Memory problems.

[Lentrax]

Got a question for the tech minded folks.

I have a problem with my computer. Most times I try and play games on my computer, i usually get about twenty or so minutes in and then I get a BSOD. Nine times out of ten, i get a error relating to memory, but on occasion it is a Driver Overran Stack Buffer error.

Before I go and replace my hard drive and RAM, I was wondering if anyone knew any potential causes for this or potential solutions?

[snowblizz]

Just as a general point, go download a memory, cpu, etc tester. Search for "cpu stress tester".

I'm desperately trying to remember and fialing what the ones I used were called. Some of the gfx card providers had a software that could do it.

You want to make sure it's not a software issue first.

[Fyraltari]

I don’t remember having any memory problem.

[Yora]

That sounds very much like faulty RAM. Hard drive should have nothing to do with it.

[aspi]

I agree that this sounds like a memory problem. The driver issues that arise 1 out of 10 times are likely due to the driver being loaded in the faulty memory segment.

Before you go and buy new memory, it might be worth trying to slightly reduce the memory clock speed (if your BIOS supports that). In the past, I've had memory that started acting up after 1-2 years at default settings but worked fine at a lower clock speed.

If you have a desktop/tower (instead of a laptop), you could also check if you have multiple memory banks or just one. In case it's multiple banks, try removing one at a time (and keeping the others in) to check which one is broken so you don't have to replace all of them. Changing memory is super easy even without much experience. In case you replace only some of your memory banks, make sure to buy the same or compatible modules though, as not all manufacturers can be mixed freely.

[Kaptin Keen]

That sounds very much like faulty RAM. Hard drive should have nothing to do with it.

That's my thought too - not that I know a lot. But that sounds like a faulty ram chip.

[gomipile]

If you're using Windows 10, here's a tutorial on how to use mdsched.exe:


https://www.windowscentral.com/how-c...ems-windows-10

As mentioned upthread, if there are faulty memory segments, you may be able to get them working at a lower memory clock rate. Run the mdsched diagnostic as-is first, then try lowering the clock rate one step if your bios allows it before running the diagnostic again. Repeating that may get you to a point where the errors go away while giving up the least clock rate to achieve that.

[LordEntrails]

As others have suggested, test your memory. But, are you overclocking or using anything like MSI Afterburner? Have you adjusted any BIOS settings? Is it only happening on certain games and is it only on games? Does it matter what game settings you use? Have you checked your graphics driver? Is it updated? Are you using default settings or something else?

[gotgame]

You can download Microsoft's RAM tester and test your RAM. Sounds like its bad.