Crucial Ballistix PC3200 (DDR400) 1GB Kit

[Rob Williams]

With so many companies now offering performance memory, it makes it harder to choose which one to buy. We are taking a look at Crucial's offering, the Ballistix PC3200. Is their memory with a purchase? Let's check it out.

http://www.techgage.com/images/news/ballistix_logo.jpg

After reading the review here (http://www.techgage.com/review.php?id=1593), feel free to post questions or comments here! If I was wrong on any of my facts, flames are welcome too ;)

[madmat]

Pretty schpankity ram there Rob...I love the numbers that kit pulled at the high end, very impressive for "PC3200".

[abracadabra]

Thanks for the review-I was getting same errors as you at all timings. Trc and Trcf tip worked wonders. If i put any more than 2.5 volts in whatever the timings are at it errors. I see Rob you are at 2.5-3-3-8 @3.0v! i have got past test #7 at the time of writing this post and ill let test run all night too see if it errors. I read somewhere somebody got 2.5-2-2-5 @ddr500 with this ram. Again thanks for the trc trcf tip. What settings would u recommend for testing cpu stability in prime95, any other progs i should use? This is my first week of ocing and first ever ocing post so please write back noob proof. thanks

[abracadabra]

oops

AMD winchester 3200 @2.5
DFI LanParty Ultra-D
Crucial Ballistix pc3200 @2.5-3-3-6 2.5V
X850XT PE

Do i paste this at bottom of all posts or is there somewhere to save it?

[(cf)Eclipse]

Rob asked me to fill in here, so here goes for my first post.


If i put any more than 2.5 volts in whatever the timings are at it errors.
hmm, i've seen some people have this issue before. a few questions that could help:
which bios are you using? i recommend bios 5/10 -2 for the dfi nf4 if you don't have an X2.
next.. which ram slots are you using?
in the bios, did you change the dram drive strength?
last, do you have a fan blowing on the ram? in my own testing i find that ballistix runs rather hot. while it's strange that you have to drop to 2.5v, cooler temps never hurt anything.


I read somewhere somebody got 2.5-2-2-5 @ddr500 with this ram.
this is an above average result, but is doable for some with enough voltage, proper tweaking, and good cooling.

What settings would u recommend for testing cpu stability in prime95, any other progs i should use?
settings.. i won't touch on, but for testing ram stability, i highly recomment memtest86 (http://www.memtest.org/) and superPI (http://superpi.radeonx.com/super_pi_mod-1.4.zip)
edit: just noticed that you said CPU stability. silly me. use in-place FFT's in prime95 :D


lastly, here's where you should enter your sig:
http://www.techgage.com/forums/profile.php?do=editsignature

[Rob Williams]

I read somewhere somebody got 2.5-2-2-5 @ddr500 with this ram.

That sounds like something I want to try once I have the PC3200 back in this PC. It definitely sounds achievable.

For settings you could try:

2-2-2-6 @ 2.5v / 200MHz, DDR400, 2.0GHz
1.5-2-2-6 @ 2.5v / 200MHz, DDR400, 2.0GHz
2-2-2-6 @ 2.8v / 218MHz, DDR436, 2.4GHz
1.5-2-2-6 @ 2.8v / 218MHz, DDR436, 2.4GHz
2.5-3-3-6 @ 2.8v / 229MHz, DDR458, 2.521GHz
2.5-2-3-6 @ 2.9v / 270MHz, DDR540, 2.7GHz
2.5-4-4-10 @ 3.2v / 260MHz, DDR520, 2.85GHz
2.5-4-4-10 @ 3.2v / 280MHz, DDR561, 2.80GHz

Those are the same ones I used in the review, and you have a *similar* CPU, so you may have luck with some. I personally wouldn't try the last two right off, but you could try 2.5-3-3-8 @ 3.0v (270*10 or the like).

Glad you are having fun with your OC'ing!

[abracadabra]

Thanks for the quick reply. Im not sure what bios im using, how would i tell? cant seem to ever find that info in bios. I did update it from the one that came with the board though (510p??? if that exists cant remember) beacause ballistix memory would have loads of errors with origonal bios. Memtest at #7, 3 passes at time of writing this!hurray!

