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curious RAM problem

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First post, by ncmark

Posted on 2014-03-01, 16:43

ncmark Offline

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I am wondering if anyone has some input on this. I have an ASUS A7V600 that started randomly locking up. My initial suspect was the RAM,. It has two Kingston value ram 512 modules - they are the same part number but one has Mitsubishi chips and one has Nanya chips.

I figured one was going bad - so I pulled out first one and then the other. With either chip alone, it runs fine. I put them both in, it starts locking up again.

I could understand the chips not working together - but the system worked fine for a a good two years in this configuration. Why has this now become a problem? Has something on the motherboard gone bad? I tried changing the CAS latencies in the BIOS - setting it up to 3 the system would not work at all - 2 or 2.5 same problem.

I was thinking of ordering some new RAM from Crucial - at least they would be be matched - and see if that fixes the problem. I should add that I believe these were used when I got them (they were advertised as "pulls") so I really do not know how they were used in the past.

Reply 1 of 5, by Zup

Posted on 2014-03-01, 16:56

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Check capacitors first. Often, bad capacitors may produce the same results as bad RAM.

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Reply 2 of 5, by Gemini000

Posted on 2014-03-01, 17:39

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Yeah, this sound less like a RAM issue and more like a motherboard issue. It could be the slot you would use for your second RAM module might be failing. It could also be dust or hair related, so make sure the second slot you put RAM into is VERY clean when checking to see if there's any capacitors that don't look flat or shiny.

If it does turn out the slot is failing, you COULD try getting a single RAM stick with as much RAM as you need on it, but every motherboard has a per-slot limit, not just a total maximum limit, so that might not help you out. :/

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Reply 3 of 5, by ncmark

Posted on 2014-03-01, 17:52

ncmark Offline

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Thanks for the suggestions

Actually I thought of the slot issue and tried using different slots - it still doesn't work!
I am wondering if the modules have different CAS latencies - it doesn't say on the modules what that is

Reply 4 of 5, by ncmark

Posted on 2014-03-01, 18:03

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Well - I moved the one RAM chip to slot #2 and so far no problems - I don't think the slot is the problem

I am wondering if the chips have different CAS latencies. Perhaps one was being overclocked for a while and eventually got to the point where it could not keep up?

Reply 5 of 5, by ncmark

Posted on 2014-03-01, 18:36

ncmark Offline

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Well I have learned THIS much - the chips DO have different CAS latencies. If I put in the one with the Nanya chips it auto-selects CAS 2.0 - if I put in the one with the Mitsubishi chips it defaults to 2.5.

But shouldn't I be able to run both chips with the higher of the two settings?

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