System Freezes after doubling RAM size [SOLVED]

[odog502]

Hey everyone. Im trying to keep my 7.5 year old machine running(specs below), but I’m having what I think to be a memory problem that I can’t pin down. Problems started a while back when I would run out of memory: tabs and browsers(both firefox and chrome) would crash when I have too many open, sometimes system components would crash, like the “wireless lan control manager” or the system would reset my video resolution to minimum standards. Once it gets above 75% mem usage things start crashing. I thought easy enough, I will add another 4GB RAM. Granted I purchased the 2 extra sticks about 7 years after the first sticks I bought, but all 4 are Kingston “KVR133D3K2”. They should be perfectly compatible. EDIT: Correction, the new RAM I bought has a big label of KVR133D3K2 over the top, but the smaller label on chip says says KTH9600BS/2G. I looked it up and they have the same specs so, it shouldn’t matter. right?

Anyway, the 8GB played nicely together for what seemed like the first boot or two(no more out of memory issues). Then even bigger problems started happening. Complete system freezes, sometimes not even allowing the computer to completely boot into Windows. It happens at various times, not at any consistent point during the boot nor when I’m running any specific application. When I remove sticks and go back down to 4GB the freezes stop(but I have low memory issues again).

Ive run the Windows 10 memory diagnostic and the check comes back perfectly fine for all memory.

Ive tried swapping out memory to see if the freezes only happen with a specific stick. Freezes don’t happen with any particular stick, only when I have all of them in.

Thinking the RAM channel color coding may be nonstandard, Ive tried installing the RAM in different configurations but didn't have an impact on the issue:
• Old RAM in channel A, new RAM in channel B(and vice versa)
• 1 stick of each in channel A, 1 stick each in channel B

Ive run “Video Memory Stress Test 1.7” wondering if maybe I was looking at the wrong component, but that came back fine as well.

I don’t think it is software related because I have wiped the machine and reinstalled everything since the issue first started occurring.

Im wondering if I have to go into the BIOS and start tinkering with memory timing and such but I’m not as experienced with that, and would need some advice.

Any ideas?

Specs:
OS: Windows 10 Pro
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 925 2.8Ghz
Motherboard: Asus M4A87TD EVO
RAM: Kingston KVR1333D3K2/4GR 2GB (2 of these sticks)(Old)
Kingston KTH9600BS/2G 2GB (2 of these sticks)(New)
PowerSupply: SAGA 400R 400-Watt
Video Card: Sapphire 100291L HD 5450 512MB
Wireless: ASUS PCE-AC56

 

[odog502]

Here's a few more updates...

I saw on a few vaguely similar posts that sometimes voltage can be a problem when adding more sticks of RAM. So I bumped it up a few from Auto(1.5) to 1.6. No impact on the problem though. Still freezing. It's also worth mentioning that the command rate is set at 2T when 4 modules are installed(as it should be).

I thought that maybe the slightly different RAM models may be the culprit(even though it is same make, same speed, same everything else). So I got 2 more sticks of used KVR1333D3N9K2. Almost exactly the same model as the original two sticks of RAM. And again, exact same specs. They worked fine for a day, but eventually, it started freezing again.

I'm out of ideas. BIOS memory settings are too numerous and the problem too sporadic for me to just randomly try changing things. It looks like I'll have to chock it up as a loss and build a new PC unless anyone has any suggestions.

TL;DR: RAM works fine with any 2 sticks(4GB) being used(nevermind low memory issues), but when I try to use 4 sticks together(totaling 8GB), I get sporadic system lock ups/freezes.

EDIT: JUNE 7TH(3 WEEKS LATER). I FOUND THE PROBLEM!!! THE 2ND SOCKET IN CHANNEL A(3RD SOCKET FROM THE LEFT) IS BAD. I have been running with the other 3 DIMM sockets in use and have not had any issues in 2 weeks. This is with "auto" voltage too, not the higher voltage I set earlier. My old trusty computer gets to keep on living the dream!