Maybe without bios revision my next question may be hard to answer. I find that maybe every 6 or 8 shutdown and reboot the bios splash screen comes up fine then u get that white on black writting then before booting to either memtest or hdd the system reboots!Just DFI being DFI or something to do with my oc? Strange though because it does this even with a stable set-up.

[Rob Williams]

You can download a the latest version of CPU-Z (http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php), which will tell you the BIOS date. You can head over to techPowerUp! (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/other/114) for the latest BIOS, beta and official. I would recommend trying the 702-2 one, which is what I am currently using.

If you don't want to use a BETA BIOS, you could use the 623 version off there. Just remember to reset your BIOS settings before flashing, or you may need to reset the CMOS.. as I've had to do a few times.

Chances are, if the computer reboots randomly, but often, it could be the memory OC. Sometimes it will pass fine, and others it won't. I've also had this happen in the past with certain settings, but it's never really affected my performance anywere.

[(cf)Eclipse]

You can download a the latest version of CPU-Z (http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php), which will tell you the BIOS date.
yup, in the memory tab, if you have trouble finding it :D

also, are you only using test #7 in memtest?

[abracadabra]

no running all tests just coincidence its at #7. No lie its at #7 pass 4 right now!ha. ok will do bios update. On linux at mo so will have to do that in the morning ( im uk late nighter). To get your 3v rob have u used changed the dram jumper? Also u suggest 27 * 10 lol im on aire cooling what would u say a safe voltage was to go up to on my winnie. I can only go up to 1.55v or is that where vid specail contoll come in

[Rob Williams]

I personally have not gone above 1.5v on the CPU, because I use stock cooling as well. I would just watch your temps and make sure you do not go too high.

My DFI BIOS supports up to 3.2, so I didn't touch any jumpers, but it may not hurt to try. I've never had to touch that for any OC's.

Good, another Linux user :P

[abracadabra]

Ah you have moved to page 2 lol. Yes gentoo linux user, nice to meet you! cant wait to get my dfi stable to put gentoo 64 bit on it. imagine that!

[abracadabra]

let me get this straight, ur at 2.7 @1.5v on air? didnt think u could do that. hopefully my winnie goes that high

[Rob Williams]

Go into your User CP and then the options. You can set how many posts are displayed per page if you like!

Yuppers, 1.5v @ 2.7 GHz. You can see ALL my info right here (http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=34519)!

[abracadabra]

Bet that goes some. Check out "overclockix" unless you have already. Sorry one more thing, im 8 passes no errors 2.5-3-3-6 2.5v ddr500, should i assume its stable or leave for anothet 20 hours?. where would u say to go to next?(as in ddr520? )

[Rob Williams]

I consider MemTest with no errors for two hours to be stable, but I'm not fussy. I only let it run through the night when I believe I found the absolute overclock.

Are you benchmarking as you are going along? I'd use EVEREST and the Memory Read test maybe, and compare it as you go along. You may want to try 2.5-2-3-5 at the same speeds maybe. Bump it up to DDR520 isn't a bad idea either though. Sometimes the latency and such will offset the extra DDR, so benchmarking along the way will let you know what's the best setting.

[abracadabra]

Ah im not benchmarking. i will do now though. just tried a ddr520 @2.5-3-3-8 and went all voltages up to 3v2 but errors came. Maybe my ram not as good as yours?

[abracadabra]

Dont know if this info is any use to your helping me but when i say errors theres only 1 error and it allways appears at 191.1mb on the ram.

[Rob Williams]

You mean in MemTest right? That means you have OC'd too far. The best way to stress test would be to do one scan with MemTest then go into Windows and benchmark with EVEREST. It maybe wouldn't hurt to run a 3D Mark 03 or 05 test either, for stability.

My memory is not likely beter than yours, but you definitely need to play around a little. Tomorrow if I have time, I will see what type of scores I can get. I haven't played around with the PC3200 for a little while.

Maybe try 3-3-3 and see how that treats you.

[abracadabra]

yes memtest. yeah that would be cool. thanks for ur help tonight i might get some sleep

[Rob Williams]

Sleep is for the weak :D

Naw, me as well. Early shift tomorrow. Let me know how you make out!

