What causes RAM to fail…

1031982 · 6th Mar 2006, 03:55 PM

When it’s being used at the rated settings and there is no power surge?

One of my 512MB sticks went bad, and I am working on RMA’ing it (Lifetime warranty) but I am wondering what could have caused it to happen.

Papercut · 6th Mar 2006, 04:38 PM

Sh*t happens?

1031982 · 6th Mar 2006, 06:37 PM

Ya, that's the only thing I can think of, but I can't help but wonder...

b104 · 6th Mar 2006, 07:18 PM

Beware of plugging external devices into your computer without surge protection.
I.E. tv card aerials,video,dvd recorders & Xbox' etc. Those surge protection boards with aerial & telephone protection are worth it.You can sometimes feel the charge off the aerial jack regardless whether there is a surge or not. (Writing from experience).
Then again,some fault in its manufacture was just waiting to make your day,maybe.
P.S. Reread your post & was wondering how you knew there was no power surge?
I included the examples in case you had not considered one of them as a surge risk.

empire23 · 15th Mar 2006, 02:55 PM

Tons of factors, power surges, manufacturing defects and such. Although my personal list goes like this due to the fact i OC.

1. Heat Death (ICs obviously die at high enough temperature)
2. Electromigration (High voltages no good for chippies even with good cooling)
3. Overloading (Depends on your motherboard's power delivery reliability)

1031982 · 15th Mar 2006, 03:54 PM

Well let’s see. No heat issue, as I have placed my hand in the case as it's running (after removing the side panel) and it's just warm, with a good airflow. Everything gets all nice and cooled, and nothing is hot. (Except some of the heatsink on the CPU.) As for Electromigration, that would have come up before as that module in particular was placed in 3 different boards to test it. (I wanted to show people the effect of increasing the RAM as well, that I took care of two things at once) Overloading, wouldn’t that fry both the cards? They were in banks 1 and 3, and the card in bank 3 is the one that went bad.
There is no real abnormal input. All my external I/O devices are as fallows:
Keyboard
Mouse
Webcam
Speakers
Printer
Moniter
NIC

empire23 · 15th Mar 2006, 07:08 PM

electromigration is also known as sudden death syndrome, it just happens if the ICs are either subjected to extremely high voltages, or if the silicon they're based on is just inferior and gates just cut under the pressure. Well, i'm just going to say that even with superior tech processes these days, it still comes down to good ol luck lol.

Adrian Wong · 17th Mar 2006, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by empire23

electromigration is also known as sudden death syndrome, it just happens if the ICs are either subjected to extremely high voltages, or if the silicon they're based on is just inferior and gates just cut under the pressure. Well, i'm just going to say that even with superior tech processes these days, it still comes down to good ol luck lol.

Very true. Have had hardware die on me for no apparent reason.

1031982 · 17th Mar 2006, 02:50 PM

Ah, well I hope the replacement will be OK, and here soon. 512 is a killer compared to 1GB!

b104 · 20th Mar 2006, 06:03 PM

One last thought,banks 1 & 3 may both have been stressed but the ram in bank 3 might have been slightly inferior to stick 1 in the manufacturing process.

6th Mar 2006, 03:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
1031982 Super Active Join Date: 25 Feb 2003 Location: USA Posts: 1,580 Reputation: 285 Rep Power: 9	What causes RAM to fail… When it’s being used at the rated settings and there is no power surge? One of my 512MB sticks went bad, and I am working on RMA’ing it (Lifetime warranty) but I am wondering what could have caused it to happen. __________________ Running : Gigabyte EP45-DS3R, Intel E7200 C2D, 2GB DDR2 Dual Channel, WD Raptor 74GB, WD 500 GB HDD, ASUS 16X DVD-ROM, LiteOn 16X DVD+/-RW, 1.44 MB Floppy, ATI Radeon HD 3450, Dell 2005FPW, and a SB Audigy2 ZS PRO with Logitech Z5300e speakers.

6th Mar 2006, 04:38 PM	#2 (permalink)
Papercut Hyperactive Join Date: 14 Jul 2004 Location: Singapore! Posts: 4,990 Reputation: 2428 Rep Power: 33	Sh*t happens? __________________ PC Specs "Use in a cool dry place away from direct sunlight. Keep out of reach of n00bs. Overclock within 24 hours of opening. Do not read instructions before proceeding, do not use only as directed. May cause frustration, late nights and empty wallets. If symptoms persist please consult your hardware professional."

