Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

[JohnM79]

Hi guys, I'm having a problem with my RAM. Something is causing errors. I built this powerful PC because I'm a student in Video and Animation and do a lot of rendering. When I originally built my computer I had 16GB of ram (4x4GB). When I first started it up, it worked fine for a couple of days and BSOD over night. I solved this by disconnecting my 2x HDDs, which worked until BSOD the next night. I looked into some of the BSOD codes (PFN_LIST_CORRUPT, SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION, and random memory dumps) and even one night got "Reboot and select a proper boot device or insert boot media in selected Boot device and press a key...". Everything pointed to the RAM and/or SDD. I ran an SDD scan and it passed with flying colors. I ran memtest (1 module at a time) and 1 of the 4 sticks tested with errors. The RAM came in 2 sets of 2 modules, so I needed to return 2. The system ran fine on the 2 sticks, when I got the RMA replacement I added the 2 sticks and booted with all 4 sticks with BSOD at the windows logo screen. I ran the memtest on all 4 sticks again and 1 of the original sticks that tested with no errors now shows with 1 error, 1 of the new sticks shows with 8 errors. So I decided to try a different brand. I switch my G.SKILL for Corsair, while on the phone with newegg I rushed and chose 2000 ram for my 1600 mobo. When I plugged in all 4 sticks BSOD at logo screen again! Ran memtest on all 4 sticks (1 at a time) and 1 stick is showing with errors. I tested 2 of the sticks with no errors together and got 5 errors. I swapped one of those sticks for the other one with no errors. Those 2 showed with no errors, so I'm running that set now.

I had someone suggest a couple tests to me, so I will post those results here in hopes that they help. The original G.SKILL was returned to UPS today for RMA deadlines. Thanx for ANY help, thoughts or suggestions. If you have any questions for my Please feel free to ask.

Setup:

O/S: Win7 Pro 64bit
Orig RAM: 16GB (4x4GB) G.SKILL DDR3 1600 2x(Dual Channel Kit)
New RAM: 16GB (4x4GB) Corsair DDR3 2000 2x(Dual Channel Kit)
Mobo: ASUS P8Z68-V 1155
GPU: EVGA SuperClocked GeForce (Fermi) 580 1536MB
CPU: i7 2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz Quad Core
PSU: CoolMaster 1000w Silent Gold Pro Series
SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SSD
HDD: 2x 320GB Western Digital HDD
CPU Cooler: CoolMaster V8

Prime95:

Old Ram: (G.SKILL 1600)

New Ram: (Corsair 2000)

[Wed Sep 21 05:48:25 2011] FATAL ERROR: Final result was 92585540, expected: 86B106EB. Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file. FATAL ERROR: Final result was 999FB0D9, expected: 86B106EB. Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file. FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4 Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file. FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.498046875, expected less than 0.4 Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ERROR: ILLEGAL SUMOUT Possible hardware failure, consult readme.txt file, restarting test. (This error repeated 97 timed: deleted to clean up) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ERROR: ILLEGAL SUMOUT Maximum number of warnings exceeded. FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.4951171875, expected less than 0.4 Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file. [Wed Sep 21 06:02:01 2011] Self-test 1024K passed! Self-test 1024K passed! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Rest of tests passed: deleted to clean up)

Only ran for approx 30 min, will run over night for more detail: [Thu Sep 22 00:11:28 2011] FATAL ERROR: Final result was 975641A6, expected: D1045A66. Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file. FATAL ERROR: Final result was 95492D4C, expected: D1045A66. Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file. [Thu Sep 22 00:17:08 2011] FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4 Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file. FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4 Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file. [Thu Sep 22 00:22:22 2011] Self-test 1024K passed! Self-test 1024K passed! Self-test 1024K passed! Self-test 1024K passed!

Benchmark (3DMark11):

With the new RAM (Corsair 2000) first failed to load the program popping a crash screen offering to close the program. After a reboot the test failed in the Physics test and froze for over 10 min when I manually hit Esc to exit the test.

These are the results for the old RAM (G.SKILL):

GPU Results #1
GPU Results #2


CPU-z:

Additional info that may help. Heres 2 screen shots from CPU-z from the Memory and and SPD tabs (again with the old RAM G.SKILL):

CPU-z Memory
CPU-z SPD


* I did the results as image links because only 1 attachment is allowed per post, and I'm not 100% sure of what data is important or not *

[profJim]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

Motherboard manufacturer/model name/revision #?
CPU heatsink cooler manufacturer/model? Is it installed correctly? Is it properly seated?
Bios version? Is this the latest bios version for your motherboard model?
What bios settings have you changed since you built your system?
Have you overclocked your system?
Have you run any other stress tests for your system? If yes, any errors? Which tests were run and for how long?
Is your ssd your boot drive?
Are you using an hdd raid setup.