[abracadabra]

Well after much experimenting i can say my cpu is stable at 265*10 @1.5 v (have zalman heatsink should be fine) my ram though is having great trouble doing any timings at this speed with voltages up to 3v2 though (still only that 1 error at 191.1mb ,perhaps there is another timing that could fix this? I have droped most of them (didnt fix) then droped all of them and couldnt boot up(had to restet cmos). RAM seems fine at 2.5-3-3-8-8-10 at ddr500. Ive looked into memory dividers and have decided not to use them. What do you think about this? perhaps i should run at 2.65ghz and use a memory divider to run 2-2-2-5 on the ram. After a half dozen articles ive read it seems its best to run 1:1 rather than divider with nothing less than 2-5-3-3-8. What are your views on this rob? My target for now is trying to get the ram to work at ddr530 with 2.5-3-3-8-8-10 or similar.

[Rob Williams]

Yeah, I'd recommend trying to keep a 1:1 since you have a good CPU speed. If you are running 2.65GHz right now, wouldn't that make your memory DDR530?

Get EVEREST if you haven't already, and then do a Memory Read test and throw me the results :D

[abracadabra]

well i got 2.65ghz with a divider. my memory wont go past ddr500@2.5-3-3-8. anysuggestions?

[Rob Williams]

I'm wondering if it's your CPU holding you back.

I had no problem hitting 270 * 10 @ 1.5v, with 2.5-3-3-8 timings. You could try to bump your DDR Voltage to 3.2, but only if you have adequate cooling, as you seen I have in that review.

You *may* want to try playing around with those new dividers as well.. the ones with the 702 BIOS. I know I had a blast goofing around, but I never actually found any performance benefits.

[abracadabra]

oh yeah i flashed to 720-2 this morning. Had a butchus at dividers was good fun seeing 2.65ghz with 2-2-2-5! when i do run memtest, th error i recieve is always at 191.1mb on the ram. Would it make any difference if i used a different memtest (using 1.60 buitl into bios at mo). Shame all this really, why did i buy 2-2-2-5 ram if its not helping me?

http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Memory/Crucial-Ballistix-PC3200-2x512MB-Memory-Review/

this is were i saw 2.5-2-2-5 @ ddr510.

[Rob Williams]

MemTest 1.6 is the latest version, so no need to change that. 2-2-2-5 timings are good to keep, but when I used 2.5-3-3-8 @ 270, I found that to be the ultimate best in the way of Latency and Read/Writes.

You may want to try 2.5-2-2 even. The 191.1 thing.. I don't know if there is a logical reason, really. I've had errors hit at the same spot before, but I never figured out exactly why.

[abracadabra]

just thanks again for ur help! Well now im starting to get anoyed. After extensive testing at 2.5-3-3-8ddr500 i just cant get it stable even up to 3v2. Maybe im missing a vital setting! but not an obvious one. both ur review and that one i posted im thinking i have not so good ram. :mad:

[Rob Williams]

I'm doubtful it's your memory, but it *could* be your CPU, I'm completely unsure. Next time I see Eclipse, I'll ding him to take a look here and get his opinions. He knows more about Crucial than anyone else.. in the world :D

[abracadabra]

thanks. Getting silly now. Cant even do 3-4-4-10-8-10 ddr500/?

[Rob Williams]

Could be a possibility of too much leniance. That's wierd though.

Did you happen to try my settings of 270 2.5-3-3-8 3.2v ?

[abracadabra]

Thats a no go too. At he moment i am doing a thorough stabily test on cpu at 260*10, i've done occt 30 min test and super pi 32M and its passed both and now im currentl doing 24 hour prime 95. Im doing this to check the error is not caused by my cpu as per your advise. Any other tests i can do to ensure stability?

[Rob Williams]

12 hours may be perfect for Prime95. I recommend you use 3D Mark 05 to benchmark. If there's any faults at all, that will usually crash.

[Unregistered]

when testing ram clocks, you want to remove everything else from the equation.

leave ram divider at 200mhz/ddr400 (1:1)
drop cpu multi to 6 or 7x
drop HT link (LDT) multi to 3x/600mhz

and focus on the ram itself.

[(cf)Eclipse]

hmm, didn't log me in :confused:

[DarkSynergy]

This should help you out (http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12960)

This is kind of building on what Eclipse said. Just take it slow and try to figure one thing out at a time, then move onto another issue. The Ballistix is a tricky RAM to get but it's possible to get a lot out of them. Just keep trying and keep posting here so we can help you though it.

