I bought the 8gb (2x4gb) dominator ram that mikegallop recommended. I also bought a Seagate 7200rpm 1tb hdd.
 
So the ram is first. I'll set up the BIOS with mikes bios settings and start memtest. To be clear: I should test the sticks individually, using the first black slot (2nd from the CPU) and unlinked. Once they have passed, can I go to linked/synched?

unangel

I bought the 8gb (2x4gb) dominator ram that mikegallop recommended. I also bought a Seagate 7200rpm 1tb hdd.

So the ram is first. I'll set up the BIOS with mikes bios settings and start memtest. To be clear: I should test the sticks individually, using the first black slot (2nd from the CPU) and unlinked. Once they have passed, can I go to linked/synched?

If you are going to use mike's settings, you can test in either gray (first) or black (second) slots because his settings are at 1600. On the other hand, if you want to test for the rated 2000, then only the black slot. Unlinked, and preferably 8 hours per stick. Even if it passes, don't sync them yet unless you are certain your cpu will run correctly at the same rated fsb.

Yes linked does give you better performance, but you are not sure whether the sticks will be stabile or not yet. If they are not stabile and linked, it is hard to determine if the problematic area is from the stick alone or some influential factor from the cpu. If they test fine at unlinked, then they will be fine linked. It helps in isolating errors, if any. And if you are planning to run them at 1600, I would stick with the gray slots. Move to black if you are freezing during memtest.
 
Can you clarify this for me:
mike said in his system 1800 runs slower than 1800.

I have no idea what he meant when he said that.....really don't know how that could be true.

Stick #1 has done 5 passes in 4+ hours without errors or freezing. So far so good.
 
I'll stay up until its done a full 8 hours. After that, would I be safe to test stick #2 overnight? I'd like to save myself time tomorrow to test both sticks together and do the new hdd install. Is there any risk to leaving it running memtest overnight?
 
Also, should I remove my 2nd video card for these tests? I don't really need it in there, after all. My concern is that the fan on my side panel isn't working at the moment. The room is well air-conditioned, and it will be cool all night long. I've also set up the smaller fans that came with the ram next to the cpu to give it a little more air. But if I'm not using the video card, might as well save it the power consumption.
 
I'll be up for another 3.5 hours. If I don't hear from anyone on the issue, I won't run memtest overnight.
 
Thanks

Memtest on stick 1:
8.5 hours, 10 passes, 0 errors!
 
Yay! I'm starting stick two now and going to bed.
 
I checked my system temps via the BIOS system monitor right after finishing the first test and they were all fine. So I left the 2nd video card in. I guess I was worried for nothing.
 
By the way, I should be using the default configuration for memtest 4.2, right? I'd hate to think I messed something up with the testing at this point, but I might as well check. Could save me some time in the future.

Another question:
 
I want to do a clean install of Vista on the new HDD. Problem is, I own a copy of Adobe Master Collection CS3. Before I try to install it to a new HDD, I need to deactivate the current copy or I'll have issues when trying to reinstall. I can either: A) Boot up windows with the bad hdd and deactivate CS3, or B) Call Adobe and *hope* that they are understanding of the situation and allow another activation.
 
My worry with option A is that the HDD is clearly corrupt, and I don't want to mess up anything else on my system. The last recovery I did seemed to be fine though, the video drivers and USB drivers worked OK. The problem with option B is that it may not work at all. I've heard both good and bad things about Adobe's licensing support.
 
Can someone weigh in on my options? Do I pose any risk to my brand new RAM by booting up a corrupted copy of Windows (even just for a bit)?

I ran CHKDSK in safe mode and it came up with a corruption, then said it cannot continue. Plus, the constant video driver crashes, and the USB driver not loading, etc. There have been a lot of signs, now that I think about it. Its also very possible that the bad RAM was giving the HDD some troubles, and one problem leads to another.
 
I just want everything to go smoothly. Thats why I'm asking so many questions before doing anything. If you don't think a corrupted HDD can affect my new RAM, then I'll deactivate my software manually. If theres any chance of the new RAM being hurt by that HDD, then I won't even try it.

I couldn't set CHKDSK to run at bootup because when I would try to get into the drive properties within windows it would hang.

I ran chkdsk from a command window before, thats how I saw the corruption. I simply entered "chkdsk.exe". Thats pretty much the extent of my knowledge in CMD.
 
I can't schedule a chckdsk on startup because now everytime I right-click on something I get an error from WD Drive manager and explorer crashes. The WD drive manager problem is from my external backup drive which uses the (horrible) WD Smartware program. I had uninstalled this, but then I did a recovery and now it thinks its there, but its not.
 
Can you tell me another way to schedule a chkdsk on startup? I simply don't know how to do it without being able to access the drive properties.
 
EDIT: I found a way to schedule from command prompt, so I'm restarting into chkdsk now. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
EDIT 2: It ran but I wasn't able to watch the whole thing. I was pretty active, moving around a lot of files and whatnot. I'm still getting the WD Smartware errors all over the place. So perhaps the drive is OK, but the installation is corrupt. Either way, I'm going to replace it with the new, bigger, faster, better HDD I bought. I'll run CHKDSK on all my drives after that. Once thats all done, I'll be needing help to OC the system!

Even with a corrupt HD, booting it up with your new ram will be fine. I would attempt to deactivate it first. If you are unable to get into windows, only then should you call Adobe and notify them of your situation. Usually, if you can provide proof of purchase, they will deactivate the key on their end and generate a new one for you. Have you thought about going with Windows 7?

Hey....that is very good news!! I cannot answer your question regarding Chrome as, I only use IE.
 
When you get a chance, please post a template of your current BIOS settings....Thankx.

so unnangel, can ou post bios settings? I have 16Gb working no worries but the sli wont : /