2

My computer randomly crashes when playing games, but if I remove one memory stick (it does not matter which one I remove), it does not crash anymore.

Memory tests do not find errors, I just put in a new power supply (650W), I only have 1 graphics card, so why is this happening?

BTW, they are the same memory, same vendor same specs, everything I bought it together (2x2GB)

My motherboard is a Asus P5Q Pro, so it supports both dual channel and more than 4gb.

Switching slots does nothing, as long as I don't use more than 1 I'm fine.

2
  • What memory tests did you run, and for how long? Last time I had ram problems (I had a stick go intermittent) I had to run memtest86 for quite a while for it to show (it needed to warm up). Feb 12, 2010 at 14:39
  • What about @Jeff answer? It seems pretty plausible. Just curious if you could fix this! :P
    – cregox
    Mar 3, 2010 at 17:53

7 Answers 7

4

Try bumping up the RAM voltage in the BIOS. I had a similar problem once, and that fixed it.

It turns out that, by default, my mobo didnt pump enough voltage to the DDR slots, so when I went from 2 to 4 sticks, it became really unstable. I'd say I had a 30% chance of a successful boot, and then I could run for maybe 5 minutes without a BSOD.

0

You motherboard may not support 4gb of memory, my friends computer would see and utilize the 4gb memory but the sound device would no longer be listed in the device manager and system stability would suffer. All memory tests passed with no fault in that scenario as well.

Can you tell us what model of motherboard you have? it would help rule out some possibilities.

Thanks

Edit:

Some boards only support 4gb of memory when each memory module only has chips on one side. If you are using two double sided memory modules that could be the issue as well. Several newer asus motherboards have that fault.

3
  • I am using an asus motherboard, that might be it? It is an Asus P5Q Pro
    – hi
    Jan 7, 2010 at 4:13
  • unfortunately I looked up the manual found here: manualnguide.com/download/manual-guide/… It has compatibility for up to 16gb of memory which includes 2 double sided 2gb sticks. There is a complete compatibility guide in the manual for reference. Sorry
    – Kythos
    Jan 7, 2010 at 6:01
  • you should run a full memory test using memtest86+ which is found here: memtest.org/#downiso The only other thing I can think of is that when it is running in dual channel mode the timings or voltages are off. It's a bit of thick reading but a memory setting guide can be found here: forums.tweaktown.com/f69/…
    – Kythos
    Jan 7, 2010 at 6:05
0

4Gb ram. memory tests are OKAY.

Since you're running a 64bit OS, it's probably a buggy device driver.

If they ported the code form a 32 bit driver and left some 32bit assumptions in, then it will crash, particularly when playing games which are graphics ,sound and i/o intensive.

Look for newer drivers for your devices. Try getting only MS drivers. Try substituting other drivers one by one. Sound would be my first guess. then video then network ? then keyboard, other usb things etc.

0

The only thing I would try is swapping the memory sticks around just to make sure, however, you seem to have done pretty much everything I would have done.

The only other things are it could be a faulty motherboard (or other component) or if it is just one game, it is possible that there is a bug with it.

2
  • its not just one game, its almost every game
    – hi
    Jan 7, 2010 at 1:22
  • and if I remove one memory, my games don't crash anymore, so I don't think it is anything else
    – hi
    Jan 7, 2010 at 1:23
0

This happened to me as well (only works with one RAM installed), but resolved now. I brought my whole system to the PC vendor who sold me the RAM modules and mainboard and let them check it out. They seem to have a lot of similar experiences and know how to deal with it, so they immediately tried to install another pair of RAMs. It worked! And they let me go with the new RAMs.

So what I learned is that not all RAMs work with every mainboard. RAMs can be picky. So in short, ask your PC retailer if they can give you another pair that works with your mainboard.

-1

Here are some things I can think of is if you bought Dual Channel RAM with a motherboard that doesn't support dual channel. Every kit of multiple ram sticks I have seen have been dual channel kits however I can't guarantee this as I don't believe there are any hardware differences in the RAM itself, but in the motherboard.

On another note, how many slots do you have for RAM? If you have more than two (most modern computers do) I'd try putting at least one of them in a different slot. My motherboard can be picky about those things where if I don't put things in the right slots it doesn't like it. While this is probably a sign of a defect I don't have problems otherwise. Other than that I'm stumped.

3
  • I have 4 slots, I have tried all combinations, if I have both in, then it crashes, if I do not, it does not crash.
    – hi
    Jan 7, 2010 at 4:16
  • -1: Only because there's no such thing as "Dual Channel"-specific RAM. When you buy a kit of 2, it's purely convenience. You can use a "kit" in a single channel RAM motherboard, just as if you bought two individual sticks. Jan 7, 2010 at 6:32
  • @techie007: As I stated, everything I've seen has been labeled as dual channel, but I don't believe there are any hardware differences in the RAM itself.
    – indyK1ng
    Jan 7, 2010 at 23:03
-1

running win xp? 4gb is max ... may not be handling it well.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778(VS.85).aspx

it looks like you have tried everything else i would think of.

motherboard just may not be able to handle it. not sure.

1
  • I'm running windows 7 64 bit
    – hi
    Jan 7, 2010 at 4:08

You must log in to answer this question.