It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 3:13 am


3 years of HW and RAM is cooked?

Buying or building computers for Hauptwerk, recommendations, troubleshooting computer hardware issues.
  • Author
  • Message
Offline

RagnBone

Member

  • Posts: 7
  • Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2018 4:45 am
  • Location: Down under

3 years of HW and RAM is cooked?

PostMon Apr 23, 2018 4:21 am

Hello to everyone!

This being my very first post, I know maybe it is a slight faux pas to start a new topic so soon. But it is the reason I have joined this forum, and hopefully to learn a thing or two about the program as well. I have done a few searches for my problem but haven't found much info.

I first got HW around 3 years ago as the basic version and built a windows PC especially for this purpose. The PC has a small form factor and a small motherboard with only 2 x DDR3 RAM slots. I have had 16gb from the start but with basic was never using all of it. From the start I've suffered random crashes and BSOD halfway through a practice which was incredibly frustrating! sometimes multiple times in a single practice session which makes the practice session very un-productive. The crashes were due to various things but the most common error was due to a problem with the RAM. Recently (last week) I've upgraded to v4.0 advanced hoping to see less crashes by unlocking the extra RAM. From the upgrade and then using a larger organ than the supplied St. Anne's the BSOD became more common, pretty much every 5 minutes constantly and different error codes. Running a memory test revealed both sticks of RAM were completely broken and now trash.

So my question is, does HW wear RAM out? Since the memory is constantly loaded up and being used very hard (and my organ PC was only ever used for playing, never anything else) is it possible the heavy use has broken the RAM eventually? On this subject, is there any particular RAM make/brand/type that is best to run this program? Such that it won't "wear out" and die like mine has. Would be interested to hear what others are using. Because DDR3 is now in quite limited supply and expensive I'm getting new Kingston 8gb x 2. Changing to Mac is completely and absolutely out of the question.

That turned into a bit of a wall of text! I appreciate any information and advice others might give on this subject. And of course, I have another issue I need to ask the collective but on a completely different issue, is it best to ask here or start another topic?

Thanks! :)
Offline

ppytprs

Member

  • Posts: 175
  • Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2014 4:07 pm

Re: 3 years of HW and RAM is cooked?

PostMon Apr 23, 2018 5:15 am

It sounds like your RAM was iffy from the start, it's not worn out. Hopefully if you buy some more, it'll be ok. But computers do have a habit of playing games.

Try Crucial RAM.
Offline

RaymondList

Member

  • Posts: 223
  • Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2018 2:46 pm
  • Location: North Carolina, US

Re: 3 years of HW and RAM is cooked?

PostMon Apr 23, 2018 7:08 am

I agree with the comment about bad RAM from the start. RAM does not 'wear out'. However, heat is the enemy of electronics. You are giving your little PC lots of room and not blocking vents, correct? Don't pile stuff on/around it. I'm a retired mainframe systems analyst. The IBM "Z" machines I worked on ran at close to 100% capacity 24 hours a day for years, and never had RAM go bad - just an FYI.
Ray
Offline

organassist

Member

  • Posts: 123
  • Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 3:01 am
  • Location: Colchester, England

Re: 3 years of HW and RAM is cooked?

PostMon Apr 23, 2018 8:23 am

As you say: "From the start I've suffered random crashes and BSOD" - it does seem to be a hardware issue. I have always had intermittent problems with the RAM on one of my PCs that seemed to be heat related. I found a spare 12v fan and mounted it directly over the RAM and it has proved much more reliable.
Offline
User avatar

jbittner

Member

  • Posts: 111
  • Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2010 1:34 pm
  • Location: Chandler, Arizona

Re: 3 years of HW and RAM is cooked?

PostMon Apr 23, 2018 9:29 am

RAM does not wear out, but it can fail. I've had new RAM that was defective from the start on more than one occasion.

My preferred testing tool is MemTest86 which is available as a free download. Start it up, let run for 24 hours and see what turns up. If you've faulty RAM this tool is your best chance of finding it.

That said, BSODs can be caused by faulty, or out of date drivers, as well as defective hardware, so make sure your drivers are current versions.

Are you overclocking your CPU? That could be another, and common cause, of your issue.
John B.
Allen 965 MOS 2
Zuma Group MOS-2 Midi Keyboard Encoder
Zuma Group DM Midi Stop Controller
Hauptwerk 4.2
Major I ACO
Paramount 320
Father Willis Standard 80
Offline

RagnBone

Member

  • Posts: 7
  • Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2018 4:45 am
  • Location: Down under

Re: 3 years of HW and RAM is cooked?

PostTue Apr 24, 2018 5:55 am

Thanks for the replies everyone. I also did suspect the RAM was faulty from new since I've had these issues from day one. However my uncle who has been building + selling PC's as his work for some 25 years, made this PC for me, convinced me the RAM wasn't the problem (about 2 years ago when I first told him of the issues) Should have done the memtest back then I suppose!
I know for a fact my MOTU microlite MIDI interface drivers have caused crashes on more than 1 occasion. I think that needs replacing too. The fact that the crashes got worse after I upgraded to the advanced version of HW lead me to think the RAM had become gradually more damaged.

For the other points - the PC itself doesn't get hot, I am mindful of that. Memtest86 was used to diagnose the problem this time, every chip on both 8gb sticks were faulty! :shock: Not overclocking anything either.
Once the RAM is replaced with new this week hopefully I see alot less crashes!

Cheers,
Sam
Offline
User avatar

jbittner

Member

  • Posts: 111
  • Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2010 1:34 pm
  • Location: Chandler, Arizona

Re: 3 years of HW and RAM is cooked?

PostWed Apr 25, 2018 12:40 pm

If the new RAM fails memory testing in the same manner, it might be time for a new PC or motherboard. Let us know.

Good luck!
John B.
Allen 965 MOS 2
Zuma Group MOS-2 Midi Keyboard Encoder
Zuma Group DM Midi Stop Controller
Hauptwerk 4.2
Major I ACO
Paramount 320
Father Willis Standard 80
Offline

RagnBone

Member

  • Posts: 7
  • Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2018 4:45 am
  • Location: Down under

Re: 3 years of HW and RAM is cooked?

PostSat Apr 28, 2018 10:46 pm

The PC is up and running again, also had to completely re-locate my console/setup which was not a 5 minute job :?

Everything works, so far no glitches or crashes. I haven't done a mem test again yet but I know for a fact with the old RAM if I loaded up the biggest organ I have and "pulled out all the stops" it would not be long before a crash happened. No crashes yet with the new RAM and the same scenario. Fingers crossed eh! 8)

Return to Computer hardware / specs

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests