Ram Issues

[Shelby]

So I have my Hackintosh up and running and decided to start the testing Notshy recommends.

As soon as I started Memtest86+ I got some errors. I didn't let it finish but instead turned off the computer and tested each stick by itself following this guide:

http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38201

I ran 7 passes on each stick in each slot individually, and they didn't pull any errors by themselves.

After this I reinstalled them in slots DDR3_1 and DDR3_3, immediately received errors again.

Next I tried disabling XMP, no luck still errors.

After this I tried turning "Performance Enhance" to "Turbo" no luck still.

Finally I tried installing the sticks in DDR3_2 and DDR3_4 which resulted in a continuous beep until I turned off the computer.

My BIOS is set according to Lnx2mac's blog here:

http://lnx2mac.blogspot.com/2010/07/opt ... ation.html

I originally installed OSX using the BIOS specs provided here:

http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/04/ ... -x-on.html

and then followed Lnx2mac's BIOS Settings after I got SL installed(Which resulted in an increase by 150 in my Geekbench score).

I just checked the compatibility of the ram for my motherboard on Gigabyte but it's not listed however this ram is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231193

This is the ram I'm running:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231321

Could this be the issue or do you think I'm facing a bad memory controller?

What are my next steps?

I don't seem to be facing any booting issues but my system is brand new...

 

[Lnx2Mac]

My BIOS is set according to Lnx2mac's blog here:

http://lnx2mac.blogspot.com/2010/07/opt ... ation.html

I hope you did read the note about VRAM voltage...
For anything except G.Skill Eco, you should leave that at Auto...
Otherwise, you are undervolting your RAM

 

[Shelby]

I am running G Skill Eco's

When I set that particular setting to "1.3 Volts" the machine starts acting very funny(starting with a continuous beep, not booting properly etc...) so I left it on Auto. I figured that they had probably fixed the error in the latest BIOS version or like you said it should be okay to run it at higher voltage.

Should I RMA my ram hoping that new sticks will fix it or look for an error in a different way?

By the way I'm a complete Noob and this is my first build so it's probably something on my end.

 

[Lnx2Mac]

I am running G Skill Eco's

When I set that particular setting to "1.3 Volts" the machine starts acting very funny(starting with a continuous beep, not booting properly etc...) so I left it on Auto. I figured that they had probably fixed the error in the latest BIOS version or like you said it should be okay to run it at higher voltage.

Could be it's been fixed. And you can definitely run these at higher voltages.

Should I RMA my ram hoping that new sticks will fix it or look for an error in a different way?

By the way I'm a complete Noob and this is my first build so it's probably something on my end.

Check how these behave at "Auto"...
If you still have problems, you might want to RMA them.

Good Luck !
Lnx2Mac

 

[Shelby]

Check how these behave at "Auto"...
If you still have problems, you might want to RMA them.

They've been set at auto but still get errors on the Memtest. I find it weird that they'll work individually passing Memtest but not together.

Is this a common thing?

 

[Lnx2Mac]

Check how these behave at "Auto"...
If you still have problems, you might want to RMA them.

They've been set at auto but still get errors on the Memtest. I find it weird that they'll work individually passing Memtest but not together.

Is this a common thing?

Are you sure all are same model ?
Usually, the sticks are sold "paired" meaning they've been tested to work together (and are probably from the same production batch).
So you might have better luck mixing/matching them...

But, in any case, I wouldn't settle for anything over 0% errors...
So consider RMAing them.

 

[Shelby]

They are in matched pairs as the serial numbers are right after each other, sorry for asking dumb questions just want to get this right and learn what's going on.

Thanks am RMAing now!

Shelby

 

[shinew]

I am running G Skill Eco's

When I set that particular setting to "1.3 Volts" the machine starts acting very funny(starting with a continuous beep, not booting properly etc...) so I left it on Auto. I figured that they had probably fixed the error in the latest BIOS version or like you said it should be okay to run it at higher voltage.

I would try the following settings before RMA them.
1) use the white memory slots(1,3), but i think you already do.
2) I wouldn't undervolt the RAM to 1.3. Just because it worked for Lnx2Mac doesn't mean it'll work for you. 1.35v is what G.Skill specified for the ECO Series and that's what you should manually set it to, as well as the CAS Latency(it's 9-9-9-24-2N isn't it?). If the MB doesn't have 1.35, then 1.4v. Only after it has passed memtest in those settings, then you can try to lower the voltage should you choose to.

In general it's best to be specific and not to leave majority of the settings in the memory/CPU section of the BIOS to Auto for an optimized system, especially for voltages.

 

[Shelby]

@shinew

Thanks for your input,

1) Yes they're in the white memory slots.
2) Just tried your suggestions but still got immediate fails in memory test. The only thing I changed were the timings to what the ram specified.

My settings are:

XMP - Profile1
System Memory Multiplier - Auto
(Memory Frequency) 1600mhz
Performance Enhance - Standard
Dram Timing - Quick
(Profile DDR Voltage - 1.35v)
(Profile QPI Voltage - 1.1v)
Channel interleaving - 6 - Auto
Rank Interleaving - 4 - Auto

Channel A Standard Timing Control:
CAS Latency Time - 7
tRCD - 8
tRP - 7
tRAS - 24

Channel A Advanced Timing Control:
tRC - 40 - Auto
tRRD - 5 - Auto
tWTR - 6 - Auto
tWR - 12 - Auto
tWTP - 23 - Auto
tWL - 7 - Auto
tRFC - 88 - Auto
tRTP - 6 - Auto
tFAW - 50 - Auto
Command Rate(CMD) - 2 - Auto

Channel A Misc Timing Control:
B@B CAS Delay - "-" - Auto
Round Trip Latency - 38 - Auto

Channel B Timings are the same except for
Round Trip Latency - 39 - Auto

Any other thoughts?

 

[shinew]

few more alternatives:
1) when you run memtest one stick at a time, did you always put in the same slot, say #1? if so, try the other slot(#3).

2) find another DDR3 compatible machine and run memtest on that using your RAM.

3) find 2x DDR3 memory to test on your MB

If 1) fails, most likely it's motherboard issue. It could be a bad slot or cap on the MB regulating voltage that failed.
If 2) or 3) fails, bad memory, RMA them.
If you can't test 2) & 3) , I would RMA both the RAM and motherboard since you will be RMAing them anyway. It'll be the best if you just wait till the new memory/board comes before returning the old one to find out whether it's the MB issue or not.