Problem with G0 Q6600? Need help with MemTest error

[Kilzon]

Hey guys, I'm really hoping a few people can give me some insight into what's going on here. A few weeks ago, I had a stable OC on my G0 of 438x8 = 3.5Ghz stable 12 hrs MemTest, 13 Hrs Prime Small FFT, and 12 Hrs Prime Blend. vCore of 1.4250v. Max load temps were approx 65°C.

Anyway, the problem began when I started trying to bump up the Mhz of my Ballistix and I started getting errors in Prime and MemTest. Now, it doesn't matter what my FSB, CPU, RAM are set to, I am now getting intermittent errors in MemTest as shown in the pic below. The failing address is always 00000000000, and bad bits are always 00000000 and the good and err-bits are always the same. The error pops up right when the test changes to the next test (in this example, at the exact moment it changed from test 4 to test 5). It usually happens 1 or 2 times per pass, on either test 3,4,6,7 when it changes to 4,5,7,8.

I have RMA'd my ballistix 3 times now, and am currently using my old Corsair 5400C4PRO sticks with the exact same errors. I also went out and bought a new P5K-Deluxe (thinking my P5K-Premium may be causing it) but it does the exact same thing.

The only thing I have come up with is that my G0 Q6600 is crapping out (even though temps have NEVER gone above 70°C). Everything else has been replaced 3 times and I have tried every FSB/Voltage/Mhz combination known to man (even at stock 266FSB and DDR2-800) and I can't get rid of it. On top of that, Prime95 is starting to show errors as well, but much more intermittently (sometimes it will run 10 hours no errors, then it will error one core in 20 mins)

I would greatly appreciate any input, no matter how small!

http://www.americanlaser.net/images/MemTest.JPG

[Maxfly]

sheesh thats a lot of rmaing!generally when you cant pass memtest its strictly a memory error but after having had so many issues with so many different modules.im not sure what the problem could be.maybe it is in fact the cpu?seems a long shot but having replaced the memory and mb already several times im thinking its either your original assumption or maybe your psu?how do your rails look with a multimeter?

[ChaosMinionX]

Test 4 is pretty indicative of a latency error, try fixing your timings/subtimings.

And by looking at that, it appears to be a bug 0.0mb and a straight across 0000000000 is no indication to whats failing.... looks like a bug with your mobo and memtest.

[Kilzon]

I'll have to check the rails with a multi-meter tomorrow and see what it reads.

As far as timings go, right now I'm running the 8500 Ballistix @ 400Mhz 5-5-5-18 (subtimings on AUTO)... well below what they are rated for. I have tried ever different combination of memory speeds/timings on both my Ballistix and my older Corsair XMS2 675Mhz sticks (both of which ran with no errors previously)

This is really driving me completely mad. Today Prime95 errored out all 4 cores SmallFFT's with all BIOS settings on AUTO (2.4Ghz @ 1.2875v). Temps were 42°C loaded.

As far as the MemTest reading goes... When I really try to OC the RAM too much, I'll get the normal scrolling errors that show the correct failing addresses. The only time it shows the '000000000000' is when it does this strange thing right when it switches tests. It also did the same thing with the P5K-Dlx that I bought for troubleshooting purposes.

Thanks for the help guys! I'm probably going to look for a new G0 Q6600 locally tomorrow. Hopefully I can find one!

[ChaosMinionX]

Also make not Memtest wouldnt report an error with your CPU....its only ram.

[Kilzon]

Well, all I can say is that I've tried 2 Mobos (P5K Premium & P5K Deluxe), 3 different sets of Ballistix 8500 ram + 1 set of Corsair XMS2 675Mhz ram, and all combinations of both give me the errors.

Since I forgot my multimeter at work today, when i got home I slapped in my Antec PSU, same errors.

I'd say the errors could be an incompatibility between MemTest and one of my components, but for the first 3 weeks after I put this rig together, I never saw any errors like this, and I had probably 80+ hours of time in MemTest over those 3 weeks. The problem just started all of a sudden with no accompanying changes in hardware.

