im gonna run memtest86and see what it says, i have 4 sticks of 1 gig now, just to set my mind at rest i only have 32bit vista but i thought it would run ok even though i have more ram than it can use?
Check if your mobo supports the ram and 3 modules.
Update the BIOS.
Set up the mem manually in BIOS
Try one module at a time and preferably do mem tests (for at least a couple of hours - if all 3 modules are installed, then you might want to have it run the test throughout a night).
Exactly what mobo and RAM do you have?
I had similar problem myself, but a mem test didn't show any issues. The longest test I did was during 20 hours - so that should be quiet conclusive.
So it puzzles me why I sometimes have issues - however, when I have problems with my RAM, I will keep having them until they are fixed - when working, they will keep working. I suspect this have to do with the BIOS, where I currently have my RAM timing etc. set up manually - whereas before, it wasn't. but I haven't tested this to make sure, and since my PC is working perfectly right now, I'm not about to mess it up :P
All of mine modules are identical as well, so thats even more puzzling - however, I do know from various tests that it's a specific pair that is the cause for headaches.. it might be a poor construction quality, but "good enough" for a mem tester to not see it.
While we're at it, I'll ask another RAM question. PC Probe is giving me two alerts. One is for the DDR2 Voltage, which is 2.16V. That one is fine - I set the RAM to that voltage because that's what it actually is specified to run at.
The other one though, I'm not certain about. It is labeled "DDR2 Term" and it states the nominal voltage at 0.9V and my actual voltage at 1.07. Is that alright? Maybe a result of my actually adjusting the voltage and timings on my RAM to what they were supposed to be as opposed to what my mobo had set them to? They were running at 5-5-5-18 @ 1.8V and I changed it to 4-4-4-12 @ 2.1.
Ps. Don't think I have DDR2 Term in my BIOS - maybe it's called something else, but the only thing I've adjusted is the CPU and MEM voltage.,. everything else is on auto.
Yea, I probably should have done that search lol. My mobo has about a BAJILLION overclocking settings, but I didn't touch anything other than the timings and voltage. I'll check those sites.
EDIT: The second one suggested that that happens when your PSU is maxxed out on power, but that's obviously not the case on my system, I hope.