Please help !! My System Has A Memory Error But It's Not The RAM's Fault !!

[cquirke (MVP Win9x)]

Look also for MemTest86+ at a different URL...

http://www.memtest.org/

AFAIK MemTest86 is open source, so anyone can delevop it further - and
the folks at memtest.org have done that, compared to memtest86.com

Also try www.simmtester.com

When using MemTest, try All tests (0-11) - press C, 2, 3, Enter.

I ran memtest86, and did what you say. Ran ALL the tests, standard and
extended, and memtest86 reported NO ERROR.

That suggests the processor seating and unseating the modules fixed
the problem. Dunno how confident I'd be on that, tho.

And when I went back to Windows, it acted strange again. Ran the
Norton Utility Diagnostic, and the memory error still appears.

Is Norton Utility Diagnostic running in Windows? I'd have little or
no confidence in that, if so.

It may be that other "untestable" hardware issues are making Windows
throw errors, etc. (or active malware, or course).

http://cquirke.mvps.org/9x/bthink.htm refers.

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The memes will inherit the Earth

 

[Will Dormann]

On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 19:27:21 -0400, Will Dormann




That's interesting; more on that, please? I never did figure out what
"registered" RAM was and why it may be worth the extra cost.

Look here:
http://www.crucial.com/kb/answer.asp?qid=3669

And here:
http://www.theddrzone.com/faq.php
(near the bottom)



-WD

 

[cquirke (MVP Win9x)]

cquirke (MVP Win9x) wrote:

http://www.crucial.com/kb/answer.asp?qid=3669

OK, that doesn't really suggest an advantage...

http://www.theddrzone.com/faq.php

....but this clarifies; looks like a scalability thing, if you are on
the edge and can't get "normal" RAM to run reliably in large
capacities, registered RAM may help stability.

So to build a PC with (say) 256M registered RAM would be utterly
pointless, but you might find recommendations to go registered for, I
dunno, 2G+ total capacities.

I wonder where that edge is, in 2004?

------------ ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

The most accurate diagnostic instrument
in medicine is the Retrospectoscope

 

[Tony Hill]

...but this clarifies; looks like a scalability thing, if you are on
the edge and can't get "normal" RAM to run reliably in large
capacities, registered RAM may help stability.

So to build a PC with (say) 256M registered RAM would be utterly
pointless, but you might find recommendations to go registered for, I
dunno, 2G+ total capacities.

I wonder where that edge is, in 2004?

The "edge" these days seems to be around 24 chips per memory bus (ie
dual-channel gets your twice as many), though sometimes you can load
it up to 32 chips. I've seen a few modern setups that will allow you
up to 48 chips on a single channel, though most tend to reduce your
performance if you load the bus up by that much. Unregistered memory
modules are available with anywhere from 4 to 16 chips on them.
Typical modules have either 8 chips all on one side or 8 on each side
of the module (16 total), though certainly other combinations do
exist.

These days you're mostly looking at 256Mbit or 512Mbit chips, though
1Gbit chips do exist for a bit of a price premium. Using 512Mbit
chips you can pull off 3GB on a dual-channel setup with unregistered
memory without too many difficulties, ie a pair of 1GB DIMMs and a
pair of 512MB DIMMs.

Generally speaking, registered memory is mostly used for servers while
unregistered memory is mostly used for desktops.

 

[Richard]

My problem may or may not be anything like yours...I have a PIII I'm
trying to upgrade with a powerleap 1.4 celeron, and add memory (three
sticks on an Intel SE440BX-2 mobo). I got all kinds of memory error
beeps and spent a month trying different combinations before figuring
out the system, being 5 years old, needed a new battery!