RMA'ing memory
- Thread starter Tedster
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Tedster
Posts: 5,746 +14
what's frustrating with testing Athlon systems with memtest86+ is sometimes you get false negatives with tests 5 and 8. When I tested my XP 3200+ I got errors on tests 5,6, and 8.
The failures on test 6 clued me in the sticks went bad. But test 6 failure only showed up the second time I ran memtest.
The failures on test 6 clued me in the sticks went bad. But test 6 failure only showed up the second time I ran memtest.
Vigilante
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A lot of people double up M86 with like some other memory testers. In my experience I haven't come down to false negatives. Or did you mean false positives? I mean, when I get errors, I assume it's bad, Athlon or not.
You might also run another test that is called JUST "memtest". It runs IN windows and is just a small program. It will grab up all the free memory in your system and start churning it around, which, as XP swaps RAM back and forth to swap, if you let it run long enough, it will eventually cover all the RAM. But because it works in Windows, it can fish out compatibility issues. That might be good to run. I think you can get it from PC World downloads. It's good as a RAM stress tester too just because it runs in Windows and will use up all your RAM. Testing stability in Windows environment.
Anyhow, the only RAM testers I've ever used are memtest, memtest86, memtest86+, and Micro2000. They seem to fish out all the problems well enough.
You might also run another test that is called JUST "memtest". It runs IN windows and is just a small program. It will grab up all the free memory in your system and start churning it around, which, as XP swaps RAM back and forth to swap, if you let it run long enough, it will eventually cover all the RAM. But because it works in Windows, it can fish out compatibility issues. That might be good to run. I think you can get it from PC World downloads. It's good as a RAM stress tester too just because it runs in Windows and will use up all your RAM. Testing stability in Windows environment.
Anyhow, the only RAM testers I've ever used are memtest, memtest86, memtest86+, and Micro2000. They seem to fish out all the problems well enough.
Tedster
Posts: 5,746 +14
what I mean is even the memtest programmers wrote that Athlon systems sometimes come up with false negatives (false bad memory) on tests 5 and 8. It is in either one of their readme files or on the website (I can't remember where.)
I've used the windows one, but you have to have multiple copies running with RAM over 512mb. I have 1.5 gigabytes and it really bogs down my system. So I stick with the DOS versions. (I also believe they're more accurate.)
I've used the windows one, but you have to have multiple copies running with RAM over 512mb. I have 1.5 gigabytes and it really bogs down my system. So I stick with the DOS versions. (I also believe they're more accurate.)
Vigilante
Posts: 1,634 +0
"bogs down my system"
Exactly the point.
I get what you say, I forgot about the 512mb limit. But I've found in certain rare cases that the DOS testers, because they are outside the OS and access the RAM directly and directly test it bit by bit; this can't flush out compatability problems. When program X is loaded into memory, taking up such a chunk of RAM as spans 2 sticks, and Windows flinging data here and there, compatability problems in Windows environment don't seem to show up in DOS.
But in, say, about 3 years I've seen it maybe twice. Where DOS testers pass every time, but run memtest in Windows, and it either throws errors, or locks up Windows. And RAM has been the problem.
Just a ramble.
Exactly the point.
I get what you say, I forgot about the 512mb limit. But I've found in certain rare cases that the DOS testers, because they are outside the OS and access the RAM directly and directly test it bit by bit; this can't flush out compatability problems. When program X is loaded into memory, taking up such a chunk of RAM as spans 2 sticks, and Windows flinging data here and there, compatability problems in Windows environment don't seem to show up in DOS.
But in, say, about 3 years I've seen it maybe twice. Where DOS testers pass every time, but run memtest in Windows, and it either throws errors, or locks up Windows. And RAM has been the problem.
Just a ramble.
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