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submitted 5 days ago by kumi@feddit.online to c/linux@lemmy.ml

How to test and safely keep using your janky RAM without compromising stability using memtest86+ and the memmap kernel param.

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[-] Kongar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

TLDR - try slowing down “bad” ram

RAM is tricky these days. When you buy “fast” ram - in my case 6200 dominator sticks - what you really are buying is ram that the manufacturer says can be overclocked to 6200 speeds. But this is shady at best. It is entirely possible for that ram to run fine in your rig, and fail miserably in mine - showing itself as errors in memtest. This can be a result of the motherboard or say your cpu - and nothing is broken. Not the chip, not the mobo, not the ram - they just don’t work together at those speeds. Two sticks can work just fine, and then fail when you add two more (for a total of four). I’ve even had sticks that were on the edge, works for a year, and then started giving me trouble.

Most people just RMA those sticks - which I support - if it’s marketed to run at those speeds, then they should run at those speeds everywhere. But if you have “bad” memory laying around that was out of warranty, and given today’s prices - it might be worth pulling them out and trying to run them a little slower. It’s not like you have to take them all the way down to 3200 and turn off the overlock. For example, on many amd rigs, 6000 is the sweet spot. My “bad” stick of 6200 immediately fails a memtest at 6200 (even running that single dimm), but infinitely passes at 6000 (even with 4 sticks plugged in). I can’t even tell the difference between 6200 and 6000.

So ya - try slowing those bad sticks down manually. It might only be a little bit of a performance hit, but at today’s prices, could save you $1000

[-] kumi@feddit.online 6 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Lowering frequency is often the right solution and I do mention it in the writeup. I couldn't find any up-to-date, accurate and accessible info on how to safely keep running with actually faulty DIMMs and it's not obvious so I thought people might find working instructions helpful.

If you're still wary of using some old 3200 stick you have and can't or won't RMA, please sell it to me instead of binning it :3

[-] tyrant@lemmy.world 11 points 5 days ago

Also, check your warranty. I just found some bad ram I bought years ago and thought I was in trouble. Turns out g.skill has a lifetime warranty

[-] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 5 points 5 days ago

Really common, actually. RAM doesn't really wear out, so if you do get hit with some faulty DIMMS, look into RMAs.

[-] Lee@retrolemmy.com 3 points 5 days ago

I had some bad g.skill DDR4 last year. I assumed it was out of warranty. Thanks for the tip!

[-] comrade_twisty@feddit.org 6 points 5 days ago

Look at this guy flexing his own RAM. Most of us can only dream of actually owning RAM someday… /s

[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 3 points 5 days ago

I thought used prices would spike, but currently used RAM on Craigslist is reasonable. Maybe people don't follow the news, as much as people on here.

[-] KarnaSubarna@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 days ago

I had to sell my kidney to buy one RAM yesterday /s

[-] comrade_twisty@feddit.org 7 points 5 days ago

My kidneys are too old, I don’t even get a CMR HDD for them.

[-] kumi@feddit.online 2 points 5 days ago

Have you tried complaining to the manufacturer? I hear some allow trade-ins for defectives ones. You may not get a brand-new one but as long as it's not defective it should easily get you a decent drive on the swap market.

this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2026
46 points (97.9% liked)

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