Bad RAM or bad CPU (or something else)?

[TheBill2001]

TLDR: What is the best way to determine whether my system instability is because of bad RAM, bad CPU, or something else? Especially when memtest86+ showed no error after an overnight test, but Prime95 did.

 

Hi, my PC specs are:

• CPU: R5 3600X
• RAM: Kingston HyperX Predator 16GB (8GB x 2) HX432C16PB3AK2/16 (which is compatible with my motherboard)
• GPU: GTX 1660
• Motherboard: MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
• Cooling: Deepcool GAMMAXX L240 V1 (pretty sure it's a V1)
• PSU: Corsair RM750 (CP-9020195-NA, almost 2 years old) / Cooler Master MWE 750 Gold (dead)
• OS: Arch Linux (what I used before) / Endeavour OS (reinstalled to this) / Windows 11 (for testing)
• Location: Vietnam (might be important)

 

Recently, I have been facing crashes on my PC, from games to OS. A common pattern is that games would crash with a Segmentation Fault (SIGSEGV) error. Linux would sometimes hard crash without any log being written. When it did log something, however, various error messages indicated memory error (hence maybe not GPU).

 

The problem is I have run two memtest86+ (latest version) overnight with about 10+ passes each. All of which report no error. However, mprime, the Linux version of Prime95, did report errors at random intervals. However, errors appear more consistently on the smallest test about 15 - 30 minutes in. I also installed Windows 11 to test a game (Oxygen Not Included) and Windows just crashed and rebooted 30 minutes into the game, not even a BSOD was shown.

 

I have tried various settings in BIOS: disable PSO, change XMP profile, disable XMP, undervolt and overvolt (using offset); update BIOS to the latest version ( 7B85v1H1), and downgrade to older versions, still crashed. I also tried to switch the RAM sticks around, and test with only one of them installed, still crashed.

 

There are various reasons why I am uncertain about which component is the issue:

• My R5 3600X is pretty much the first batch (or pretty close), I bought it at launch. And there are some reports I have read over the years stating those batches were not... the best. My CPU could only boost to 4.0 GHz on heavy load rather than the 4.1 GHz advertised, and eventually drop to 3.9 GHz. Typically idle at 40-50C, clock speed never goes above 4.3 GHz. (This could be because of insufficient cooling, but what can I do when I live in a tropical country without an air conditioner.) Prime95 smallest test puts strain on the CPU, yes? I got errors from stock settings meaning bad CPU? The seller only covers 3 years (36 months) warranty and I'm in my fourth year of owning it, so no warranty.
• I overclocked my RAM with Ryzen DRAM Calculator before. Eventually just used the Memory Try It feature from MSI because it is convenient. Maybe the RAM is bad because I have run it overclocked for a long period of time? Memtest86+ showed no error after two overnight tests.
• My previous PSU (Cooler Master MWE 750 Gold) had a short and it would prevent my PC from booting up. I replaced it with the Corsair RM750 which was fine for a while until now. Could the old shorted PSU cause some damages that only now causing problems? Is my motherboard still good?
• I don't have spare parts to do more tests :(.

 

Money is limited so buying new parts is also limited. That's why I need to be certain.

[emosun]

run it with a single ram stick , try each stick alone in the machine , see if its stable in that configuration.

[191x7]

Try adding more voltage to the CPU.

[TheBill2001]

44 minutes ago, emosun said:

run it with a single ram stick , try each stick alone in the machine , see if its stable in that configuration.

I tried that. It was not stable even at stock.

 

38 minutes ago, 191x7 said:

Try adding more voltage to the CPU.

Offset the voltage by more than +50mV cause the PC to not boot.

[Mischka]

If you definitely HAVE to be certain, you will need to test all the components one by one.

As you don't have any further replacement parts, do you have a friend or family member with a working AM4 based computer?