Computer is suddenly very unstable.

[Deathstar1]

sorry, I did misread it, mmmmmm, dodgey stick somewhere then.

Run a diagnostic on the sticks one at a time would be my next suggestion.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

Memtest86+ will work fine on your system THEpiGUY. It has full support for Athlon 64 and Athlon Dual Core CPU's.

 

[THEpiGUY]

Dang, this just shows how much of a n00b I am. I downloaded Memtest86+ "Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)" and it opens under my disc burner: AVS Disc Creator. How are you supposed to get this to work? I also downloaded the binary one and I didn't know what to open it with.

I realize the AMD Athlon 64's are supported, but I also have Windows X64 edition (64-bit), as opposed to the normal Windows XP (32-bit). There are many driver conflicts, and a lot of the stuff I can do on Windows XP I can't do on Windows XP X64 edition. You sure it's compatible with both? And one final thing... Is Corsair's lifetime warranty voided when you overclock their RAM? I did set the timings different, have a minor overclock on it's speed, and set the voltage to 2.8 instead of 2.6. I really don't think 2.8 is enough to do any sort of damage to a DDR memory module.

I apologize for being such a n00b... I really appreciate all of your help and support.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

Memtest86+ runs off a floppy or bootable CD and works irregardless of the OS.

Here's how to create a CD using the ISO from their FAQ:

For Windows, unzip the package into a directory like C:\memtest. You will now see a file called memtest86+-1.xx.iso in this directory. You will need to burn this file to a CD with a CD recording program. Do note however that you should not make a regular data CD on which you for instance write your text documents and holiday photographs. Instead the iso file is a so called image of a CD, it is a direct copy of a CD. Your CD recording program will most likely have a feature called burn image or something to that effect which you should use to burn the CD.

 

[THEpiGUY]

Alright, I'll try that next chance I get. That could be a while though, considering I don't currently have any blank CDs and I have no floppy drive. I'll try to go out to Walmart sometime soon and get a few. Thanks again for your help.

 

[Jamxx]

This is a classic example of having one bad stick of RAM. There's probably only one little section that is bad, and when you store information in it, it screws up everything. That's why sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, because it's randomly choosing which places to put data in each time. Sometimes you get lucky and it doesn't put anything in that space for a while so nothing happens, and sometimes it does quickly and your computer doesn't like it.

 

[THEpiGUY]

Sorry to bump this up from the dead, but I couldn't find a 64-bit compatible Memtest & couldn't get the 32-bit one to work on my system. I'm just going to assume it's a bad stick now because it works fine with it out. Even if I could get Memtest to work, I don't think it would matter. What you all have said makes sense, it should be dead.

I looked at Corsair's warranty page, and didn't see anything about their warranty regarding overclocked RAM. Could someone please answer my question I had: Does Corsair's lifetime warranty cover RAM that's been overclocked? Sometimes, overclocking hardware can void warranties. Don't think that I haven't tried looking, because I've searched and found nothing. Anyone had any personal experiences or just know if the warranty is voided? Again, I appreciate all the help you guys have given me.

 

[Deathstar1]

I wouldn't worry about the ram being overclocked. I doubt they're going to be bothered testing apart from confirming it is faulty, besides there is now real way for them to tell if it has been overclocked unless the voltages have been that high that it caused burnt out components. I'd just RMA it.

EDIT:

Sorry to bump this up from the dead, but I couldn't find a 64-bit compatible Memtest & couldn't get the 32-bit one to work on my system.......

I couldn't find a link to the MemTest64 d/load either but there were some interesting posts on the OCZ site.

For those who said Memtest86 would work on his cpu, it is nothing to with the Windows 64 bit, it is the cpu architecture.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

Yea, I wouldn't worry about it being overclocked. There's no way for them to tell.

From the Memtest86+ History:

*** Enhancements in v1.65 : ***

* New Features
o Add support for Intel Conroe/Merom/Woodcrest
o Add support for Intel Yonah (0.65nm)
o Add support for Intel Presler (0.65nm)
o Add support for B-Step Smithfield

Enhancements in v1.60 :

* Added Detection for Pentium D
* Added Detection for Athlon & Opteron Dual Core
* Added Detection for 90 nm Athlon 64 / Sempron

Enhancements in v1.51 :

* Added support for Intel i955X (Glenwood)
* Added support for nVidia nForce4

Memtest86+ works just fine on my Abit AN8 SLI w/ Athlon 64 3000+.

 

[Jamxx]

Yep, I've used Memtest86 with my system before, no issues. Guys, I hate to be a pest, but floppy drives are still very, very useful!