Name: Boogyman Date: March 28, 2008 at 20:41:28 Pacific Subject: Bad Ram? OS: Win XP Pro CPU/Ram: E6300 Model/Manufacturer: N/A
Comment:
Well one day my brother was on the computer playing a game and it froze so he restarted it, but it didn't boot up. So I started checking the RAM by trying different slots and different sticks of RAM. So after swapping RAM sticks I found that my PC would boot sometimes when I had both sticks in, but very rarely. I have 2 x 1GB sticks on the one that I am suspecting to be the problem is MAYBE 5 months old (G.Skill). Can anyone relate to this problem or give me advice. I don't want to buy another stick unless I have too. Thanks.
Intel E6300 Core 2 Duo G.Skill 1GB DDR26400 Sapphire Radeon X1900XT Seagate 320GB HDD Windows XP Professional
It is EXTREMELY RARE for ram to go bad spontaneously! There is almost always something else wrong!
"Well one day my brother was on the computer playing a game and it froze so he restarted it, but it didn't boot up."
A common thing that can happen with ram, even ram that worked fine previously, is the ram has, or has developed, a poor connection in it's slot(s). See the last part of this post.
"So I started checking the RAM by trying different slots and different sticks of RAM. So after swapping RAM sticks I found that my PC would boot sometimes when I had both sticks in, but very rarely"
"When I turn it on, the fans stay at high speed, no beep, no display. Everything works fine when I take out the suspected RAM."
Randomly trying ram will NOT necessarily work!
Ram that works in another mboard , or any ram you buy or have lying around, may not work properly, or sometimes, not at all - even if it physically fits and is the right overall type (e.g. SDram, DDR, DDR2, etc.; PCxxxx, xxx mhz) for your mboard. In the worst cases of incompatibilty your mboard WILL NOT BOOT with it installed, and the mboard may not even beep - the ram has to be compatible with the mboard and it's chipset.
See response 5 in this for some info about ram compatibilty, and some places where you can find out what will work in your mboard for sure: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w... Correction to that: Mushkin www.mushkin.com
Once you know which module ID strings work in your mboard, you can get them from anywhere you like that has ram with those ID strings.
It is easy to test for incompatible ram that has caused your mboard to fail to boot.
Make sure you have a speaker or speakers connected to the mboard so you can hear mboard beeps (see your mboard manual). Remove the AC power to the case/power supply. Remove all the ram. Restore AC power. Try to boot. If nothing else is wrong, you will hear a pattern of beeps that indicate no ram is installed, or a ram problem. E.g. for an Award bios or a bios based on one, that's often a beep of about a half second, silence for a half second, a beep of about a half second, silence for a half second, continuously. ......
A common thing that can happen with ram, even ram that worked fine previously, is the ram has, or has developed, a poor connection in it's slot(s). This usually happens a long time after the ram was installed, but it can happen with new ram, or after moving the computer case from one place to another, and I've had even new modules that needed to have their contacts cleaned.
See response 2 in this - try cleaning the contacts on the ram modules, and making sure the modules are properly seated: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w...
If this is a laptop, you must remove both its main battery and AC adapter before you do that.
If you do a ram test, do that AFTER having tried cleaning the contacts and making sure the ram is seated properly - otherwise any errors found may be FALSE. If the ram is incompatible with the chipset, it will likely FAIL a ram test - that is NOT a true indication of the ram being faulty - there is probably nothing wrong with it, and it will pass the test if installed in a mboard it is compatible with. ......
Ok I am going to retest my too make sure its still good. The mother board I have is a Intel DP965LT and according to the specs, RAM that is required is DDR2 800 PC2 6400 at 1.8V. The RAM that I though was bad is this:
See the part starting "It is easy to test for incompatible ram that has caused your mboard to fail to boot." in response 5 and follow the procedure.
If your problem is caused by ram, you should get those beeps if nothing else is wrong.
If you don't get those beeps something else is wrong, such as - defective PS - e.g. it may fail to boot the computer all the way intermittantly before it fails completely. - your cpu is damaged from it overheating. This is usually caused by a filthy cpu heatsink and/or a filthy cpu fan, or a defective cpu fan that is spinning too slow or that has stopped spinning (if it spins, such a fan is often noisy when you start the computer after it has cooled to room temp). - a voltage surge or spike has damaged your mboard or ram or cpu or other components. If you don't have the computer and everything plugged into AC tht plugs into the computer, directly or via an AC to DC adapter, and the cable that connects you to the internet, plugged into something that protects them from those, that is a lot more likely. However, a lightning strike on the power grid near you can damage things even if you do have such protection. Did you have any lightning storms in your area, and/or a power outage since the computer last worked fine? .....
I have only looked up Gskil (G skil) ram a couple of times.
What I found is: - they are one of only a few major ram manufacturers that have no way I have found of looking up which ram will work for sure (is compatible) with your mboard model or brand name system model/mboard. e.g. I found nothing to do that with here: http://www.gskill.com/indexen.html - going by posts I found on the web, sometimes gskil ram modules will not work if they are overclocked at all, or they may not work or not work properly in some mboards unless you use SLOWER ram timings, that is, you disable default settings - by SPD or similar - and choose slower ram timings (higher numbers).
