Inconsistent (varying) memory addresses flagged from successive tests

[khjr]

Hi - I'm troubleshooting recurring Win 10 blue screen crashes on my new Dell that suggest memory issues based on review of minidump files, removal of all non-microsoft software, complete windows and driver update, etc. Although the Dell bios F12 memory test reports no problems, the computer fails the native Windows test and Memtest86 test repeatedly. Now I'm trying to convince Dell that there is a hardware problem not indicated by their bios test.

In reviewing the results of successive MemTest runs, I was hoping to see some recurring "bad" memory cells indicating where the problem, but the addresses seem to be all over the map with no repeats from one run to another. Can anyone advise is this normal for intermittent memory problems, or does the seemingly random variety of test failures suggest unreliable test results?

I put the table below together by taking the data from separate reports and pasting it into Excel (so that I could quickly check to see if the same address ever came up more than once)

Test Set	Fault	Fault Address	Lowest Address	Highest Address
6/17/2017 8:56	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 11ECDB48, Expected: 00000000, Actual: 00000004	11ECDB48	0x202D7C8 (32MB)	0x1876BD230 (6262MB)
6/17/2017 8:56	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 17E96588, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	17E96588	0x202D7C8 (32MB)	0x1876BD230 (6262MB)
6/17/2017 8:56	[Data Error] Test: 13, CPU: 0, Address: 35C45230, Expected: DF41D1AB, Actual: DF41D18B	35C45230	0x202D7C8 (32MB)	0x1876BD230 (6262MB)
6/17/2017 8:56	[Data Error] Test: 13, CPU: 0, Address: 1876BD230, Expected: 1CC9A5EB, Actual: 1CC9A5CB	1876BD230	0x202D7C8 (32MB)	0x1876BD230 (6262MB)
6/17/2017 8:56	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 202D7C8, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	202D7C8	0x202D7C8 (32MB)	0x1876BD230 (6262MB)
6/16/2017 23:45	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 5E3B3408, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	5E3B3408	0x5E3B3408 (1507MB)	0x75100188 (1873MB)
6/17/2017 23:45	[Data Error] Test: 3, CPU: 0, Address: 75100188, Expected: 00000000, Actual: 00000008	75100188	0x5E3B3408 (1507MB)	0x75100188 (1873MB)
6/16/2017 19:49	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 1CF6B9108, Expected: 00000000, Actual: 00000020	1CF6B9108	0x39B408 (3MB)	0x1CF6B9108 (7414MB)
6/16/2017 19:49	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 30EE8908, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	30EE8908	0x39B408 (3MB)	0x1CF6B9108 (7414MB)
6/16/2017 19:49	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 45B16488, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	45B16488	0x39B408 (3MB)	0x1CF6B9108 (7414MB)
6/16/2017 19:49	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 3B7B2A88, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	3B7B2A88	0x39B408 (3MB)	0x1CF6B9108 (7414MB)
6/16/2017 19:49	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 3A0A9648, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	3A0A9648	0x39B408 (3MB)	0x1CF6B9108 (7414MB)
6/16/2017 19:49	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 1C24B408, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	1C24B408	0x39B408 (3MB)	0x1CF6B9108 (7414MB)
6/16/2017 19:49	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 568B3408, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	568B3408	0x39B408 (3MB)	0x1CF6B9108 (7414MB)
6/16/2017 19:49	[Data Error] Test: 9, CPU: 0, Address: 19C33AFE0, Expected: A963568E, Actual: A962568E	19C33AFE0	0x39B408 (3MB)	0x1CF6B9108 (7414MB)
6/16/2017 19:49	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 39B408, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	39B408	0x39B408 (3MB)	0x1CF6B9108 (7414MB)
6/16/2017 19:49	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 2E24B408, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	2E24B408	0x39B408 (3MB)	0x1CF6B9108 (7414MB)
6/16/2017 6:07	[Data Error] Test: 13, CPU: 0, Address: 49B142B0, Expected: 5ACD10CB, Actual: 5ACD10EB	49B142B0	0x3B001748 (944MB)	0x9B78E2F0 (2487MB)
6/16/2017 6:07	[Data Error] Test: 13, CPU: 0, Address: 9B78E2F0, Expected: 3291184B, Actual: 3291186B	9B78E2F0	0x3B001748 (944MB)	0x9B78E2F0 (2487MB)
6/16/2017 6:07	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 3B001748, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	3B001748	0x3B001748 (944MB)	0x9B78E2F0 (2487MB)
6/16/2017 6:07	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 4DB90808, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	4DB90808	0x3B001748 (944MB)	0x9B78E2F0 (2487MB)
6/16/2017 6:07	[Data Error] Test: 9, CPU: 0, Address: 772286D0, Expected: 775C7698, Actual: 775D7698	772286D0	0x3B001748 (944MB)	0x9B78E2F0 (2487MB)
6/16/2017 6:07	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 3FF96588, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	3FF96588	0x3B001748 (944MB)	0x9B78E2F0 (2487MB)
6/15/2017 22:50	[Data Error] Test: 10, CPU: 0, Address: 53E4B408, Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB	53E4B408	0x53E4B408 (1342MB)	0x53E4B408 (1342MB)

[David (PassMark)]

Expected: 00000000, Actual: 00000004
Expected: FFFFFFFF, Actual: FFFFFFFB

The same bit is being flipped each time in these errors.
Which is characteristic of a RAM failure.
But it is also a bit random as well. Regardless, there is definitely something wrong with the hardware.

Obvious thing to do is swap out the RAM and see if the errors go away.

[khjr]

Thanks David. I hope that I can convince the Dell representative to accept the results of the test despite the extended ram test run from their bios finding no problems. Then, assuming they send me some memory, I'll disassemble the laptop so that I can start swapping. I recall reading somewhere on the Passmark website that the Memtest86 is superior to most bios tests. If possible, can you advise how it's superior so that I can be better armed for my conversations with Dell?

[David (PassMark)]

I don't know what Dell does in the BIOS test, so it is hard to comment.

Some laptop RAM is now being soldered to the motherboard. Meaning it is really hard to replace. Hopefully this is not your case. 8GB of laptop ram is only around $50. Might not be worth fighting DELL and having them take 4 weeks to fix it.