[JohnM79]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

Sorry, forgot about Mobo and CPU Cooler, updated thread, its the ASUS P8Z68-V 1155 and the CoolMaster V8. There is 1 update for the bios, just figured out how to do it yesterday when poking through the Bios. The driver wasn't an .iso file, so i couldnt make a bootable disk. I found the bios updater that just points to a drive when poking around. I believe the CPU cooler is properly seated. Its mounted correctly and matched up the instructions for positioning and direction. Thermal compound completely covered the surface and I have noticed any high temps or even the auto speed fan going to higher speeds. I will update the Bios now, no settings in there have been changed what so ever. I have not overclocked anything, the video card is superclocked my manufacture. The only stress tests I've run so far was the torture test (Prime95) listed above. Any others that may help narrow down the problem please let me know. My SSD is my boot drive, and the 2x HDD are not in raid. 1 was my main drive on my last system and the other was its backup, they are the same make and model.

Thanx for the quick response ;)

[profJim]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

With your updated information, someone should be able to help you with getting your Sandy Bridge system stable.
I'm not familiar with SB or Asus, but the first thing I would do is to test with only 2 memory modules initially with Memtest86+ v4.2 followed by Prime95 Blend test.

I think that part of the instability is due to not making a few basic bios settings before you test or run your system. All four memory modules are probably fine, but you might need to do something as simple as load optimized bios settings. You might get more responses to help you out if you create a new thread in the ASUS forum and post your information there. It's best if you don't have two threads dealing with the same problem in different forums. You might get knowledgeable help in this thread, but if you want help in a new thread, post a link to your new thread here, and mention that all replies should be in the new thread.

[profJim]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

I just checked the Tweaktown Asus forum and found http://forums.tweaktown.com/asus/444...rt-thread.html, check it out.

You might find some excellent guides if you do a web search using: ASUS P8Z68-V bios guide.
Also check out http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte...56-1366-a.html in the Gigabyte forum. I think that the thread contains links to guides that are not brand specific.

[JohnM79]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

ahhh, I typed out a long thing and forgot to put the year for random question, lol :(

Thanks for the links, but I'm not sure I'm ready to narrow it down to just to motherboard or bios unless that is your opinion from what's posted. I updated the BIOS and Video driver, so every thing is now up to date. As far as the RAM, I have been testing each stick separately with memtest. 3 of the 4 ram sticks showed up with 0 errors. I then paired 2 of the sticks with no errors and tested them together in the recommended blue slots (2 & 4). They returned with 5 errors ( 2x [Block Move], 2x [Modulo 20, Random Pattern], and 1x [Bit Fade Test, 2 Patterns]), so I removed 1 stick and replaced it with the remaining stick with no errors. Together I ran them through memtest with 0 errors, so that is the set I am using now. Someone told me with dual channel RAM with XMP (Extreme Memory Profile) that you can put 'uncombined' XMP sets (2x dual channel kits) together, meaning it had to be bought in 1x quad channel kit. Not sure if that is the issue. Since I updated the drivers I re ran the GPU Benchmark (3DMark11) again and still recieved low scores. I will run the Prime95 torture test over night again and post in the morning. I will also look into the forum and links you posted, thanx.

Here are the latest GPU Benchmark (3DMark11) results:
I copy and pasted because the screenshot became to small to read as tall as it was.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 video card 3DMark 11 benchmark test score




Processor

Processor
Intel Core i7-2600K Processor

---

Processor clock
3612 MHz

---

Physical / logical processors
1 / 8

---

# of cores
4


Graphics Card

Graphics Card
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580

---

Vendor
eVGA.com Corporation

---

# of cards
1

---

SLI / CrossFire
Off

---

Memory
1536 MB

---

Core clock
797 MHz

---

Memory clock
2025 MHz

---

Driver name

---

Driver version
8.17.12.8026

---

Driver status
FM Approved


General

Operating system
64-bit Windows 7 (6.1.7601)

