Memory failure, now what?

[navyjay]

Hi,

I bought the following Mushkin 2x512MB RAM (2.5-3-3) along with the system in my sig:

http://www.newegg.com/app/view...=20-146-299&depa=0

Unfortunately, my system when built had some crashing issues when running Call of Duty and other graphics intensive DirectX games. I could play for about 10 to 60 minutes, but then I would get the following error:

"VPU Recover has reset your graphics accelerator as it was no longer responding to graphics driver commands"

After running Memtest86, I quickly discovered that one of my two sticks has a bad sector in it. It pops up with about 1 error per minute, whereas my other stick ran for 7 hours overnight without any issues. Removing the bad stick I haven't had any more crashing issues and was able to pay for 2+ hours.

So, assuming this IS my problem, I have a dilemma. I'm wondering if I should exchange the higher latency, but larger RAM I bought for the same product from Newegg OR if I should try to exchange the pack for the following single low-latency stick of RAM (Corsair PC3200 2-2-2-5):

http://www.newegg.com/app/view...=20-146-299&depa=0

What are some pros/cons for trading more memory for memory speed? With a 2800+, I'm not sure how fast I could overclock anyways. Any opinions? Are there any better sticks I could exchange them for around the $138 I paid?

Thanks,

Jason

__________________
MOBO: DFI LanParty UT nF3 250Gb
BIOS: Pheonix AwardBIOS v6.00PG
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 2800+ w/ stock fan
MEM: Mushkin 1GB (2x512MB) DDR400 (PC3200) CL:2.5 DDRAM
VID: Powercolor Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB
HD: Seagate 200GB 7200RPM IDE (ST3200822A)
PSU: JustPC GA808ATXBLK case w/ 450W PSU (stock w/ case)

 

[ts3433]

Just exchange the bad stick for the same thing. Low latency doesn't benefit your performance in any noticeable manner, and running dividers is fine for when you overclock.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Have you tried loosening the timings? Also, at what voltage are the running the RAM? Granted, the Mushkin should run at the listed timings at the default voltage (2.5v), but you might be able to get it to run without errors with different timings or a slight voltage bump.

 

[navyjay]

Both sticks were running with Auto enabled in the bios. I wasn't overclocking at all. Simply just trying to get my system stable. The fact that one stick is extremely error prone and the other has no problems tells me that this isn't a voltage or timing issue.

 

[navyjay]

Since this is the next logical step once I get stable RAM, what are some expected OC rates I could get with this RAM and an Althlon 64 2800+?