Faulty RAM?

Hello, about a week ago i posted a message about that i had problems with certain games. I bought 8gb's of G.Skill DDR3-1333 RAM with my PC. 1 of the 2 RAM bars (2x 4gb) was broken and i send it back this morning. So now im running with only 4gb's. My specs are: AMD FX-8120 cpu Asus GTX 560 gpu Corsair GS600 powersupply and a Asus M5A97 Pro motherboard.

The big problems started yestherday when i was playing starcraft 2, after every few rouns i got a message saying there are corrupt files in the starcraft 2 installation, and the game would instantly go from 100+ fps to 2fps. then when i quit the game i get a repair window for the game that repairs the installation files, after doing that it worked again correctly, but after a few rounds same thing happend and this happend all day about 4-5 times. Then lateron i was starting-up Steam and while starting i got a BSOD saying something about MEMORY_MANAGEMENT . After restarting my Google Chrome would crash at startup. I tried calling my friend on skype and skype would crash every 1-2 minutes. BTW i was on 64bit windows. So i put in my installation usb stick for windows 7 and wiped the whole C: drive and reinstalled windows 7 in 32bit. Everything worked correctly and i installed my drivers from the motherboard disc and graphics card disk. It restarted my pc after and after logging into windows explorer.exe crashed instantly and i couldnt start it anymore neither trough task manager, it would just crash instantly. I turned off my pc and it installed a bunch of windows 7 updates. Now i started it again and i tried playing Diablo 3 and sometimes it stutters realy bad and then i restart it and it works normaly again. I also just did a Memtest86 and it gave me 0 errors wich i think is very strange because if its not my RAM then what else could it be. I realy hope somebody can help me out since i have had this pc for exactly a week now and i keep having problems with it. And its a custom build so i put everything together myself, i already tried different ram slots but that doesnt work neither.

asked Jul 15 '12 at 09:27

Klaas Kool
56●8●8●11

8 Answers:

oldest newest most voted

Here's a thought. STOP playing the games until you have the replacement memory and can reinstall W7 64. Look up Einstein's definition of insanity!

If there are still problems when your computer is operating properly then do the obvious things first. Run a full virus scan. Run a disk check. Reinstall the games to eliminate any corrupt files and don't use saved games from the problem period! If it's still not right then, and only then do you need to start getting into diagnostics for your graphics card, memory, and cpu.

Above all .... DON'T PANIC

answered Jul 15 '12 at 11:40

dunfiddlin
1.2k●4●18

Why do i need to wait for the my ram replacement? what will that change, and why do i NEED the 64 bit version right now? i only have 4gb's atm. And i reinstalled Windows 7 yestherday to 32bit and yes yes yes yes yes i know it doesnt support 3-4+ gb's but im using it FOR NOW. and after the install explorer.exe wouldnt even start it would just crash right on the second. and im not paniking, im frustrated that a brand new build has this many problems while i installed everyting correctly.

(Jul 15 '12 at 16:55) Klaas Kool

Because the alternative is to keep running a system that you're not going to be using long term which crashes! Like I said, look up Einstein's definition of insanity!!!!!!!

(Jul 15 '12 at 19:00) dunfiddlin

Is 32bit Windows 7 the only version of Windows you have?

Then there is no point in installing 8GB of ram, when 32Bit only supports upto 3.2gb of ram...

Anyways, it COULD be the ram, but have to tried running the game in medium settings instead to see if that helps?

Have they sent you an replacement stick of ram yet?

answered Jul 15 '12 at 09:36

Lee Wood
2.4k●28●39●69

Like i said i had 64bit installed but i installed 32 bit now because i CURRENTLY only have 4gb of ram until i get my replacement in the mail, then il reinstall to 64bit. And i thought that too the first time so i've been playing on medium/low and i still get the corrupted files after every few rounds.

answered Jul 15 '12 at 09:42

Klaas Kool
56●8●8●11

MAke sure its in the right slot, reinstall 64 bit window, no one in their right mind uses 32bit anymore

answered Jul 15 '12 at 09:45

pjob797
2.6k●38●49●82

it is in the right slot i looked in the motherboard manual. And i know i should use 64bit but i was trying to see if it fixes anything. I will reinstall it as soon as i have my ram replacement.

But my question still is, is this ram also broken? or is it something else?