---

Motherboard
ASUSTeK Computer INC. P8Z68-V

---

Memory
8192 MB

---

Module 1

4096 MB Corsair 9 @ 533 MHz
Module 2

4096 MB Corsair 9 @ 533 MHz

---

Hard drive model
120GB OCZ-VERTEX3 ATA Device


Detailed scores

3DMark Score
P6200

---

Graphics Score
5919

---

Physics Score
7862

---

Combined Score
6452

---

GraphicsTest1
25.46 FPS

---

GraphicsTest2
26.83 FPS

---

GraphicsTest3
38.39 FPS

---

GraphicsTest4
18.93 FPS

---

PhysicsTest
24.96 FPS

---

CombinedTest
30.01 FPS



Settings

Default settings used
Yes

---

Edition
Basic

---

Screen Width
1280

---

Screen Height
720

---

Msaa Sample Count
1

---

Texture Filtering Mode
Trilinear

---

Max Af Anisotropy
1

---

Tessellation Detail
5

---

Max Tessellation Factor
10

---

ShadowMapSize
5

---

Shadow Cascade Count
4

---

Surface Shadow Sample Count
16

---

Volumetric Illumination Quality
5

---

Ambient Occlusion Quality
5

---

Depth Of Field Quality
5

---

Enable Window Mode
Off

---

Enable Vertical Sync
Off

---

Enable Triple Buffering
Off

---

Enable Wireframe
Off

---

Color Saturation
100%

[profJim]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

From what I've seen with P67 and Z68, initial bios setup is much easier than with LGA775 setups, but I've seen many Sandy Bridge threads where the OP had issues with the initial bios settings and their systems wouldn't post or was very unstable. At this point, you can't rule out memory, mobo, memory slots, or bios settings. I'm not familiar enough with SB and Asus to give you definite advice. Your thread is only about 3 hours old, and others should see it soon and be able to give you good advice. I'll remain subscribed to your thread. My goal with my first post was to request information that others would need to help you.

[wazza300]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

its probably mixing two brands of 4gb ram,corsair/gskill,its best to buy matching brands of the same ram or a complete kit,try adding one or two clicks more qpi/vtt voltage than what auto is using,you can look in asus turbo v to see current qpi/vtt voltage

[JohnM79]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

@Wazza: At no point were the RAM sticks ever miss matched. The G.SKILL 1600 was replaced with identical G.SKILL 1600, when I still had issues I returned ALL the G.SKILL for ALL Corsair 2000. Anytime Ram was in my computer, it was always matched with the identical RAM.

@ProfJim: Thanx, I'm going to look into those right now. Hopefully it will be something I'm able to figure out through there, or find something to at least point me in the right direction.


Update: OK, so something strange happened overnight. After updating the BIOS and Video drivers I ran the GPU Benchmark (3DMark11). The results after doing this and rebooting were bad (listed in my previous post), even worse then before the update. Over night I rand the Prime95 torture test. After 5 hours... NOT 1 ERROR (AMAZING!). So I decided to rerun the GPU Benchmark (3DMark11)... It actually said "Your system is comparable to similar systems". WOOT!

Ok, so now that things seem to be a little more stable, Im going to look into the memtest some more and see if any of those errors have cleared up. *crosses fingers*


Results for this morning:

Prime95 (torture test) 5hrs

GPU Benchmark (3DMark11)

***Ran for ~5hrs *** [Thu Sep 22 06:29:27 2011] Self-test 1024K passed! Self-test 1024K passed! Self-test 1024K passed! Self-test 1024K passed! Self-test 1024K passed! Self-test 1024K passed! Self-test 1024K passed! Self-test 1024K passed! [Thu Sep 22 06:44:27 2011] Self-test 8K passed! Self-test 8K passed! Self-test 8K passed! Self-test 8K passed! Self-test 8K passed! Self-test 8K passed! Self-test 8K passed! Self-test 8K passed! [Thu Sep 22 07:00:20 2011] Self-test 10K passed! Self-test 10K passed! Self-test 10K passed! Self-test 10K passed! Self-test 10K passed! Self-test 10K passed! Self-test 10K passed! Self-test 10K passed! [Thu Sep 22 07:16:54 2011] Self-test 896K passed! Self-test 896K passed! Self-test 896K passed! Self-test 896K passed! Self-test 896K passed! Self-test 896K passed! Self-test 896K passed! Self-test 896K passed! [Thu Sep 22 07:33:50 2011] Self-test 768K passed! Self-test 768K passed! Self-test 768K passed! Self-test 768K passed! Self-test 768K passed! Self-test 768K passed! Self-test 768K passed! Self-test 768K passed! [Thu Sep 22 07:48:53 2011] Self-test 12K passed! Self-test 12K passed! Self-test 12K passed! Self-test 12K passed! Self-test 12K passed! Self-test 12K passed! Self-test 12K passed! Self-test 12K passed! [Thu Sep 22 08:04:07 2011] Self-test 14K passed! Self-test 14K passed! Self-test 14K passed! Self-test 14K passed! Self-test 14K passed! Self-test 14K passed! Self-test 14K passed! Self-test 14K passed! [Thu Sep 22 08:20:14 2011] Self-test 640K passed! Self-test 640K passed! Self-test 640K passed! Self-test 640K passed! Self-test 640K passed! Self-test 640K passed! Self-test 640K passed! Self-test 640K passed! [Thu Sep 22 08:35:35 2011] Self-test 512K passed! Self-test 512K passed! Self-test 512K passed! Self-test 512K passed! Self-test 512K passed! Self-test 512K passed! Self-test 512K passed! Self-test 512K passed! [Thu Sep 22 08:51:10 2011] Self-test 16K passed! Self-test 16K passed! Self-test 16K passed! Self-test 16K passed! Self-test 16K passed! Self-test 16K passed! Self-test 16K passed! Self-test 16K passed! [Thu Sep 22 09:06:31 2011] Self-test 20K passed! Self-test 20K passed! Self-test 20K passed!

