Memory issuescan slow down your computerand can cause it to show random blue screen errors or frequent freeze/crash. To prevent such problems, I suggest checking your computer’s RAM for errors or corruption every few months.
you may test your RAM using the Windows built-inMemory Diagnostic tool. You can also use open-source applications likeMemTest86,MemTest86+, Memtester, or HCI Memtest to test your RAM sticks.
Additionally, you canmonitorRAM temperatureusing HWMonitorand inspect itsvoltage via the BIOS. Knowing these parameters helps you determine if your RAM sticks are overheating or not getting enough power.
For the test, we used an 8GB V-Color DDR4 4100 (running at 3200 MT/s) and another 16GB TridentZ Royal DDR4 3600 (running at 3200 MT/s).
But, before starting the test, disable any overclock in your system. Incorrect overclock settings may result in the test to display error messages. you may do this byresetting the BIOS.
Another thing that you should know is that testing several high-capacity memory modules will take significantly longer. Stopping the diagnostic process will restart it from scratch.
So, I recommend that you remove all memory sticks except one and run the test. This way, you may still utilize the system between each test.
Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool
If you are a Windows user, you may use its built-in tool to test your memory.Memory Diagnostic Toolruns a series of tests and checks the memory addresses for any faults that might cause system instability.
By default, the system will run the diagnostic in Standard mode. The standard mode includes tests likeMATS+ INVC,SCHCKR, etc.,where the tests are done with cache enabled.
With cache enabled, the CPU may not access memorybut accesses data through cache. This will result in inaccurate results.
Therefore, I recommend that yourun the Extended test,which disables the cache. Running amemory test by disabling the cachewill take significantly longer but will give you more accurate results.
After the test is done, you may nowuse another built-in utility namedEvent Viewerto view the results,
MemTest86 is an open-source application that runs a series of tests, 13 to be exact and runs them four times (passes) to find any errors in your memory module/s.
It runs a total of 52 tests and, therefore, will take significantly longer. So, i recommend that you let this test run overnight if you are testing multiple memory sticks at the same time.
