rootsrat Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Hi guys. I need to test my RAM. I haven't done this for a loooong time... I used to use program called MemTest86. Is still a good tool to use, or can you recommend something new/better/modern? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamImm Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Yes, that is still the defacto tool. Well, more specifically, Memtest86+. This can be found on any number of boot disks - my current personal favorite being Hiren's Boot CD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rootsrat Posted November 14, 2013 Author Share Posted November 14, 2013 Nice one, thanks Will. I'll check it out when I'm back home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearox Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 I've used the classic https://www.memtest86.com/ recently to great success. The program is still kept up-to-date. Simple but effective. Can just put on a usb stick without external boot cd program. Also, this anandtech sticky might be infromative: https://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2195063 And in particular this post: https://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=35417592&postcount=180 I personally didn't use HCI though, used memtest86 for 24 hours and never looked back. My ram is not OC'd though. If you want to be on the 100% sure side then it's probably best to run both :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontyMM Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Most linux live CDs will have it - Ubuntu for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechAngel85 Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Either the original Memtest86 or Memtest86+ will work. Both now support 64bit architectures. I think they're pretty much equals; unless I'm mistaken. Both are still currently being maintained and updated as well. I recant that statement... After reading the changelogs. Memtest86+ appears to be superior and the original seems to "borrow" things from Memtest86+. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rootsrat Posted November 14, 2013 Author Share Posted November 14, 2013 Thanks all for your advice! I'll run MemTest86 or + tonight, see what happens... I really hope my RAM is not knackered, as I only bought it about 6 months ago or so :/ Unfortunately my other half who can be... oblivious to some things sometimes shall we say, did some ironing in a small room where my PC was sat at the time, after we moved in to our new house. She ironed thick curtains. I walked into the room and... was blinded by the amount of STEAM that was in there! It was thick as fog! I nearly cried, I grabbed my PC and took it out of there but I have suspicion that some components may have been damaged by humidity and the steam :( My keyboard didn't work for about 2 days, it was that bad. I didn't use my PC for a few days, so it could dry out, but after re-installing the OS recently, I am now getting BSOD every time I switch the PC on. It's weird, as it's only first time when it starts. Windows loads up, I enter my password and then in about 5-10 minutes BSOD will happen. After the PC restarts itself, it's working fine. Until I switch it off. I turn Sleep Mode now instead of switching it off, but I was also getting BSOD recently when playing Path of Exile (and only with that game), so I finally decided it's time to sort this out! I want to start testing with RAM and then move on to CPU and MoBo. I write all this in case anyone will have a better idea how to tackle this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiyen Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Humidity is never good for hardware... But yeah BSOD is normally related to something not being okay on the hardware front. Remember to let memtest run for at least an entire night!.... unless it starts spewing out errors after a few minutes. As a further stress test you can also run any number of benchmark software.. since they all more or less do the same thing. That way you stress the computer as a whole as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rootsrat Posted November 14, 2013 Author Share Posted November 14, 2013 Thanks. I used to use Prime95 when I was testing OC stability about a year ago, so may give that a try as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whocares7 Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 I'd recommend you to run MemTest/HCI/ for 10 hours/1000+% coverage/ or more with number of instances equal to the count of cores, which your CPU has. Another option is to use Prime95 - Blend for a minimum of 24 hours. Why 24 hrs ? Because in occasional cases I had BSODs of system freezes at the 23rd hour with Prime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontyMM Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Be cautious of Prime95. It is not designed for modern cpus. It could risk damage in some cases Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rootsrat Posted November 14, 2013 Author Share Posted November 14, 2013 Will keep that in mind. IIRC it's more to test stability after OC'ing, isn't it? I'm not an expert in those matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiyen Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 There is also such a thing as producing errors by keeping the hardware operating at FULL capacity for a prolonged period of time. Also like monty says then it can damage the hardware. The hardware is not designed to be used at that capacity at all times for extended periods of time. Remember that keeping it in this state will produce additional heating, which would never be there under normal use. I find that a simple overnight... 6-7 hours of memtest finds all errors if they are there. Normally it finds them rather quickly... Doing an all day test would increase the chance of issues happening due to the test itself. Also during normal use then the memory is the only component that is more or less always in use. The CPU, GPU etc. all never run at 100% capacity ALL the time. So it would not make sense to full load test for that long since it does not reflect what you are testing for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathneko11 Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 If prime95 is dangerous to use for stress testing modern cpus, then I am rather curious what program we SHOULD be using, those of us that need to test an overclocked cpu. For example, I have an AMD fx6100 oc'd to 4ghz. I plan to oc it again soon as I'm sure I can get it to 4.4 or 4.5. So . Should I be worried that prime95 will damage my cpu? If so, then what is another suitable program? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearox Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 I never read that anywhere that prime95 is not good for modern cpu's... The program is even regularly updated for new cpu instructions. Btw rootsrat, IntelBurnTest is very good for finding out major stability issues in a very short time-span. Use max ram -/- 2gb and do about 10 runs. If it passes, you will in 9/10 cases also pass a 12hours+ prime95 test. IBT stresses both cpu and ram components more than any other program and is great for detecting full load issues. Just watch your comp during the 1st test to make sure your cpu doesnt overheat :) Prime95 is better for rooting out general cpu/ram failures, but in order to detect them it'll need to run 12-24 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now