I've started building a system using a budget B650 motherboard and I'm running into some odd issues. Here's my setup: a Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX V2, an R9 9900X, and G.Skill Trident Z5 RAM at 6000 CL30. At first, I had trouble with the A1/B1 RAM slots not POSTing, so I switched to A2/B2 and everything seemed fine until today. I got an 'Aw, snap! ACCESS_VIOLATION_ERR' error in my Chromium browser, which prompted me to run Memtest86. It started failing on test #7, with some passes failing early and others failing at the last minute, consistently showing over 1,000 errors. The error patterns are strange too, usually showing opposite bit values from what they're supposed to be.
I've tried a few things: disabled EXPO, tested the RAM sticks individually in A2, but they still failed. I haven't yet tried different RAM or adjusted my undervolting settings (I'm at -35 with Curve Optimizer). So, my questions are: could this be a RAM issue or should I also consider the CPU might be unstable? Should I return the board now, or is it worth trying a few more tests? Any advice would be appreciated!
2 Answers
I think your CPU might not be stable enough. A -35 undervolt is pretty aggressive, so dial it back to around -10 initially and see if that helps. It's also good to do additional tests beyond Memtest86; running something like Prime95 can give you a better idea of stability. Just make sure to stress test for a good duration, ideally overnight, to really see if things hold up.
It sounds like your RAM is likely the culprit, especially since Memtest86 is showing consistent failures. It's rare for both sticks in a kit to be faulty, but it can happen. I'd recommend trying a different RAM kit if you have one available. If that doesn't resolve the issue, then you might need to look into the CPU.
Got it! I just wanted to double-check how often you see dual-stick faults. Thanks!