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 video card 3DMark 11 benchmark test score Processor Processor Intel Core i7-2600K Processor Processor clock 3712 MHz Physical / logical processors 1 / 8 # of cores 4 Graphics Card Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Vendor eVGA.com Corporation # of cards 1 SLI / CrossFire Off Memory 1536 MB Core clock 797 MHz Memory clock 2025 MHz Driver name Driver version 8.17.12.8026 Driver status FM Approved General Operating system 64-bit Windows 7 (6.1.7601) Motherboard ASUSTeK Computer INC. P8Z68-V Memory 8192 MB Module 1 4096 MB Corsair 9 @ 533 MHz Module 2 4096 MB Corsair 9 @ 533 MHz Hard drive model 120GB OCZ-VERTEX3 ATA Device Detailed scores 3DMark Score P6472 Graphics Score 6212 Physics Score 7886 Combined Score 6781 GraphicsTest1 27.45 FPS GraphicsTest2 28.18 FPS GraphicsTest3 39.95 FPS GraphicsTest4 19.55 FPS PhysicsTest 25.04 FPS CombinedTest 31.54 FPS Settings Default settings used Yes Edition Basic Screen Width 1280 Screen Height 720 Msaa Sample Count 1 Texture Filtering Mode Trilinear Max Af Anisotropy 1 Tessellation Detail 5 Max Tessellation Factor 10 ShadowMapSize 5 Shadow Cascade Count 4 Surface Shadow Sample Count 16 Volumetric Illumination Quality 5 Ambient Occlusion Quality 5 Depth Of Field Quality 5 Enable Window Mode Off Enable Vertical Sync Off Enable Triple Buffering Off Enable Wireframe Off Color Saturation 100%

[profJim]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

Glad to hear that you're making progress.
I hate it when I "accidentally" fix a problem but have no idea what or how the problem was fixed.

[wazza300]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

ah sorry i thought you had two sets,didnt realize you replaced them,i would look into what qpi/vtt(imc) voltage your using though,maybe it needs one or two clicks more as auto doesnt always set it correctly

[JohnM79]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

@ProfJim: lol, that's for sure. Took me this long just to figure out how to update the BIOS. I've done it before, but it was telling me I my 64b version of the driver was 16bit and wouldn't work. That was just the updater tho, the actual .rom file was under their Rapid Storage program that requires 20GB of your hard drive, so was hesitant to install. Also had to research just to figure out you have to install 'AI Setup II' just to flash the BIOS. It crashed my system at first causing a memory dump BSOD just by installing the AS Setup II.

I'm happy with the progress so far to at least have a somewhat stable system. My concern now is that if I put in new RAM, will it damage that RAM now as well.

[JohnM79]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

i would look into what qpi/vtt(imc) voltage your using though,maybe it needs one or two clicks more as auto doesnt always set it correctly

Thanks, Im not too sure what exactly "qpi/vtt(imc) voltage" is, I was playing around in the BIOS a little, no changes made. That's the required voltage noted my the manufacture to the actual voltage the computer is giving the RAM?

I'm only somewhat tech savvy. I was going for my MCSE before I switched to Video & Animation rendering.

*Sorry for the double posts

[profJim]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

That's why I suggested looking for some good bios guides to help you with the learning curve. Some SB overclocking guides should also help with your bios education. Chances are pretty good that many of the better hardware review sites will have an Asus/Sandy Bridge forum that discusses how to best set up your bios. Have you checked out the Tweaktown/Asus-Z68 thread that I linked to? You could PM the Asus tech rep and ask him to look at this thread.

If you edit one of your double posts, you should see a "delete post" option. You might have to use the "GO ADVANCED" option to be able to delete one of the double posts.

[wazza300]

Re: Something is killing my RAM (causing errors)

qpi/vtt voltage is what gigabyte call it,imc voltage is what asus call it,both are the same thing,its for the integrated memory controller inside the cpu,with more ram and the tighter timings and faster the speed,generally you will need more voltage,only one or two clicks more from what auto sets just to see if it improves stability,you can look either in the bios to see what auto is using or look in asus turbo v