Tools for hardware troubleshoots (RAM)

Justin

Just boot an ISO with memtest on it, it's the best way to test, nothing else is then using the RAM while you're testing it and can get proper results.

robgriff444

Justin in 10-years and thousands of computers not one failed with a bootable DOS memory test disc that we paid for sorry can't remember the name and not one faulty computer that came back to us failed with the same software. My point is software tests don't find faults with memory.

Justin

robgriff444 They can though and are usually the first step I take, the only other option is swapping sticks in and out or swapping in known working memory.

robgriff444

Justin yes, when we had parts around us I would always try swapping memory in and out but at home with very little money that isn't a possibility now. and if a software checker found a fault with memory it would be easily replicable when using the computer because something would go wrong in a repeatable way and that is not the normal way memory fails, ie being stressed by a game or a heat change or something spiking due to static damage a year ago. When you deal with as many computers as I have you quickly realise that the complexity of failure of memory is way beyond what software can deal with.

laky

Ok if that is the answer to my question what about this, lets narrow it down. Since you are in a good knowledge with hardware components can you point me out the most known problems that could be caused by a faulty or failing Ram ?

robgriff444

laky Failing RAM normally causes random freezes, trouble is your mother board could do that and so could your graphics card although less likely so what it really comes down to is 1. what easiest to replace 2. what can you afford to replace and 3. what's the most likely culprit. So let's try the other way what fault have you got?

laky

robgriff444 Hm , the problems i've got mostly occure when i play on windows 10 thats why i got linux running, but linux also got problems sometimes far less then windows but still it happens. And i think it might actually be faulty Pcie cable that connects power to my gpu and i order a new cable it will come shortly , still wanted to be sure my ram is not a problem as i notice freezes are far less while playing on linux . 🙂

babybio Yes i also had problems with running 3000mhz since my mobo only supported 2933 . I had daily black screens on windows 10 , few times a day just doing random stuff . And any modern game i try to play there i get random freez and kinda laggy feeling to the game. (Really have no idea why solus is not running good for you, i am sorry to hear that, just hope mine dosen't start doing same since i cant imagine using other distros after this one)

babybio

Google's 'stress app test' runs on linux but isn't in the Solus repos.

I had seen good reports inc from Asus https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?73665-Our-preferred-memory-stress-test but my results were mixed.

My ram is 3200. Windows would run but I got freezes and crashes when browsing. Dropping to 2933 fixed that and ran windows without any problems. I ran stress app test on linux mint for an hour with no errors. In solus, however, I was back to getting problems but this time the whole system would hard lock.

I dropped down to 2666 but haven't used solus much since because of other problems with it.

robgriff444

Problems like this are very infrequently due to cables which typically work or don't but it's worth a try especially if it's cheap. I always found that Windows was more resource hungry than Linux so it will tax your system more but this could mean your system is heating up more and the motherboard doesn't like it so it doesn't point to the RAM, this is the problem with diagnosing PCs they don't make noises like cars so you can't tell where a fault is and any component that fails doesn't have the capacity to tell you that it failed let alone why it failed which is why people use things like oscilloscopes. I've often thought that there would be a market for a little device inside a PC whose responsibility was to monitor everything that the PC was doing and report on it's health but this would lead to less people buying replacement parts and big companies would lose money. My thinking on PCs at home is that if I have a fault that I can't diagnose I simply start to think of upgrading the parts that it could be so I benefit from any attempts at repair and don't really lose out of it fails to fix it.

laky

robgriff444 Whatever it is i hope i will get it fixed very soon. Really enjoy playing games on linux right now its much fun ! The thing is as long there are Windows there will be problems like this , that most people while just skip the troubleshoots and resarch and will go and buy new hardware or expensive software that will make the PC "faster,better, lagfree.etc" that's how they make money. Anyways thanks for the info and yea it might not be Pcie cable but i did notice that one of the power connector was a bit loose and wiggling might be reason for my problems.

robgriff444

laky Well, fingers crossed.

laky

robgriff444 Thanks very much btw, forgot to mention it ! 😃 You are great really