Memory testing sw

**DimPrawn** · 5 August 2008, 09:45

Originally posted by TonyEnglish View Post

I'm having a few problems to say the least with my main PC. I've built a computer which seems to have suspect memory in it (although it might be something else) It would routinely reboot or give a blue screen right in the middle of things and give errors relating to various memory addresses.

Years ago I used a dos based memory tool (memtest - or something) to check the state of the RAM - is this still the best option or is there anything better to check more up to date memory?

I've built many PC's and seen this problem.

It usually relates (believe it or not) to the PSU. People bung in a £9.99 PSU rated to 100000000000W by someone in China. The output sucks and it causes the PC to become unstable.

Get a good brand PSU that cost at least £50 and try that. I bet the PC runs rock solid.

**BoredBloke** · 5 August 2008, 10:00

The power supply is a Corsair 550W VX550W ATX12V v2.2 Power Supply Unit

It also has a gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R board and Corsair® 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator DHX PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x1GB) Twin2X2048-8500C5D memory.

Perhaps 550w isn't enough? The pc has a 512Mb nvidia 7950 graphics card draining it and has 2*750gb SATA drives and a 300gb IDE drive in there as well as about 6 fans in the case.

Is there any easy way to check if there is a problem with the power supply?

**DimPrawn** · 5 August 2008, 10:10

Originally posted by TonyEnglish View Post

The power supply is a Corsair 550W VX550W ATX12V v2.2 Power Supply Unit

It also has a gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R board and Corsair® 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator DHX PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x1GB) Twin2X2048-8500C5D memory.

Perhaps 550w isn't enough? The pc has a 512Mb nvidia 7950 graphics card draining it and has 2*750gb SATA drives and a 300gb IDE drive in there as well as about 6 fans in the case.

Is there any easy way to check if there is a problem with the power supply?

I reckon a 550W PSU is cutting it fine with all that thirsty gear hanging off it. If you can, get hold of a good quality 800+W PSU and just give it a try. If it doesn't fix the issue, return it or keep it as a spare.

**lilelvis2000** · 5 August 2008, 10:22

There any many PSU calculators on the web. have a google.

Try this:

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

**DaveB** · 5 August 2008, 10:25

Have you checked the Bios on the motherboard? They usually have some built in checks you can run to check the memory. Otherwise swap out the memory sticks in turn and see if that cures the problem.

Does the box hang when idling or when you are doing stuff? Do the fans run hard before it hangs? If so then a low spec PSU could be the problem as DP said. Fan speeds are a good rule of thumb for power consumption. More power = more heat = faster fans speeds to cool it, which also draw more power.

**BoredBloke** · 5 August 2008, 11:00

Cheers folks I'll give it a go tonight. I'm going to unplug the 2 750gb drives and some of the multitude of fans in the case to reduce the power on the system to see if that makes it more stable.

I don't really want to go out and buy another power supply if I can help it.

However, one thing I have noticed with it is that my little USB hub does not recognise an external hard drive that I have, unless I plug the hard drive directly to the USB cable which normally connects the hub to the PC. It could be that the whole thing is just short of power.

Thanks for the tips

**BoredBloke** · 6 August 2008, 08:39

Looks like it was the memory. Tested with memtest and there were tons of failures. Took out one stick and tested and all went well. Tested with the second stick only and failures a plenty. Now to dig out the reciept from my crappy accountant so I can return it.

**Fred Bloggs** · 6 August 2008, 10:12

Hmmm, first failure I've heard of myself with Corsair memory. Pleased to say that I bought 4Gb of Crucial memory this week

**DaveB** · 6 August 2008, 10:14

Originally posted by TonyEnglish View Post

Looks like it was the memory. Tested with memtest and there were tons of failures. Took out one stick and tested and all went well. Tested with the second stick only and failures a plenty. Now to dig out the reciept from my crappy accountant so I can return it.

Did you test both sticks in the same slot, just to make sure it's not the MB?

Memory testing sw