Those of us a little long in the tooth will have no troubles remembering days of Prime95 and MemTest86 runs proving that your overclock was stable as could be, but fresher enthusiasts may not have had that experience. MemTest86 was, at one point in the early 2000's, the go to memory interface stability testing software, allowing you to boot straight into a testing mode and skipping your OS altogether. The interface hasn't changed much, but the hardware sure has! UEFI booting is now supported and you can test this new type of RAM that we only dreamed of back in 2002. Check out Overclockers Club for the memories, or to learn about another tool to add to your box of tricks.
"If you have any sort of system stability issues, starting with the memory is generally a good bet. It is often people skip testing system memory for defects or the root cause of a system crash because it is often seen as an unnecessary computer component. In reality, it is one of the most important hardware components in any computer. If your system memory is failing, it can account for random lockups, failed POST screens, and an assortment of strange computer issues."
Here are some more Memory articles from around the web:
Memory
- A-DATA XPG SPECTRIX D41 RGB DDR4-3600 @ TechPowerUp
- Ballistix Elite 32GB Kit (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3466 @ Modders Inc
- G.Skill Sniper X F4-3400C16D-16GSXW w/ Samsung B-Die @
- Patriot Viper RGB DDR4 3200 MHz @ TechPowerUp
Hi,
Memtest (technically
Hi,
Memtest (technically Memtest86 for old timers) 7.5 is still a thing and works via UEFI booting (Yes!) and was last updated in February 2018 🙂
Link to download: -> https://www.memtest86.com/download.htm
The other Memtest (http://www.memtest.org/ or Memtest86+) seems to have died and it no longer being updated. I have a vague memory of it being passed on to another team or company at some point?
Kind Regards
Simon
I used it on a new build
I used it on a new build early this year and it helped me identify that my high memory overclocks were what was causing crashes and blue screens. After reducing the overclock by one step I could run memtest all night and had no more crashes. So it is still a valuable piece of software.