Dodgy RAM can caused by a bad connection between the socket and the DIMM other than failed cells.

Bad connections can be caused because the DIMM socket is damaged or there is oxidation on either the DIMM connectors or the sockets connectors. This can be remedied by cleaning the oxidation off the surfaces by using isopropanol to clean the areas.

Further Notes

If pins of a socket are damaged or missing on one side of the socket, you could use DIMMs with chips only on one side. The chips on that side of the DIMM are only accessed by that side of the socket.

Using the memory with chips on one side only might only half of the time. It will also only allow you to have half the maximum RAM of that socket.

The reason is because:

• A DIMM has 2 sides, A and B
• Side A is accessed before Side B
• Single sided DIMMs are populated on the A side
• If the damage is to the B side of the DIMM socket then putting in a single sided chip will work because the B side of the socket is never accessed.
• If the damage to the socket is to the A side, no matter whether you use a single or double sided DIMM then side A will always be accessed and will cause errors from that DIMM/Socket