Help regarding memtest86 and ram.

[KnightSham]

Hi,

 

So I'm currently in the middle of running a memtest on my pc build as I've been encountering kernel security check failure blue-screens.

 

I've currently encounter an error, which is test: 7 Addr: 22842F958 Expected: FDFFFFFF Actual: FFFFFFFF CPU: 6. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what this means, and if I will need to replace my ram.

 

My specs are:

Cpu: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor

Motherboard: MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard

Ram: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory

Gpu: AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT

 

If anyone can get back to me as soon as possible, that would be great thank you.

 

[WereCatf]

2 minutes ago, KnightSham said:

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what this means, and if I will need to replace my ram

It means there was a bit-flip in your RAM and yes, you will likely need to replace the stick. Test it a couple more times and if there are still errors, toss it out the window and get a replacement.

[KnightSham]

1 minute ago, WereCatf said:

It means there was a bit-flip in your RAM and yes, you will likely need to replace the stick. Test it a couple more times and if there are still errors, toss it out the window and get a replacement.

Curious, what does a bit-flip actually mean? Also, how common are these with brand new ram sticks, because this is a three week old build.

[WereCatf]

1 minute ago, KnightSham said:

Curious, what does a bit-flip actually mean?

It means that a bit was supposed to be in one position, but somehow ended up flipping itself in the opposite position.

1 minute ago, KnightSham said:

Also, how common are these with brand new ram sticks

I do not have access to the required statistics to be able to tell you such. All I can say is that these things happen: sometimes you're just simply unlucky.

[Eigenvektor]

1 minute ago, KnightSham said:

Curious, what does a bit-flip actually mean? Also, how common are these with brand new ram sticks, because this is a three week old build.

It means it wrote the hexadecimal value 0xF into the cell, but when it read it back it received 0xD instead.

 

In binary the first one would be 1111, but it came back as 1101, so a bit was flipped (from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1)

[KnightSham]

5 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

It means that a bit was supposed to be in one position, but somehow ended up flipping itself in the opposite position.

I do not have access to the required statistics to be able to tell you such. All I can say is that these things happen: sometimes you're just simply unlucky.

I see. Guessing there's no way to fix it other than getting a new stick?

[WereCatf]

5 minutes ago, KnightSham said:

I see. Guessing there's no way to fix it other than getting a new stick?

Not a cheap or easy way, no. You could always desolder the faulty chip and solder in a new one, but you'd have to first find the same chip and you'd need the equipment and skills to handle BGA-packages...

[KnightSham]

11 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

Not a cheap or easy way, no. You could always desolder the faulty chip and solder in a new one, but you'd have to first find the same chip and you'd need the equipment and skills to handle BGA-packages...

yeah, not an option I'm keen to take. Furthermore, I've had two more errors pop up since then, so it looks like I need a new stick.