Memtest just shortened my life a bit...

[Silent Warrior]

TEH H0RROR!

I purchased some new RAM the other day, another 8 Gb, but there's just no end to the problems... Well, besides the stick that appears to be completely FUBAR, I'm now running memtest, which reports 50+ errors spanning ALL memory - the original 4 Gb (2+2) AND the new 4 Gb (1x4; the system will not even reach POST with the other stick connected)... There are, of course, a few items to tackle here, but let's focus on just one or two things for now:
How bad is the memtest report? If I caused this state of affairs, how? and how do I avoid it in the future?

Possibly relevant bits:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 rev. 2.0, BIOS F9 (latest: F10g beta)
CPU: Intel Core i7-860
RAM1: 2x2 Gb Corsair Dominator C8 1600@1333 MHz
RAM2: 1x4 Gb Corsair XMS3 C9 1600@1333 MHz

[Koji]

There is always a chance when you install RAM that you can fry it if you're not properly grounded... Always make sure if you don't have an anti static wrist band, to touch a metallic part of your case before touching or installing any pc component.

Normal use should not have damaged them beyond normal wear and tear unless you're over volting them (something you'd have to have done intentionally in the bios, usually used in conjunction with overclocking) and new ram can often simply be DoA (dead on arrival). Best bet with the new ram is to simply return it, and always do memtest whenever you get a new pc or more ram since it's a fairly common cause of system instability.

[Silent Warrior]

Hm, I've never destroyed components with static electricity before - true, I don't take any precautions to avoid it, but I haven't had anything like these problems before... Sucks. Left, right and centre. (Well, okay, my SB Live! Platinum got a bit eccentric with EAX stuff a number of months ago, BUT NOTHING BESIDES THAT.) Right, I'll get in touch with the shop when they open again.
But my computer isn't about to explode, or anything, is it? I can still use it and expect little more than a crash or blue screen here and there?

[rhodry]

Just a thought;

have you checked your motherboard specs? Some dual channel memory can only be used in "like" banks. In other words, you cannot mix 2Gb and 4Gb sticks on the same motherboard. Try booting with JUST the 4Gb sticks inserted, if they work on their own, I would think the :
mix is the problem.

rhodry.

[Silent Warrior]

... That's... grade A weird! My computer boots with both new memories that way!! Now, then: How do I find this out from the specs? (That is to say: What phrase(s) clue(s) me into this, and where should I ideally look for them?)

GAAAAH, WHAT THE HELL IS MY COMPUTER DOING???

[dagon]

...My computer boots with both new memories that way!!

What way?

Now, then: How do I find this out from the specs?

What specs? The specs for the motherboard or the ones for the OS?
What version of Mint are you using?

[Silent Warrior]

The Way: Both new sticks (4+4), removing the older sticks entirely. I don't know how relevant this is, but I put the new sticks in the same slots the older memories occupied (0+4+0+4) - when they acted up, they were thus seated in other slots (4+2+4+2, starting from the slot closest to the CPU).

The Specs: This would be the motherboard specs, as I can either pass POST or not. :p So, OS is no factor. (Though I dual-boot Win7 Home and Ubuntu 12.04. For the record, like.)