Memtest false positive?

[djkilla]

Is it possable for Memtest+86 to give a false positive? I tested a stick of ram that failed on pass 2 but after shutting down the computer and back on re-running Memtest+86 on the same stick of ram it has now passed over three passes.

How many passes do I need to consider ram good? If it fails once but passes again, is that a false positive? I just want to be sure I've got reliable ram.

Is there another ram/memory program to test with?

I'm using Mushkin Redline DDR3 1600 6-7-6-18 74 1
I'm also using the latest Memtest+86 4.00

 

[drescherjm]

Is it possable for Memtest+86 to give a false positive?

Unlikely at best.

I tested a stick of ram that failed on pass 2 but after shutting down the computer and back on re-running Memtest+86 on the same stick of ram it has now passed over three passes.

memtest can never prove that your memory is good. It only tells you if some hardware is bad. What I mean is at work I have seen memory fail the memtest after 72 hours (over 100 passes). In that case it was bad dimms however it could have also been the motherboard, powersupply, or cpu.

 

[reb00tin]

here is my screenshots of memtest, defective ram checked out OK until pass #14!

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1434497

Errors can be intermittent, so if you discover one, run for 24 hrs and if more errors return to vendor.

 

[stormy1]

heat can make a difference also.
I had a clients computer that was flaky with memory related errors so took it home ran memtest.
Come back clean after 4 hours.
Stress tested the system and it crashed, reran memstest while it was hot, ram failed test 2 right away.
Better fans and some plastic to deflect some air over the ram and it has been stable 3+ years.
Just running memtest did not get it hot enough in the case to make it fail.

 

[Homeless]

In my experience memtest doesn't produce false positives. However it does not detect everything immediately. I once had bad memory get by 40 passes.

 

[cyclone3d]

If you want a RAM test that actually stresse the RAM more and will show up errors easier due to this, use HCI Memtest.

http://hcidesign.com/memtest/

 

[cmdrdredd]

I've had memtest give no errors on a stick/set of memory but it would error out in windows every time. It's weird, it uses memory in different ways.

 

[vonviener]

I have had ram pass memtest86 yet fail hci memtest and vice versa. I have also had ram pass a memtest86 run only to fail it after a power cycle. It did this on multiple machines at factory settings. I either toss or rma ram when it can't operate correctly and produce consistent results at factory settings.