I usually run mem-test for about an hour or so. I have heard that 12 to 24 hours is the target time but I am impatient and I hardly ever keep my system OC'd longer than it takes to bench. When I game, I always run stock clocks but when I bench, thats when I pump up the clocks and see what is in the machine.


...................I need another gig of Ballistix!

[abracadabra]

OKay thanks guys.Ive been having good fun! I would say things are looking up a lil bit. My cpu 100% stable @ 260*10, 3d03 pass, 3d05 pass, prime95 (16 hours) pass, OCCT 30min pass, Siper PI32M pass. Anything else i can do for my own piece of mind? I am working on RAM right now and seems to be holding stable 2.5-3-2-6-8-10 @2.6V ddr 480. So is my target now to run tightish timings @ ddr 520 ? Is that going to be possible? Ive read many places ballistix pc 3200 can only do ddr514 2.5-3-3-7/6. I guess well see.

Edit:My sig is not stable

Edit: Maybe wrong forgot rob got 2.5-3-2-6ddr540@2.9v.

[Rob Williams]

I could have been lucky that time too, I haven't tried to accomplish that again. I am running 2.5-3-3-8 though at DDR540, so I know this memory is capable of a lot.

If I were you, I'd try to just up the voltage, maybe to 3.0 or 3.2 and then turn your divider to 1:1, to *try* for DDR520. I might tri 2.5-3-3-8 as well.. and if it's not stable, I would blame your CPU. The new Venice chips overclock very well apparently.

[abracadabra]

things loking good ive just passed two passes of memtest, ddr520 2.5-3-3-6 @ 2v6+0v03. Ill let it run for 8-10 hours?? then try for 2.5-3-2-6. Pray my memory stays stable at 2.5-3-3-6 for me. Thanks for all your help, i think what was holding me back (providing it does stay stable) was the fact i kept my Trc and Trcf at 8 and 10. Set it back to auto if not running 2-2-2-5 and seems to be holding up.

[Rob Williams]

Sweet man, that's great. I'd keep MemTest going for a few hours.. no need to go any longer if you are just going to try to OC it more.

Yeah, sometimes the TRC and TRCF can screw you over, I forgot to mention that. There are other misc timings in there that held back my OC before as well, so I just turned everything to Auto except the basics.

[Unregistered]

The new Venice chips overclock very well apparently.



Venice is the overclockers word for God. They are killer cores.

[DarkSynergy]

^^^ That was me damn it.

[Rob Williams]

Haha...

I have no idea why the forums booting people out; I have not had that problem yet.

[(cf)Eclipse]

This should help you out (http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12960)
just cause i have had a few brushes with evil people over at dfi street, i will provide my competition :D
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1027479689&postcount=2
(basically the same thing though :p)

Ive read many places ballistix pc 3200 can only do ddr514 2.5-3-3-7/6. I guess well see.
really? that's interesting..
here's how my ballistix does:
http://www.eclipseoc.com/image/ballistix/chart.png

[Rob Williams]

2.5-2-2 at DDR500 speeds? That's some nice timings there. Is that chart from one stick, or two?

[abracadabra]

Just incase your interested i was still getting errors now at 2.5-3-3-8 so ive set trc and trcf to there max and its passes memtest 5 times. Do you think setting them to max has much of a performance degradation?

[Rob Williams]

Well, I do highly recommend you start benchmarking in between. That will tell you definitely if there was an adverse affect or not. Good idea though, and I personally am not sure if that actually would degrade that much or not, but I'm doubtful.

I'd still load up EVEREST and see what your Memory Read/Write and Latency are. I'm curious as to what kind of scores you are receiving.

[abracadabra]

urg! i just cant get this ram stable. Any ballistix guys out there be so kind as to help me get ddr520 out these sticks. Or am i best on a divider running 2-2-2-5? Also memtest recognises my ram as 1023, that right?

[Rob Williams]

Eclipse just so happens to be offline :/

When I overclock, I always try to stick to 1:1 ratio, to make things easy. I would only change it if my memory was holding back a CPU overclock, which may be possible with your Winnie.

What's been your highest stable configuration so far?

[DarkSynergy]

urg! i just cant get this ram stable. Any ballistix guys out there be so kind as to help me get ddr520 out these sticks. Or am i best on a divider running 2-2-2-5? Also memtest recognises my ram as 1023, that right?


First off, dont worry about what memtest is saying, thats nothing to worry about.

