I've build a few A/V editing systems using almost the same basic components every time, e.g. true CAS2 RAM from Kingston.
One day, when designing a system with an AMD processor (normally I'd use Intel for A/V), this particular RAM didn't play at all. Blue and black screens everywhere, in no particular order.
I, too, pinned it down to the RAM timing, and after some "debating" with my usual parts dealer, he admitted that this particular RAM is incompatible with AMD processors, due to timing issues.
It seems like "Standard RAM" works fine with any processor brand, while the so called "high end" RAM types are designed for Intel processor timing specs. Changing the RAM in that system to standard Samsung RAM solved the problem, and the system has been running flawlessly ever since. Might be the same thing you're experiencing right now. Best, Soren Brian Weeden wrote:
When I rebuilt my HTPC I used an AMD 780G motherboard (GIGABYTE GA-MA78G-DS3H), Athlon X2 4850e, and 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800. Ever since then I've been getting a lot of errors, bluescreens crashes and it's been a real beast to track down the root cause. I think I've pinned it down to the Crucial ram. With both sticks in, memtest86 crashes before it completes (doesn't give a memory error, just can't finish). But each stick passes with flying colors by itself. This is replicated in the computer's performance. With both sticks in, it won't last more than 8 hours without some sort of blue screen crash. With only one stick in it runs for days at a time with no issues. But of course it's dog slow with only 1 GB of ram in Vista. The RAM I used is on the manufacturer's compatibility list<http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/MemorySupport/motherboard_memory_ga-ma78g-ds3h.pdf>for the motherboard and are running at their stock speed and timing (DDR2 800 and 4-4-4-12) as well as voltage. Looking through the reviews on Newegg<http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=20-146-565&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=100&SelectedRating=-1&PurchaseMark=&VideoOnlyMark=False&Keywords=&Page=>there seems to be a lot of reports of faulty sticks, sticks dying after short periods of time and general quality issues. My question is, could this be something else causing the problems? Should I return both for replacement to Crucial? Just one? Will they even accept it when there doesn't appear to be any defects with the RAM? Or should I just cut my losses and get some Geil? ---- Brian