After finding out those things, I would not buy gskil ram. The only way of confirming it will work in your mboard is for you to contact them and ask them, and even then, you may need to slow down the ram timings.
As I said in the middle of response 5, knowing the proper ram type, PCxxxx rating, mhz rating is not enough info on it's own to determine whether ram will be compatible with your mboard. The ram module ID string F2-6400CL5S-1GBNQ is in the Newegg ad, but there is nowhere I know of where I can look up whether it will work properly in your mboard for sure.
Therefore..... If the ram module was working fine before, if it has been overclocked in the bios, try setting the ram settings to by SPD or similar. If that doesn't help, try disabling by SPD or similar and using slower ram timings - higher numbers.
As far as I can determine your PS seems to be an OK brand and model, but any PS can become defective.
Ok so I just wanted to say thanks tubesandwires for your help so far. I powered off my computer and removed all the RAM. I turned it back on too get 3 beeps. So I powered off and put the in "bad ram". The computer booted up just fine, but about 10 minutes later I lost power to all USB devices. So I restarted the PC and on power up, the PC just hung at the Intel logo. So I restarted it yet again and the fans just stayed running high like normal. I replaced the "bad ram" with the stick I have been using and now everything works fine. I think I might steer clear of this company from now on. The first stick I bought has a different look to it (but same model number) and same specs (1.9V - 2.0V). Kind of odd that this mobo is said to only run RAM with 1.8V.
Intel E6300 Core 2 Duo G.Skill 1GB DDR26400 Sapphire Radeon X1900XT Seagate 320GB HDD Windows XP Professional
"The computer booted up just fine, but about 10 minutes later I lost power to all USB devices."
If Windows was still working otherwise, I know of no way bad ram can cause that, and that probably points to a faulty PS. USB requires +5v. Check the current voltage readings in your bios Setup - +5v should be within 10% of it's nominal value. If it happens again, go into the bios and check at that time. If it's too high that can damage USB circuits and USB devices that are plugged into ports at the time, and anything else that uses 5v, in a short time. If it's too low USB devices and other devices that use +5v will probably not work properly. If any of +5v, or +3.3v. or +12v are not within 10% of nominal values when you look at the current readings in the bios, replace the PS as soon as you can. If any are more than 10% high I advise you to not use the computer at all until you have replaced the PS - something will likely be damaged if you do. If it is still under the 3 year warranty, you could RMA it - see the manufacturer's website - but you have to package it properly and pay for shipping one way to some place they specify. Faulty PSs may show no signs of malfunction until they have warmed up, or it may be difficult to find any signs it is malfunctioning at all. Try another known good PS if you can.
"The first stick I bought has a different look to it (but same model number) and same specs (1.9V - 2.0V). Kind of odd that this mobo is said to only run RAM with 1.8V. "
DDR ram is nominally 1.8v but many mboards will automatically up the voltage if the ram is capable of supporting a higher voltage and the bios can detect that. The actual voltage the ram is using may be in the bios settings somewhere, or in the current voltage readings there. If the current voltage is 1.8v, going by what I have read, this ram may not work properly unless you set it to what it wants to use - 1.9 or 2.0 - manually in the bios.
I don't think I have the CPU fan plugged up to the mobo, thats why its not reading it. I am beginning to think it might just be my motherboard, but I did just get a response from G.Skill and im going to RMA the bad ram. I just ordered 2 sticks of the same RAM (el cheapos :)), but if I have any problems with those, I am going to return them and get some quality RAM.
Intel E6300 Core 2 Duo G.Skill 2GB DDR26400 Sapphire Radeon X1900XT Seagate 320GB HDD WD 80GB HDD Windows XP Professional / Windows Vista
Nothing you have told us so far indicates your mboard or your ram is no good for sure.
If you RMA the ram and there's nothing wrong with it, they will just ship it back to you at your expense, assuming you still want it. It will cost you shipping two ways for nothing.
I doubt your cpu fan is not spinning at all - if that were the case the cpu would overheat in a few minutes and your mboard would shut down automatically ! Open up the case and see if the cpu fan is spinning when the computer is running! It must be connected with a three wire cable to a 3 pin header for the cpu fan on the mboard in order for the rpm to be read. If it has only 2 wires, which I doubbt very much, the cpu fan rpm cannot be read. If the cpu fan header has 4 pins you must install it on the right 3 pins! There's only two possible ways.
If your cpu fan is a low speed one, the software utility you are looking at may not detect it with default settings. Sometimes there is an adjustment you can make in the software to adjust the divider it uses to make the rpm appear properly. Look at the current readings in your bios Setup - the current rpms are in the same place as the current voltages - the rpm may not show up there either if the fan is a low speed one.
A faulty PS could also cause the cpu fan to not spin! If it doesn't spin, try it connected to another mboard.
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