so i ran memtest....

[Ctuchik]

because some of my games (SOE games only ironically enough) has been crashing an aweful lot.
and lo and behold, it did find an error. now it gave a few suggestons to try to fix ths before deeming the RAM totaly worthless.

and that is (copy and paste from their website)

2) MemTest tells me "Memory error detected...", what does this mean?

This is not normal. Your RAM is bad, or your system is incorrectly configured. If you have overclocked your machine, or selected aggressive RAM timings in your BIOS you should try more conservative settings before judging the ram fully bad. If you can't get MemTest to run without errors even with conservative BIOS settings, your RAM is bad. Replace it, or you will experience stability and corruption problems. Correctly functioning RAM has no errors, even if you run MemTest overnight.

i'd like to try this one but i really dont have a clue what they are saying..

so if anyone can explain it in a more "i'm talking to a complete tech idiot" sort of way" i'd be greatful

anyway i have not overclocked my machine (atleast not that i know of)

and neither have been fiddeling with whatever RAM settings there is in the BIOS (what i know of), but i'd like to see if theres anything at all i can do in there to see if i can sort it.

oh right, the error message memtest gives...

Memory error detected! Pair 40563619 does not store values correctly.

 

[dysfunction]

Well if you have not been messing about with the bios etc then more than likely your memory is on its way out.

You can enter the bios settings by pressing either F2 or F8 (can't remember which now) shortly after your PC starts to boot up. Best is to start the pc and keep pressing either of those until you get the bios screen.

If you don't know what you are doing in the Bios - DONT TOUCH IT!!!
Just exit without saving...

 

[Ctuchik]

ah ok then i wont screw around in there. buying new ram insted.

 

[rynnor]

Well if you have not been messing about with the bios etc then more than likely your memory is on its way out.

Does it actually go? I dont overclock or mess with ram voltages and I have never had a piece of RAM that worked initially go bad?

 

[inactionman]

Yeah, like anything RAM can just go bad, normally after a power spike or if your mobo is on the way out as well.

 

[rynnor]

Yeah, like anything RAM can just go bad, normally after a power spike or if your mobo is on the way out as well.

Ah - I clean up my power quite a lot before supplying it to the PC so I dont see spikes - possibly why I dont get fried RAM.

 

[Ctuchik]

or if your mobo is on the way out as well.

nononononononoooooo. dont say stuff like that! i cant afford to buy a new PC right now

dont jinx me!