F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ (1600) - ASUS M4A77TD - AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz -unstable

[qetuop]

Hello,

Specs:
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ
CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor
MB: ASUS M4A77TD AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard ( latest bios - 2007 version)
VIDEO: XFX HD-485X-ZDFC Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16

I've had numerous BSODs and apps crashing under windows 7 (64bit) and winxp (32bit). I've tried the default bios settings and those under
F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ + ASUS M4A79T Deluxe BIOS settings thread (it was the closeest board). I have had inconsistent results from memtest/prime95.

I see that the asus approved ram guide does not list this specific memory nor does this ram list the asus board. The asus spec list:
4 x DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR3 1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333/1066 ECC,Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
*AMD AM3 100 and 200 series CPU support up to DDR3 1066MHz.

I guess my question(s) is:
Will this combination work? I've seen some posts in here about the amd chips not working well with some ram.

Would I be better off getting a 1333 brand of ram?

If I leave the bios settings to auto and it runs the ram at 1066 should that be more stable? Do the memtest/prime95 failures point to bad memory, incorrect settings, or a bad board?

I'm not concerned about speed at this point just stability. I'm wondering if I should rma it or return and get a different speed or even a different brand.

It is hard to troubleshoot since the problems don't consistently happen. It is like the 'cold boot' issue I've read about.

Thank you for any help you can give.

[Grimmett]

Sounds familiar!

Hey,
I'm using the exact same memory you are using and have been having troubles for a while now. If you're wondering if this is due to a cold boot issue, leave your computer off overnight. In the morning, first thing, boot your computer and rum Memtest from the CDROM. If you get errors, chances are it's a cold boot issue. If you try to load Windows, it will BSOD on the load screen and restart to System Repair or something like that. Taking out one stick of RAM and restarting usually fixes the problem. You can put the other stick back afterwards and everything will be stable until you cold boot again.
I'm waiting on my RMA to be approved for my RAM. If the above information seems familiar and gives you errors, I would suggest you RMA your memory ASAP. I've tried many different voltages and timings, and nothing works. G. Skill suggested an RMA for me.
IF you do RMA, make sure you request that they TEST your replacement memory before they ship it. I don't understand how so many people are having this issue. Even if they test modules randomly during QC, you would think they would've spotted this flaw months ago.
Hope this helps.

MSI 790FX-GD70
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE
F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ (if the replacements work...)
Corsair 750W PSU
Nvidia GTX 260

[qetuop]

Thanks for the response.

I don't know enough about hardware, I would think if components are going to fail they would do so consistently. I put in one stick of ram and got errors within minutes in memtest. Ran the second stick in the same slot all day, no errors. Put the first stick back in and no errors.

Is it just that the different components(ram, cpu, mb, etc) are becoming so delicate that they need very specific brands to work together? If so, I'd rather find the some memory that would work better than go through the hassle of rma'ing it only to find out later it will never work well.

[Grimmett]

No problem,

When you were getting the errors originally with one stick, was your computer booted after being off for a few hours? Or is it one of those things where you get errors anytime until you switch out sticks and switch them back again?
It's hard to pinpoint your problem because once the system gets warm and actually boots with no errors, it's difficult to determine which stick of RAM is really causing the problem. This is where I'm at now.
If you have time and don't want your PC to be without memory when you RMA it, I would spend two days, let the computer sit over night, and then boot your computer with just one stick of RAM on the first day. If all is well, let it sit overnight again, and boot with the other stick. If only one stick gives errors, you could probably just send the one stick back and still have a working PC. Personally, I would just send them both back and make them test their product before giving it to you.
As for the question about brands, as long as you pick memory and CPU's that are listed as compatible for your motherboard, you should be okay. I always try to pick a motherboard with good reviews from a well known company. I do the same for the power supply. It seems this memory issue is just some bad luck for G. Skill and other memory manufacturers. I've seen others with this cold boot problem with different brand memory, but the majority seems to be G. Skill memory. I'm not sure why that is. Hopefully G. Skill will let us know what's causing the issue.

Hope this info helps you out.

[qetuop]

It had been off overnight. It worked later on in the day after testing the other stick.

I look at the lists that the various components say are compatible then try to find them at newegg (does anyone use any other store) but they are always slightly different. Maybe 0.1 voltage but it ends up with a different serial part number. May not make a difference....

Every 5 or so years when I build a new pc I try to research everything and still have trouble. Now you got to make sure the silicone in your cpu has a compatible aura with your motherboard. It's almost enough to drive a man to get a Dell.

lol, as I'm typing this I get a PAGE_FAULT error. It's been working for the last day and half (being off for hours at a time) with no blue screens or "Explorer has Stopped working" errors. That's what's really frustrating, it never breaks the same way twice. You can't make a change to see if it fixes the problem because it may not happen anyways.

What is the TEST they run? Memtest? Do they use the same board?

[Grimmett]

Alright,
I would definitely send back both sticks unless you want to spend two more days of cold booting each stick individually.
I'm not sure how they do their memory testing. I think they DO have some of the more popular motherboards that they test the memory on though. Maybe a G. Skill Tech can explain it for us. I don't know if they work on the weekends or not, so we may have to wait a while for an answer. ( I wish I didn't have to wait til Monday for an RMA approval, I could send my memory back Monday morning! :P)
The variety of errors you are getting make sense and is exactly what is happening to me. Your memory has many different Windows applications running from it. When your memory starts faulting, whatever application is stored in the area that faults will be what error message you get. It can seem rather random.
I'm just going to save myself the headache of pinpointing which stick is faulty, and let G. Skill test and send me a good batch. Luckily I have an older PC that will do until I get my good memory. It sucks because I was about to beat Assassin's Creed 2

Good Luck

P.S. DON'T GO TO DELL!! You'll regret the money you spent and not being able to upgrade your PC later! I hope that G. Skill has determined what is causing this issue and that the memory they are sending out for replacement is actually fixing the problem.

[qetuop]

Well, I can consistently get my memory to fail in memtest if I let the machine cool down first and test the sticks individually. This is with various settings (Auto, 1066->1600).

Unless a tech has some other advice or doesn't believe this memory will ever work in my setup I guess I should rma it.

I see the doc to fill out with an rma but where do I go about getting a number? Never mind I see you need to email the form back.

[Grimmett]

The same thing happened to me with both sticks of RAM as well. I'm awaiting my RMA confirmation. I'm surprised that people are having issues with BOTH sticks of RAM.
Good luck with your replacement.