error stop the test, if not, let it run overnight ....if it does ya fine. If it doesn't go to step 3.

3. Take out the 2nd stick.... leaving in the one that ya manual says to use in the single slot if ya have only 1.

4. Rinse and repeat Step 2 .... if it passes or fails mark the stick with a pencil (OK or NG) and out teh 2nd stick on same slot.

5. If they both passed, then ya know both sticks are fine and the 1st slot is fine. So test each in the 2nd slot.

6. If everything passed, then its not ya memory.

7. At that point, I'd try entering BIOS with 1 stick and "rest all settings to default", save and exit.

8. Now put 2nd stick in where it belongs and again reset BISO to defaults

I have had instances where if a bad stick or even a bad insertion made it think it was a bad stick.... I had to boot the machine with the stick in a different slot,to 'clear it'

Just recently, I had this same problem .... resetting defaults didn't work, I then tried clearing CMOS, resetting defaults (after moving to new slots), then doing again in the new slot, clearing CMOS and resetting defaults

 

[Tradesman1]

The above is good for troubleshooting, were both sticks bought as a single packaged set? Most Kingmax are 1.8, might want to try them at 1.85

 

[Asahida]

1st of all thanks for the fast anwser
Now I checked the manual for the Mobo and it doesn't mention which slot to use if I only have 1 memory stick.
My RAM slots are actually color coded (yellow and Red) to put them in the specific slots in order to activate the dual channel mode.

I might try the memtest as it is the only option I have now, though it will take some time and I doubt it will solve anything. The reason for this is beacause the RAM sticks actually work well separetely... only when I put them in together they seem to cause crashes (even though they worked without a problem for the past 5 years).

Could it also be that the dual memory channel causes this? I mean at this point the Mobo seems to be the most probable culprit.

Also I believe I can borrow 2 memory sticks from a friend to try them out instead of doing all the memtests, since this seems less time consuming. If the 2 borrowed memory sticks also cause the problem then I believe the motherboard is the one responsible.

If anyone thinks I'm handling this wrong or if you have other ideas please don't hesitate to let me know!

 

[Tradesman1]

If you have other sticks, makes it much easier, also can try increasing the voltage as I mentioned it's perfectly safe and the PSU or mob may be slightly undervolting or could simply be a weak stick or if bought in separate packages may not be fully compatible and the extra voltage may help balance them out

 

[Asahida]

I don't know how the kingmax sticks came as I bought the PC already made, about 5-6 years ago (I upgraded the video card and the PSU with the years).

What I can say is that the memory sticks are identical and that they worked at their default voltage all this time. The reboot problem started about a month ago (without me changing any bios settings) so I don't know if i should meddle with their voltages, can it backfire?

 

[Asahida]

so I checked the BIOS voltages and it says "DDR18 1 952V". So I'm guessing that my RAM voltage is above average anyway, I shouldn't mess with it since there wasn't an option to lower it, just to add +0.1, +0.2, etc.

Also I didn't see any option to turn off dual memory channel.

 

[Tradesman1]

See if there's an option for NB voltage, that's should be the MC (memory controller) voltage and raise it + 0.06 or so

 

[Asahida]

there was no such option. The only voltage controls in BIOS were:
DDR2 Overvoltage control
G(MCH) Overvoltage control
Front Bus Overvoltage control
CPU Voltage control.

All of them ,except the CPU voltage control, could only be increased by 0.1V increments

 

[Tradesman1]

The MCH option

 

[Asahida]

so what should I do, should i increase the ddr2 overvoltage control or the G(MCH) overvoltage control (or both) by 0.1V?
That would put the DDR2 voltage at 2+V

 

[Tradesman1]

Just try the MCH

 

[Asahida]

So I put in the 2nd RAM stick, raised the MCH voltage by 0.1V and after 3 minutes of watching a stream, it rebooted as per usual... I'd guess it's not voltage related

 

[JackNaylorPE]

1st of all thanks for the fast anwser
Now I checked the manual for the Mobo and it doesn't mention which slot to use if I only have 1 memory stick.
My RAM slots are actually color coded (yellow and Red) to put them in the specific slots in order to activate the dual channel mode.

I might try the memtest as it is the only option I have now, though it will take some time and I doubt it will solve anything. The reason for this is beacause the RAM sticks actually work well separetely... only when I put them in together they seem to cause crashes (even though they worked without a problem for the past 5 years).

Could it also be that the dual memory channel causes this? I mean at this point the Mobo seems to be the most probable culprit.

Also I believe I can borrow 2 memory sticks from a friend to try them out instead of doing all the memtests, since this seems less time consuming. If the 2 borrowed memory sticks also cause the problem then I believe the motherboard is the one responsible.

If anyone thinks I'm handling this wrong or if you have other ideas please don't hesitate to let me know!

