Tweet
I've been troubleshooting an unstable system, and some suggestions over at the MSI forum led me to some testing that points to a bad RAM stick. I'm looking to find out if I can RMA the one bad stick (of 4). Here are the details:
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 (BIOS Version E7752IMS V2.4
CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K Sandy Bridge
PSU: CORSAIR HX850 850W
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Model F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL (individual RAM sticks are reported as F3-12800CL9-4GBXL)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
(let me know if other details are needed)
The problem: general system instability - program crashes, system lock-ups, and BSODs. The folks on the MSI forum helped me get the BIOS settings set up for this RAM, and I continued to have the same issues.
Another suggestion was to use a single RAM stick at a time, in DIMM1, and retest for stability. Where I was normally able to experience instability very easily running 3DMark11, I could run just fine with 3 of the 4 RAM sticks inserted into DIMM 1 independently. The 4th stick had the same issues I was experiencing with all 4 RAM sticks inserted.
I now have the 3 good sticks in the first 3 RAM sockets, and all is well.
So, I've come to the conclusion that I have one bad RAM stick. What can I do about this? Btw, I originally built this system with a different motherboard a few months ago, and was experiencing random BSODs, and thought I'd try my luck with the MSI motherboard. Same issues. Anyway, I bought this RAM few months ago. Can I still RMA?
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 (BIOS Version E7752IMS V2.4
CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K Sandy Bridge
PSU: CORSAIR HX850 850W
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Model F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL (individual RAM sticks are reported as F3-12800CL9-4GBXL)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
(let me know if other details are needed)
The problem: general system instability - program crashes, system lock-ups, and BSODs. The folks on the MSI forum helped me get the BIOS settings set up for this RAM, and I continued to have the same issues.
Another suggestion was to use a single RAM stick at a time, in DIMM1, and retest for stability. Where I was normally able to experience instability very easily running 3DMark11, I could run just fine with 3 of the 4 RAM sticks inserted into DIMM 1 independently. The 4th stick had the same issues I was experiencing with all 4 RAM sticks inserted.
I now have the 3 good sticks in the first 3 RAM sockets, and all is well.
So, I've come to the conclusion that I have one bad RAM stick. What can I do about this? Btw, I originally built this system with a different motherboard a few months ago, and was experiencing random BSODs, and thought I'd try my luck with the MSI motherboard. Same issues. Anyway, I bought this RAM few months ago. Can I still RMA?
Comment