I have the same motherboard as you and was able to get 520 out of it. My setup was 3.0V, 260 x 10 (1:1) and my timings were 2.5-3-3-8. Those timings are somewhat loose but with those volts, 260 was possible. The Ballistix, for the most part, is capable RAM so dont give up just yet. If you do pump those volts through the RAM, make sure you have a fan on the sticks cause they will get warm. You will get better bandwidth with a figher FSB @ 1:1 than lower clock with tigher timings. Now if you go 270 at 3-4-4-10 then it might not be better with those loose timings. Best of luck and post back withyour results.

[abracadabra]

Ill have to get back to you on that one rob. You see what i did was find my max cpu speed 260*10 and then ive just been trying to get 260 out my ram from then. Ill try find out what my ram is capable of. Should i set 2.5-3-3-8 and up the fsb from 220? A question here. Lets say joe bloggs can run ddr 500 2.5-3-3-8 @ 3v0, would the ram still be stable at ddr400 2.5-3-3-8 3v0?

Thanks dark. Well anything over 2v7 and it errors right away! Seems my ram doesnt like voltage at all. In order for my to be stable at just ddr400 m.y ram musnt be over 2v5. I only have two 120mm fans (in/out) and a zalman cpu cooler i think its the biggest one 7700 rings a bell. would a fan help it run more stable at higher voltages or is it just to keep it cool and make the ram last longer? I do have a large case ( Some Akasa) and i thinks my system stays relitivy cool. That was the plan anyway, doesnt really get too hot over here in the UK, Although you all have aircon dont you. Was kinda hoping i wouldnt have to put another fan in (a) i hate the noise b) would ruin the looks (see through panal)).

Im very new to this overclocking but i just have a hunch that maybe one of the other gallizzion ram timings needs to be changed. Any Ideas anyone?

[(cf)Eclipse]

Lets say joe bloggs can run ddr 500 2.5-3-3-8 @ 3v0, would the ram still be stable at ddr400 2.5-3-3-8 3v0?
yup. and common notation for voltage would be 3.0v, or 2.6v ;)

my chart is for one stick. i edited it so that it's back up.. my website is going through some major overhauls, so yeah.
if you're really new, there's one thing you should keep in mind at all times:
GO SLOWLY! don't make any big jump. test at a given mhz, bump up a small amount (less than 5mhz), and test again. if you bump up voltage, do so in .1v increments, and see how it changes. same with the timings :p

[abracadabra]

OK. Im glad you picked up on this. I made it up myself during my A level years to help me out. I have an electronics background and convinced my teacher aswell to take the 3V6 type notation. I believe I did it this way as to a) aviod people mistaking where a "." is positioned, if positioned atall! (especaily useful if writing in pencil), b) A prefix is never forgoten to be added (very important) c) I personally find it easier to read if hand writen. d) "V" can stand for 0.0V if a value must be added and has 3 less charactars in it. I was sure i had a better reason for doing this but i cant remember it. If you can think of any other reason to use this type of notation please point it out as it will all help my cause. My cause? Im trying to get the entire world to use this notation.

Ah cool. Useful chart.

[DarkSynergy]

Are you OCing for benching or for everyday use? If it is just to see how high you can get it then by all means, throw a fan on the RAM. It might look shitty but it will help a lot. When you are worried about looks, sometimes performance is something you have to sacrifice sometimes. Again, best of luck, you'll pick up on it...trust me.

[abracadabra]

For everyday use. I need it dead stable before i put gentoo on it. Just tweaked a few more ram timings testing now

[(cf)Eclipse]

My cause? Im trying to get the entire world to use this notation.
world domination!

and if stability is an absolute must, when you find the limit, back off a bit from that, mhz wise.. just to allow for some fluctuations in room temp and stuff that could effect stability if you left it on the edge :D

[abracadabra]

Will do thanks. Well ive just started 2.5-3-3-10 2V6+0V03 so hopfuly ill be back here in 24 hours telling u its stable

[Rob Williams]

Oh yeah, you are not cooling your memory? I forget if you said you were or not. Ballistix, well.. any performance memory get's far too hot while overclocking. A cooler is almost a must.

[abracadabra]

Urg not stable. Back to one of your ealier questions rob i am stable 2.5-3-3-10 2V7
Would someone please answer these questions for me, i think they would help me alot

1) Would cooler memory run able me to run more stable? I thought it was just to make the chips last longer.

