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Correlation With Other Testing Utilities

There are other ways of testing memory in a given system, one of them is to run memory intensive applications until the system crashes or the application shows errors. Interestingly, in Expendable Timedemo, all DIMMs tested failed within 1 MHz from where RST Pro started to show errors which is about as close a correlation as one could possibly expect. Aside from showing the coincidence of both methods, this also shows that error detection by RST-Pro has a real life counterpart or relevance for reliability of a system.

A 32 MB DIMM on which chip 1 and chip 3 were swapped after errors were mapped to the first repetition of bits 0-7 within the lower and upper domain. After the surgery (not very cosmetic, I have to admit as obvious from the "abused" solder connections) the errors migrated to the second iteration of bits 0-7 in both blocks, consistent with the relocation of the faulty chip.

An interesting aspect of RST-Pro is that it can be used to identify possible sources for errors within a production series. One example for this was an entire series of test modules that showed errors at chip #5. The consistency of the error location suggested that the errors were not caused by bad chips but rather caused by a PCB or assembly issue.

Conclusion

There are different ways of testing devices such as memory. The most basic test focuses on the chip level and verifies functionality of the die and packaging. The next level can be done on a DIMM tester like those used by memory vendors on computer fairs. Those testers usually only test for electrical continuity. In the extreme case, they walk a bit through the array which is the most basic test of all but does not necessarily show latent errors.

There are more sophisticated testers out there that allow modulation of parameters of setup and hold times (how fast the data can be made available and how long they need to stay available). If one knows the detailed characteristics of a given mainboard, it is possible to program the tester accordingly to simulate the specific environment where a problem occurs. This kind of testing comes with a price tag of a few US$ 100.000,- on average and there are certainly some applications where it is worth it.

For most applications, however, it appears a more sensitive approach to use the very system that is supposed to be used and run the tests "On-Site". Sure enough, at an estimated price tag of $600, RST-Pro is not the very cheapest device out there but it can be a worthwhile investment.

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