Again, with an old machine like that, oxidation on the connectors may have rendered one of the slots unfunctional which until you clear CMOS, the machine continue "thinking" that forever even tho the mere act of taking them in and out rubbed it off. So the fact that they worked separately is meaningless, the the BIOS is convinced that the 2nd slot is dead. I just went thru this when the replacement set of RAM I received would still not work. I had to put one stick in A1, clear CMOS, reset to defaults, save BIOS settings..... put sticks in A2 B2, clear CMOS, reset defaults and save again to get it to work.

If you are supposed to use channels A2 / B2, then use A2 for the single stick.

 

[Asahida]

well, the 2nd slot isn't actually dead, I mean it does work, if I don't do memory intensive stuff, meaning I can browse or watch movies.

Either way, your solution seems the best as of yet so I'll try it out, but just to be sure, when you say clear CMOS, do you mean I should just reset the BIOS default settings or should I use the jumper on the motherboard to do it with 1 stick and then with both sticks?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Yes.... what happens is ,m based upon my observations, it's the best hypothesis I can think of, the MoBo detects a problem on a stick it makes a note to itself "don't use that stick" ..... then you replace or to clean the contacts and all is good but it's not looking to see if anything has changed.

You can trey resetting defaults and if that don't work, clear CMOS and try again .... also switch channels and do it, then switch back and repeat.

 

[Asahida]

alright so i did reset CMOS first with one and then with both RAM sticks (in both channels), but there are no changes. Still getting the crashes when using 2 ram sticks.

Tomorrow I will try to use 2 borrowed RAM sticks and see if it's RAM related, though I am pretty sure just changing the RAM won't solve this.

Anyway, if you guys have any other potential solutions please let me know, I'll post again after I try out the new RAM sticks.

 

[Asahida]

So, a friend borrowed me some RAM to try out: a kingmax 800mhz ddr2 stick like mines and a sycron 667mhz ddr2 stick. In order to post my results more easily I'll name the sticks like this:

My 1st RAM stick will be named "1"
My 2nd RAM stick will be named "2"
The Kingmax Ram stick from my friend will be named "Kingmax"
and the 667 syncron stick will be named "sycron"

I tried mine and his memory sticks in all possible combinations (some of them also in different slots and these are the results:

1+2= crash => My RAM sticks don't work together
Kingmax+sycron= WORKS => my friend's RAM sticks work together without any issues on my PC
1+Kingmax= works
2+Kingmax= works
1+ sycron= crash
2+ sycron = crash

So with these results I can't really make anything out of it ... the 667mhz stick didn't work with mine, but the Kingmax one had no problem with either of mine.

I also tried all 3 Kingmax sticks together to see the results, but it was the most unstable one as the PC restarted after only 5 seconds and in the 2nd attempt it rebooted just as I entered the browser. I didn't try my 2 Kingmax with the 667 one because I didn't really see the point.

Anyway, sorry for the long post and I hope you understand my results and reasoning, please let me know what you guys make of it!

Also, my next step will be to give one of my RAM sticks to my friend so he can try it on his rig, this way I'll know if he also gets crashes that it's the RAM's fault so I'll just buy new ones. If he doesn't get crashes then I'll just trade one of my stick for his one and I can put this frustrating issue behind me.

 

[Tradesman1]

Good idea, if you can trade, so much the better, his BIOS may be better attuned to setting the stick s up together

 

[Asahida]

So I managed to trade one of Kingmax sticks with with another Kingmax one and since then I watched streams, played Risen 3 and Skyrim without any problems.

I can pretty much conclude that it's finally solved. Also my friend's PC works without any problems with my RAM stick so I'm guessing my mobo just glitched somewhere and didn't accept certain pairs of memory sticks... but why was this actual problem caused I still can't say.

Thanks for all the help guys, I'm guessing this was a pretty unusual case after all.

 

[Tradesman1]

Not unusual for sticks not to play nice, it's rather common, glad they paired well with your friends and vice versa

 

[JackNaylorPE]

alright so i did reset CMOS first with one and then with both RAM sticks (in both channels), but there are no changes. Still getting the crashes when using 2 ram sticks.

Two step process..... Clear CMOS, set BIOS settings to default.

Sometimes that doesn't work .... I had to switch channels, do the 2 step, then move back and repeat the 2 step to get it to work.

And yes, it's always best to use the same make / model sticks .... however, this is not a guarantee as some manufacturers will use Hynix (Gold Standard) modules for example in their early production runs and then switch to a cheaper supplier later on ..... after the reviews are done

And some brands, mostly because of the above, don't "play well with others". One thing I like about GSkill is they continue to sell older models long after everybody else gives up. I had two users wanting RAM upgrades and
on;y same spec ones i could find were GSkills.

Put 2 GSkills in w/ 2 Mushkins ..... no workie
Put 2 GSkills in w/ 2 Corsairs ..... no workie

Put 2 GSkills in w/ 2 Gskills ..... worked
Put 2 Mushkins in w/ 2 Corsairs ..... worked

Later on I looked to see what modules were in the two original sets, both were Hynix