Hey guys, long time no see! I'm still working on being able to come to the next 100 man LAN, hopefully I'll be able to make that decision soon. Anyways, right now I'm having some problems with RAM. Here's my story:

About a month or two ago I noticed only half my RAM was being recognized. I tried switching the RAM around and just booting the computer up separately with each stick. Both sticks seemed to work by themselves in the first slot. Just trying to boot up using the second slot (I have three altogether) the computer didn't boot, so I just left that stick in there and put the other stick back in the first slot because I had no more time to mess around with it. Lo and behold the entire gig was recognized? Oh well, screw it, it works...I thought.

Well, after a week it was back to 512MB of recognized RAM. Not a big deal, I'll work some more with it when I can. Well, while playing BF2 the other night it got really, REALLY laggy. Turns out my computer was only recognizing half a stick of RAM! How is that possible? Since then I've updated my BIOS, took out some lights I had in for visual amusement (so their wires wouldn't be blocking any air), and cleaned out any dust (including taking the processor/heatsink out). I even turned my fan over on the top of the case so it blows inward to help bring in more air. I ran a RAM diagnostic tool (Windows Memory Diagnostic test) and it came back with Stride6 errors on every pass. I tested it in every slot with just one stick of RAM and both, same error.

Motherboard is: Mach Speed PT800DBP for P4, socket 478. Three RAM slots which can handle a few gigs each (I think 4G per slot).
RAM is: Corsair PC3200, 400DDR (512 x 2).

It's a home built computer the setup of which I've had for about 1 1/2 years. Nothing was done to any of the hardware in awhile (aside from cleaning it once in awhile) and the errors only started up recently without having opened up the computer so I don't think any static electricity is the cause.

Anyone know what the problem may be? I don't really have any heat problems except for the processor (which is due to a really efficient tower but it's something I'll have to just live with for the moment). The processor usually gets around 60-63C while gaming but the RAM doesn't get very hot at all so I don't think it's a heat problem. The RAM has heat plates on them.

Unfortunately, I don't have another computer available to me that could handle the RAM so that's not an option :(

nix cd? What's a nix? And when exactly would you type "memtest"? Would I have to boot to a DOS prompt?

nix=linux.  He is talking about something like knoppix.  i would just go and download it from memtest.com.

you want to get the iso version and burn it to a cd.  Then just tell your comp to boot to cd and it will start running right away.

yeah, what he said

Some more Google searching and I found this support thread: http://www.houseofhelp.com/v3/showthread.php?t=35526&highlight=stride6

It could be incorrect BIOS settings! I'll have to give that a try first as it was suggested by Corsair tech support gurus.

Also, 500 posts. Woot. Woot.

Woot.