6th Mar 2006, 06:37 PM	#3 (permalink)
1031982 Super Active Join Date: 25 Feb 2003 Location: USA Posts: 1,580 Reputation: 285 Rep Power: 9	Ya, that's the only thing I can think of, but I can't help but wonder... __________________ Running : Gigabyte EP45-DS3R, Intel E7200 C2D, 2GB DDR2 Dual Channel, WD Raptor 74GB, WD 500 GB HDD, ASUS 16X DVD-ROM, LiteOn 16X DVD+/-RW, 1.44 MB Floppy, ATI Radeon HD 3450, Dell 2005FPW, and a SB Audigy2 ZS PRO with Logitech Z5300e speakers.

6th Mar 2006, 07:18 PM	#4 (permalink)
b104 Getting there Join Date: 18 Aug 2004 Location: Ex-Tokyo shoebox renter Posts: 230 Reputation: 28 Rep Power: 5	Beware of plugging external devices into your computer without surge protection. I.E. tv card aerials,video,dvd recorders & Xbox' etc. Those surge protection boards with aerial & telephone protection are worth it.You can sometimes feel the charge off the aerial jack regardless whether there is a surge or not. (Writing from experience). Then again,some fault in its manufacture was just waiting to make your day,maybe. P.S. Reread your post & was wondering how you knew there was no power surge? I included the examples in case you had not considered one of them as a surge risk. __________________ B104 Last edited by b104 : 8th Mar 2006 at 08:00 PM.

15th Mar 2006, 03:54 PM	#6 (permalink)
1031982 Super Active Join Date: 25 Feb 2003 Location: USA Posts: 1,580 Reputation: 285 Rep Power: 9	Well let’s see. No heat issue, as I have placed my hand in the case as it's running (after removing the side panel) and it's just warm, with a good airflow. Everything gets all nice and cooled, and nothing is hot. (Except some of the heatsink on the CPU.) As for Electromigration, that would have come up before as that module in particular was placed in 3 different boards to test it. (I wanted to show people the effect of increasing the RAM as well, that I took care of two things at once) Overloading, wouldn’t that fry both the cards? They were in banks 1 and 3, and the card in bank 3 is the one that went bad. There is no real abnormal input. All my external I/O devices are as fallows: Keyboard Mouse Webcam Speakers Printer Moniter NIC __________________ Running : Gigabyte EP45-DS3R, Intel E7200 C2D, 2GB DDR2 Dual Channel, WD Raptor 74GB, WD 500 GB HDD, ASUS 16X DVD-ROM, LiteOn 16X DVD+/-RW, 1.44 MB Floppy, ATI Radeon HD 3450, Dell 2005FPW, and a SB Audigy2 ZS PRO with Logitech Z5300e speakers.

15th Mar 2006, 02:55 PM	#5 (permalink)
empire23 BRB. Attacking Russia Join Date: 4 Feb 2006 Location: Ze Fatherland Posts: 279 Reputation: 390 Rep Power: 6	Tons of factors, power surges, manufacturing defects and such. Although my personal list goes like this due to the fact i OC. 1. Heat Death (ICs obviously die at high enough temperature) 2. Electromigration (High voltages no good for chippies even with good cooling) 3. Overloading (Depends on your motherboard's power delivery reliability)

15th Mar 2006, 07:08 PM	#7 (permalink)
empire23 BRB. Attacking Russia Join Date: 4 Feb 2006 Location: Ze Fatherland Posts: 279 Reputation: 390 Rep Power: 6	electromigration is also known as sudden death syndrome, it just happens if the ICs are either subjected to extremely high voltages, or if the silicon they're based on is just inferior and gates just cut under the pressure. Well, i'm just going to say that even with superior tech processes these days, it still comes down to good ol luck lol.

17th Mar 2006, 02:50 PM	#9 (permalink)
1031982 Super Active Join Date: 25 Feb 2003 Location: USA Posts: 1,580 Reputation: 285 Rep Power: 9	Ah, well I hope the replacement will be OK, and here soon. 512 is a killer compared to 1GB! __________________ Running : Gigabyte EP45-DS3R, Intel E7200 C2D, 2GB DDR2 Dual Channel, WD Raptor 74GB, WD 500 GB HDD, ASUS 16X DVD-ROM, LiteOn 16X DVD+/-RW, 1.44 MB Floppy, ATI Radeon HD 3450, Dell 2005FPW, and a SB Audigy2 ZS PRO with Logitech Z5300e speakers.

20th Mar 2006, 06:03 PM	#10 (permalink)
b104 Getting there Join Date: 18 Aug 2004 Location: Ex-Tokyo shoebox renter Posts: 230 Reputation: 28 Rep Power: 5	One last thought,banks 1 & 3 may both have been stressed but the ram in bank 3 might have been slightly inferior to stick 1 in the manufacturing process. __________________ B104