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Tearing my hair out over memory problems!


whocrazy

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THANKS, Bigbrit. Will check out Memtest86+ on try it out on all my computers.

MDGx, CLASYS and others should try this tool out to see if they have good or bad memory chips on their computers. I'd like to see some testimony from them about Memtest86+.

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  • 2 months later...

There's some truth to that statement. The silicon's electrical properties change over time, and as it seems, can become bad over time. This is why good ram can go bad. Age really cannot be used as a form of memory lifetime, as a system from 1998 could have been used for 3-4 hours a day, and have memory failure within a year, or a system from 1998, being used for 20-24 hours a day, for 8 years, with no failures. You can buy the cheapest RAM and get away with no problems, or you can purchase the most expensive RAM, and have it arrive DOA.

Electricity on silicon is a funny thing.

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ALL MEMORY AGES AND GETS SLOWER. The circuitry of the memory is CAPABLE of dealing with the memory at its ultimate lower speed; reputable memory does this by not attempting to exploit the "extra" speed the memory has when it is "young". Because of the SPD chip and the way the memory is timed, this "extra" speed capability is not used. Thus, you have a smooth operation of memory that runs as you expect from day one and for years to come, etc.

Unfortunately there are disreputable memory chip vendors who sell memory sticks that emit bogus timing information that leads the mainboard to believe that the memory is capable of what ultimately it is not, namely reliable operation at the rated speed down the road. If the mainboard can be manually timed by ignoring the SPD information, you can indefinitely get the memory to run at WORSE than rated speed reliably, but you can only get the rated speed while the memory is "young" enough in terms of powered-on hours, etc.

That's incorrect. If the RAM couldn't handle the timings, it wouldn't just slow down, Windows or applications would start erroring. This isn't hard disk drives were talking about!

RAM isn't mechanical.

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That's incorrect. If the RAM couldn't handle the timings, it wouldn't just slow down, Windows or applications would start erroring. This isn't hard disk drives were talking about!

RAM isn't mechanical.

ahh, good point, RJARRRPCGP. the debate goes on whether or not RAM gets slower with age.

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That's incorrect. If the RAM couldn't handle the timings, it wouldn't just slow down, Windows or applications would start erroring. This isn't hard disk drives were talking about!

RAM isn't mechanical.

ahh, good point, RJARRRPCGP. the debate goes on whether or not RAM gets slower with age.
Exactly my point.

RAM does *not* slow down.

The only degradation that can happen within RAM chips occurs when electrons migrate, and in such cases, the user will experience errors booting, loading the OS/apps etc.

Thanks for the clarification.

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That's incorrect. If the RAM couldn't handle the timings, it wouldn't just slow down, Windows or applications would start erroring. This isn't hard disk drives were talking about!

RAM isn't mechanical.

ahh, good point, RJARRRPCGP. the debate goes on whether or not RAM gets slower with age.
Exactly my point.

RAM does *not* slow down.

The only degradation that can happen within RAM chips occurs when electrons migrate, and in such cases, the user will experience errors booting, loading the OS/apps etc.

Thanks for the clarification.

wow, I'd like to see how CLASYS responds to this. not everyone will accept what he said of memory slowing down with age.

so MDGx, have you tested the MemTest86+ app yet?

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so MDGx, have you tested the MemTest86+ app yet?
I have tested this tool a while back.

But I'll try it again in the near future, I know they have newer versions out.

Thanks.

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As I said, RAM doesn't slow down, because the speed at which electrons travel within the silicon wafers + copper wiring/PCB remains always the same at the same environment temperature/pressure/humidity, unless you drastically decrease or increase ambient temperature.

Near absolute zero on the Kelvin scale [absolute zero K cannot be attained in the "real" world, it's only a "theoretical" value], electrons speed increases dramatically, which is what we like to call supraconductivity [also known as superconductivity].

But if RAM chips get [badly] deteriorated from electrostatic and/or (electro)magnetic discharges/fields, then operating/memory errors/lockups will likely ensue as a consequence.

There are many cases of slightly damaged RAM chips where normal operation is not disturbed, but it is likely that in time any further damage will surface as operating/memory errors/lockups.

Improper computer cooling may also lead to shortening RAM chips life, because increased temperature accelerates [as you well know] silicon microelectronic components damage, mainly through electromigration.

HTH

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