Memory Testing

[raptor1]

For Saaya / Lardarse

can we have a definitive answer /sticky on testing memory with memtest+ 2.01

i have been testing my memory with memtest and started getting errors straight away

i kept reducing my dram voltage until i was able to run test #8 5 times in a row without errors

is there a certain test number from 1 to 10 that needs to be run for a definite result or do the whole ten tests need to be run

how many runs or how many hours are need to be done before it is safe to say that the memory is stable

Best Regards
Raptor1

[saaya]

First of all:

http://www.memtest86.com/tech.html

Please be aware that not all errors reported by Memtest86 are due to bad memory. The test implicitly tests the CPU, L1 and L2 caches as well as the motherboard. It is impossible for the test to determine what causes the failure to occur. However, most failures will be due to a problem with memory module.

basically it boilds down to this: you could spend years trying to make sure the memory is absolutely stable, and even after those years of testing, there might be a scenario that causes one particular cell of memory to fail that you didnt test/detect yet. :D

so there is no 100% stable... there never is... there never has been
you can, however, approach the 100% pretty well without spending too much time.

memtest alone doesnt show the whole picture... prime95 and 3d tests stress the chipset and memory in a different way.
the easiest way to find the max stable memory speed is to use memtest and run test5 for an hour, then reduce the memory clocks by 50mhz and you should be rockstable in any situation for sure.

or, much easier, just stress the memory by playing games and see at what speeds its still stable. then back down 25mhz and you should be fine...

lets say folding at home or prime 95 show your memory isnt stable, yet playing games and anyhting else you do on your pc is stable... then do you actually care? will you reduce your memory overclock just cause some tool/app you dont even use isnt stable? its all a philosphical question to some degree... i personally preferred to sacrifice some stability to have the max possible performance, others on the contrary want the max stability and dont care about 2% perf lost... :D