Recently I built a computer (specs to follow) and upon initial boot up, everything seemed great. A little later, I changed the voltage on DIMM to 1.9v, the voltage that the RAM required. Before that I would get this loooooong beep that my motherboard manual says is due to a DRAM failure. After the voltage change, it didn't do it for one entire boot up, but now it's doing it upon every boot.

My question to you is what could be wrong and how would I go about checking? I do NOT have windows or any operating system installed on the computer, as I have to return it for a non-defective copy, so any programs that have to be installed or whatnot is a no go. I also do not have any other computer able to use DDR2 RAM.

Also, time may be an issue since the return will be using the box the RAM came in as well, so it may prove troublesome to find the problem is bad RAM after shipping out that box.

My computer
http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishli...tNumber=4811747

Disclaimer - I'm not a hardware person

I think this does not need windows, just BIOS. Read more here
http://www.memtest.org/
find this section
** Memtest86+ V1.65 (10/01/2005) **
Perhaps the bootable ISO file will help. It easily fits on a CD, just 900KB. Just unzip the file someplace and burn the CD.

BTW it works VERY well. If errors show up early, you'll know it's bad pretty soon, if not - run it for several hours. Anything over ZERO errors is bad.

Description and instructions are here
http://www.memtest86.com/
and it says "Since Memtest86 is a standalone program it does not require any operating system support for execution."

Try the MemTest - it'll tell you if your RAM is bad. BUT, the problem could also be in the motherboard.

The way to tell is to try the RAM in a system that's known to work - and to run the MemTest there also. If everything's OK in the known-good system - yet it's bad in your new system - then the problem is with the motherboard. If the RAM shows errors in both systems - then it's probably bad.

Be sure to use proper static electricity precautions (unplugging the power cord from the wall and grounding yourself on the chassis when inside the case - and for those with laptops, take the battery out also).

I've run MemTest twice for 3 hours and it has shown Zero errors. I would try the RAM in another system, but I don't have another other system that can use DDR2 RAM. Any way to test to see how much voltage the RAM is actually getting or some list to see if maybe the RAM isn't supported by the motherboard? I've also heard that you need to install dual channel ram in a way so they aren't in the same pairing of slots (so, slot 1 and 3 or 2 and 4). Is that true (and could it cause the DRAM failure warning if you don't do that)?

I had some problems with my mobo when i upgraded to a p4. I would get the same errors you were getting. My only problem was that i was using older ram, looked on asus's website and found some ram that was compatible. My suggestion is to contact gigabyte and ask them what to do...im not sure about them but i know with asus they were more than helpful and got my computer up and running. Check out their website gigabyte.us and see if you can find any lists on there.

As for the slots (1 & 3, etc) - you'll have to read the mobo's manual for that. Each one is different.