[kingofny.hova]

Hi all, in advance--thanks for any help you may have.

I have a MSI 880g-e45 motherboard. I also have Crucial Ballistic Sport ram, 2x 4gb sticks. They are located in Dimm1 & Dimm2. There is 4 slots. For dual channel to work correctly, or to even boot up correctly, the manual states I must put the first ram stick in slot 1. I have found out that slot 2 is giving me Memtest-86 errors. The same 2 sticks of ram has no errors on any of the other three slots.

I have come to conclusion that the ram is fine and slot 2 is not working right.

Should I just forget about dual channel and go with the 1st and 3rd slots with the same ram or should I look into another board? My thoughts are to just forget about it and use the other 3 slots and I'll just get by for a while.

Again, thanks for your help. I know it may be a lot to ask but, I hope to have this figured out this evening.

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If me, I would try the two sticks in slots 3 and 4 and see what happens. I realize the manual says to start with 1, but it may still work. If not, then move them back. Just be sure to unplug from the wall and touch bare metal of the case interior to discharge any static before reaching in.

How old is the board? You might check with MSI and see if they will replace it. If you choose to buy a new board, understand if your Windows license is an OEM license (and most are) the new board MUST the exact model replacement (or suggested MSI's suggested replacement if that model is no longer available. Otherwise, a different board is considered an "upgrade" and therefore would require a new Windows license.

If not under warranty, and you are still happy with the performance, it should cause no harm to keep running it with slot 2 unpopulated.

[Digerati]

If me, I would try the two sticks in slots 3 and 4 and see what happens. I realize the manual says to start with 1, but it may still work. If not, then move them back. Just be sure to unplug from the wall and touch bare metal of the case interior to discharge any static before reaching in.

How old is the board? You might check with MSI and see if they will replace it. If you choose to buy a new board, understand if your Windows license is an OEM license (and most are) the new board MUST the exact model replacement (or suggested MSI's suggested replacement if that model is no longer available. Otherwise, a different board is considered an "upgrade" and therefore would require a new Windows license.

If not under warranty, and you are still happy with the performance, it should cause no harm to keep running it with slot 2 unpopulated.

[kingofny.hova]

Thank you Digerati. I will try that out today and test it. The board can be RMA'd, it's 5 months old and under a 3 year warranty. I think I'll wait if I can get by, replace it in a year or so when I build another pc. So far I haven't noticed any speed differences.

[Digerati]

The board can be RMA'd, it's 5 months old and under a 3 year warranty. I think I'll wait if I can get by,

I don't know that I would do that. If you wait, there is a good chance an exact replacement will not be available. If you get an exact replacement, there is a good chance you can simply swap it out, without Windows choking with too many "new hardware found" instances.