Last weekend I put together a new box to replace the one that has been
locking up repeatedly. The components are:
Gigabyte 970A-DS3 MB
8GB (2x4GB) Patriot G3 RAM
AMD FX-4100 Quad Core CPU
ASUS DVD/CD Writer
MSI R5450 Graphics Card
Seagate 1TB HD
After assembling the box, but before I even installed the HD (from my old
machine), I booted up and ran Memtest86+. Memtest said that there were
errors, but I finished the install and everything seemed to run properly.
Over the next few days, I got Squeeze installed and did most of my
configuration with no apparent problems. I ran Memtest86+ again and again
it showed memory errors. I noticed that it also reported the memory as
being DDR2, not DDR3. I did some Googling and found that there is a newer
version of Memtest86+ (v4.2) and its changelog specifically mentions
compatibility with the AMD Fusion (FX) CPU's. I downloaded and burned the
new version and yesterday I ran that for almost 2 hours (almost 2 full
passes) and Memtest86+ reported 1666 errors when I shut it down.
Today, I returned the memory to Fry's and got two new sticks (no problems
with the return). I came home, installed the new memory and fired up
Memtest86+. It looked clean for a while, then, on test #5 the errors
returned. I let it continue to run and after about 50 minutes total wall
time I noticed that it was not doing anything. I waited another five
minutes, but there was no change in the percent completed of the pass, or
test. The test pattern had not changed either. I rebooted the system and
let it try again. It stayed clean until test #5 and then spewed out almost
500 errors.
I powered the system down and changed the memory sticks to the other two
slots and rebooted.
Again, no error messages until I got to test #5. About halfway through the
test I got 40 errors. Not good, but a LOT fewer errors then before. It is
still running now and is almost a quarter of the way through test #8 and
there have, so far, been no additional errors.
I find it hard to believe that two sets of Patriot memory would both be
bad. This is not a No-Name brand. Also, since changing the memory slots
used, while not eliminating the errors, seems to have drastically reduced
them I am beginning to wonder if the problem is not with the memory, but
with the motherboard. Of course, Gigabyte boards are supposed to be good
boards, also.
Has anyone else had similar problems? Is Memtest86+ not as reliable as it
used to be? Should I be returning the motherboard next, instead of the
memory?
Memtest86+ just finished the first pass with no additional errors, just to
40 that it registered in test #5. I will let it run at least through test
#5, again, to see how it fairs before I post this message.
BTW, that first pass took significantly less time than in the past. I
assume that the errors really slow it down. Is that correct?
I just noticed that this second pass appears to only be testing 4GB of
memory, NOT 8GB.
Just finished test five. This time there were 366 new error, putting the
total up to 406, so far.
I don't know what else to check, or what hardware is actually bad. Any and
all suggestions cheerfully accepted.
Marc