The only other items that it could possibly be are the video card, sound card, or the CPU. As unlikely as it sounds, my money is on the CPU. Unless I'm the most unlucky person in existance and I got multiple different sets of bad RAM and/or MOBOs...

[Maxfly]

good luck with the new proc.i think i would have taken a hammer to things by now lol.
im intrigued as to what you find out.that has to be one the strangest issues ive seen in a long time.

[Kilzon]

good luck with the new proc.i think i would have taken a hammer to things by now lol.
im intrigued as to what you find out.that has to be one the strangest issues ive seen in a long time.

Oh man you guys have no idea how frustrating this is. I've been building my rigs and OC'ing for probably 10 years now, and this whole issue is really driving me completely mad!

My wife thinks I've completely lost my mind.... LOL - "You're testing that thing AGAIN????"

[Kilzon]

So last night I decided to do another Prime95 run for the hell of it, and low and behold I just stopped it @ 25 hours SmallFFTs with 0 errors.

438x8 (3.5Ghz) 1.4250 vcore, ram @ 1051Mhz @ 5-5-5-15 2.2v (almost what they are rated for)

I'm going to run a blend now overnight and see what I get in the morning.

Does everyone agree that the SmallFFT 25 hour run would seem to rule out a problem with the CPU though huh? Seems like this rig has a mind of it's own. Even weirder, I haven't even opened the case back up since I last got errors and now it seems fine. :/ Haven't done a MemTest again yet.

[Kilzon]

Ok, I just completed a 25 Hour run of Prime95 Blend with absolutely 0 errors.

I then proceeded to load up memtest 1.70 and on the second pass, one of the same errors as in the pic above popped up.

26 Hours - Prime95 SmallFFT - PASSED
25 Hours - Prime95 Blend - PASSED
20 Minutes - MemTest ERROR

I need your opinions! I have not seen any other posts where there is any conflicts between MemTest and the P5K Premium (or Deluxe for that matter), and just 2 weeks ago using the same, exact, BIOS settings passed MemTest for 12 hours with no errors.

Should I consider my system stable.... trusting Prime95 with no errors, while at the same time ignoring these weird MemTest errors?

[ChaosMinionX]

prime95 for 25hrs....you cant beat that.

memtest is buggy because P35 isnt officially supported, so it could be reporting something as a false positive for an error.

[Kilzon]

prime95 for 25hrs....you cant beat that.

memtest is buggy because P35 isnt officially supported, so it could be reporting something as a false positive for an error.

Thanks for that vote of confidence there. I keep trying to convince myself to ignore MemTest, but it is still bothering me! I just tried another PSU, an Antec, but I got the same error on the 2nd pass.

My only other suspicion is the CPU, but geez I would certainly figure that if there was a problem with this Q6600 it would have errored out Prime95 especially in SmallFFTs. But it passed 26 hours in SmallFFTs and 25 in Blend... gah! lol

I may just ignore MemTest for now and just play some games and let it be for a week and see if it gives me any problems at all during regular use. At this point I really don't know what else to try... I'm pretty tired of RMA'ing and my wife is sick of me buying stuff :confused:

By the time I'm done I'll have enough hardware for a whole 'nother rig! :D

[Maxfly]

i think i would just call it good and move on.if its completely stable running orthos blend/small ffts.then i wouldnt sweat it.just chalk it up to memtest not being fully compatable with the p35 and get to ocing/gaming lol.

[Kilzon]

Well after weeks and who knows how many hours and RMA's (sorry NewEgg and Crucial!) I finally found out what the problem was.

A guy on the MemTest forums recommended that I disable Legacy USB Support in BIOS.

No more weird errors. PROBLEM SOLVED.

[ChaosMinionX]

Ohh yeah Legacy USB initializing causes errors in memtest :)

Forgot about that lol