Maximum PC

When testing memory modules (I have one 2GB module to test for someone) how many cycles is considered good for the purpose of testing for defective chips, etc?


I know someone people will run it for 24 hours, others only a few cycles.... what's the best approach? My figure is that if it makes it through 2+ tests, the chips are probably OK--but at least run through one full test of the chip... is this a safe assumption or should I let it run several cycles?

I run it for about ten minutes or less if I see even one error I change the stick out for a new one. I found in the first few seconds after starting the test errors will show up and I will stop there.

Nasty

That's what I figured. At least one full pass is what I do (whether that takes 5 minutes or 50 minutes), but I've generally in the past quit after one complete pass. I
wasn't entirely sure if in some circumstances that some errors may not show up unless the memory had been thoroughly used and accessed over a period of time.

In all of my experiences with memtest, the errors (as you had said) show up within the first few minutes.

Like the one motherboard that I had that actually had a bad memory controller (I ran memtest on some 4 sticks until I started seeing a pattern--memtest would fail within about 1 minute of each test.... then I tested the sticks in another machine and they were fine--so it was the motherboard that was at fault, not the sticks themselves).

It is very seldom that all sticks fail, so when they all fail you must suspect something is amiss with the motherboard or cpu (if the memory controller is there). You did the right thing by testing the sticks in another machine....saves a lot of money and frustration in the long run for sure!

Nasty

Yeah, it just sucked real bad because then I had to take the board back and exchange it. I was working on a project that sort of needed to be done THAT DAY (building someone's computer). Eventually I got it all figured out. Thankfully the board was in fact cheaper than the RAM I had purchased (I was getting about 8GB at the time, and that was about $80 at the time). Needless to say, I went with another motherboard (brand) just to make sure and everything worked out OK. Thank God.