(Jul 15 '12 at 09:49) Klaas Kool

how were the dimms broken? and did you try going into Asus's uefi BIOS, and see if the ram showed up in there, if its a bad dimm, and you look at it in the advanced options it will show up as abnormal or empty, if not it tells you the specs of the ram.

(Jul 15 '12 at 09:57) pjob797

Im pretty sure it shows the normal stats of the ram. It also shows the ammount in taskmanager.

(Jul 15 '12 at 09:58) Klaas Kool

what I mean is the other dimm, did you try that in the bios before you returned it?

(Jul 15 '12 at 10:06) pjob797

Well when i put in the other ram bar in the correct slot and i start my pc my monitor would say there was no signal. I even tried different slots and that didnt work so i called the store and i told them my issue. They said the ram was defect and it had to send it back. So i couldnt even see in bios because i would have a screen.

(Jul 15 '12 at 10:09) Klaas Kool

so it never got back post, could be the ram or the mother board, wait until you get the replacement, I bought 16 gb of ram, 4x4gb only 3 work, never returned it, don't ask me why, and I put all of it in 2 sticks came up as abnormal, the rest showed up just fine, switched them around a few times 3 of them work now.

(Jul 15 '12 at 10:15) pjob797

oh well i said " Well when i put in the other ram bar in the correct slot and i start my pc my monitor would say there was no signal. I even tried different slots and that didnt work so i called the store and i told them my issue. They said the ram was defect and it had to send it back. So i couldnt even see in bios because i would have a screen. "

Btw il call the store tommorow and have them figure it out.

(Jul 15 '12 at 10:19) Klaas Kool

showing 5 of 7 show all

I just tried playing battlefield 3 and i jumped off a huge cliff into a very big city/town and it crashed with the following error: http://i.imgur.com/Wl9iH.jpg

I dont know why im having all these problems, everything is correctly placed into the motherboard slots. All drivers are installed and up to date.

answered Jul 15 '12 at 09:53

Klaas Kool
56●8●8●11

PS it also stutters when i turn around in the game, its very strange.

(Jul 15 '12 at 09:54) Klaas Kool

games only render what you can see for a certain distance when the maps are fairly large, and since it does that it writes the maps to the ram to be accessed quicker and if the game has any real physics properties, you fell pretty quickly and was looking around at unrendered map.

(Jul 15 '12 at 09:59) pjob797

Yeah i know but its still weird it crashes like this because im jumping down a spot where i have to jump down :/

(Jul 15 '12 at 10:04) Klaas Kool

Now that you've had corrupted files it's time to suspect your HDD. If it were anything else it would have to corrupt the file and write it back. If you didn't defragment or do a lot of updating right before that's where it's pointing.

(Jul 15 '12 at 10:44) ClosetFuturist

Some people say its my ram, others say its my hdd and some people say its my motherboard, im realy confused right now...

(Jul 15 '12 at 11:15) Klaas Kool

Builds can be a pain sometimes. You just have to look at the symptoms and work it out.

(Jul 15 '12 at 11:34) ClosetFuturist

showing 5 of 6 show all

0	BTW here is a screenshot of my ram in CPU-Z http://i.imgur.com/C1yUR.png answered Jul 15 '12 at 10:03 Klaas Kool 56●8●8●11 please use comment system and/or updating your question as not to spam this with new "answers" (Jul 15 '12 at 10:04) pjob797

I see 2 things here even if your processor is 64 bit if you install 32bit windows you wont be able to run with 8gb of ram on a 32bit system that can only handle and address 3 gb ..

the error messages reminds me of other issues one of them is that the ram you left in there is also going bad and you need to do a scan disk your hard drive had one or more bad sectors, this would cause bad file notices and BSOD ..

if your drive is SSD not gonna cut it not on a computer you want to run power and gameds you will need HDD, SSD id fast but fast is not best in my ways it corrupts and looses data a lot and is knows when in a situation of write delete and rewrite ..

I know many will swear that 32bit can use more ram but it dont windows 32 bit will never ever put more then 2gb to use the other programs will use up to 3 gb if its there , I know many will scream it can use 4gb though its just not so it will read if you put 4 in the but will top out at 2gb all the same ..

64bit window on its own is the same though it can address much more memory for programs to be used within there is no one program that will use it all :)

answered Jul 15 '12 at 15:14

jadtechnic
2.0k●5●18

edited Jul 15 '12 at 15:23

Hello, i know that 32bit cant run more than 3gb of ram, the reason i have 32bit right now i because i had 64 bit yestherday and it went corrupt and i had to reinstall windows, i wanted to do 32bit FOR NOW because currently i only have 4gb's of ram, and then i would just reinstall windows again when i have the other 4gb's back. But i just tried playing Starcraft 2 from my External-HDD and it went corrupt the second i got ingame. Im a 100% out of ideas, my friend says it might be the powersupply wich is a 600w one. But i think thats enough for the setup i run, i only have 1 fan in the back, my cpu, motherboard, graphics card (GTX 560), HDD, Disc drive, 1 ram bar and thats it. I dont have any big light bars in there or a second graphics card or dozens of fans. I only have the basic stuff. im out of ideas, i dont know what is causing it and i dont know why. this is my first build and i just wanna play games with my friends in my summer vacation. Right now my skype crashed 2 times while typing this message. Some people say my ram bar is broken (gave no errors in memtest86 ), others say its my HDD (i just tried playing starcraft 2 off of my external hdd and still corrupted the second i joined the game) others say its my motherboard wich i dont think it is at all. And now my friend says it might be the powersupply.

(Jul 15 '12 at 16:52) Klaas Kool

sounds like you have bad ram most or a bad plug try pulling and resetting the ram..

one fan is going to be a problem you can open the tower and use a large fan blowing on it to help move air ..

the problems you are having sound a lot like a bad HD and ram not power supply , and most likly not heat that would cause windows to just shut down poof black power off down not blue screen :)

(Jul 15 '12 at 18:37) jadtechnic

Hello jadtechnic, what exactly do you mean by a bad plug :)? And i did a memtest86 run and it said there was nothing wrong with the ram, it showed no errors and everything went smoothly. I also did a hard drive test and for what i've seen it didnt show any errors neither, it did say something about 2 " EA Records ". But after the test i restarted the computer and after logging into windows nomatter what program i clicked it gave me an error about ntdll.dll or something like that, and another one wich i cant remember right now. I couldnt even click the shutdown button in the start menu because it would say logoff.exe couldnt be start due to ntdll.dll

Im calling the store i bought the parts from in a minute and if they are gonna be difficult im gonna go to my local computer store neirby, they are very nice people and love to help me out. If they say its the HDD (wich i probably think it is) then im buying a new one and returning this one and get my money back.

(Jul 16 '12 at 04:16) Klaas Kool

I just called the store and they said it does sound like a defect hdd, they are telling me to disassemble the whole computer and send back every part, well im not gonna do that because 1st of all i dont know how to disassemble it and 2nd its gonna take ages to get it back.. so im gonna go to the computer store nearby and have them they a look at it, if they also think its the hdd then im buying a new hdd and see if that works, if it still has the problem then il bring it to them and have them fix it.

(Jul 16 '12 at 05:42) Klaas Kool

yup the HDD its self dont have to be bad it can be as simple as a loose cable (bad) plug socket cable call them anything you like ..

the thing that jumps out and makes me think its a bad drive or ram is no problem until you run a program then you get the errors and crashes , the other thing is that its not repeating the same problem every time it inconsistent ...

to be honest there is no way removing 4gb of ram should cause this problem and most would question if it was running well before that time ..

answered Jul 16 '12 at 06:55

jadtechnic
2.0k●5●18

edited Jul 16 '12 at 07:07

well when i got all the hardware i build the pc and put both the ram stick in the correct slots, it couldnt find my monitor so for some weird reason i decided to take 1 ram out and it worked.

and I just brought my computer to the store nearby and they also said its probably the HDD i asked him if i could buy one there but he said it was better if he would take a full look at it first instead of having me waste money if the hdd is not the problem.

He said he will take a look at it wednesday/friday becuase he is very busy.

Also the online store i bought the computer from called that i need to send my other ram stick too. I only send them the damaged one but since they were in a pack of 2 they want the other one too, so currently they have me very pissed off. The computer is at the store so i will have to wait till saturday/monday till i get it back, the hdd is probably broken so then i need to send the hdd and ram stick back to the online store, then have them check it out wich will also take 3-4 days, then send me everything back and hope it will work -.-

I was realy looking forward to a summer vacation on my new gaming pc but i guess it isnt supposed to be that way :(

(Jul 16 '12 at 10:53) Klaas Kool

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