2) Would 2.5-2-2-5 3V1 run hotter than 3-4-4-10 3V1 ?

3) Would ddr500 2.5-3-3-10 2V9 run cooler than ddr600 2.5-3-3-10 2V9 ?

Thats right, there is no direct cooling on my memory. Perhaps i should just set 2V9 and see how high i can go!

[Unregistered]

i just found out something interesting. most 512mb ballistix uses micron 5b G chips.. but i have a friend who just got a stick that's single sided with 5b D (the stuff that goes in 1gb ballistix and value).

if you could look at the little ESD bag that your ballistix came in, does it look like this:

http://eclipseoc.com/image/16TG.jpg

on the end of the part number, you see .16TG. this signifies 16 tsop chips, G die revision (5b G)
the stick in question with 5b D says .8TD, which means 8 tsop chips, D revision.
if you could tell us what yours are, it may explain a bit (G oc's better and likes voltage more than D)

[abracadabra]

Good idead but there .16TG ones. WEll iv run memtest #5 21 times @ 2.5-3-3-10 ddr510 2V6+V03 and its stable. running all memtests now. So the extra 5mhz fsb must be making the memory unstable and not the voltage

i have an old fan out of a dell optiplex GX1, http://www.impactcomputers.com/89651.html. That seems like a very expensive fan? its must be amazing! Any ideas if its worth using, if so wheres the best place, considering i dhave a zalam 770 wich covers the ram slightly so i cant put it where you put urs rob

[DarkSynergy]

Not to offend you but it has been said earlier in the thread that activly cooling your RAM will, just like a CPU, keep it stable better as well as allow a higher overclock. I have the same Zalman as you, well the 7000 but there isnt much differance between the two really, and it only cools one side of the lowest DIMM. I have a ghetto rigged 80mm fan blowing down onto my RAM and it has helped out incredably. I am not sure how much timings effect your temps, it any, but the higher the voltage, the higher your temps.

If I were a betting man, I would hone in on your clocks rather than your volts for stability issues here. The voltage will only allow your RAM to hold tighter timings in higher clocks...stable.

So to answer your three questions,

1. Yes, cooler memory runs better....just like a cooler CPU is ideal for overclocking and stability.

2. I think that temps, if hotter, would be neglegable at best. With the tighter timings, you still are pumping 3.1v through your sticks. I personally would not attempt 3.1 for long. I got 265 with 3.0v and I didnt want to go any higher than that with the voltage.

3. I think that DDR 250 would run slightly cooler than DDR 600

[DarkSynergy]

That seems like a very expensive fan?


That is an obsurd price for a stinking fan. More power to you if you throw it on your RAM, it will help. For 50 dollars, that fan better fold on its own!

[(cf)Eclipse]

that previous guest post was mine. i'm not used to boards that let you post without logging in :p

and if it's a fan, it's worth using. i upgraded my 5v'ed 80mm tornado to a quieter 120mm fan, but still moves similar amount of air. without it, i'd probably have to clock back like 10mhz :(

[abracadabra]

I get the picture. The reason i spent £90 on case was to allow good cooling and thus a quieter sysytem. Seems im forced to use a fan on my ram if i want it overclocked! Im stable now 2.5-3-3-10 drr 510 @2V6+V03. Anymore voltage or any tighter timings and errors appear. It seems certain now that another fan will help me. Sorry eclipse i see u mentioned this a few posts into the thread. Ill rig up my 80mm and point it at the ram to see what i get out of my ram then. An eye sore really! A more visully appealing solution would be much preffered but due to the restriction i have with my zalman 7700 i think ghetto would have to be the way to go!

[DarkSynergy]

Why are you so adament on getting the most out of your RAM just to install Gentoo? Or is it just to see what you can get out of your RAM? That I can understand...

[abracadabra]

I didnt ever say i was adament on getting the most out of my ram in order to install gentoo. However i do need it stable before i install gentoo. If you know anything about that distro then you'll be familier with the fact that alot of compiling needs to take place in order to run the system, thus my looking into overclocking. As my cpu can handle 260*10 and many people have achieved ddr520 with this ram i feel i may aswell do it to. Im having fun also. Even bitching with you. You have ballistix pc4000 but you do not state your overclock, im interested, what is it?

[DarkSynergy]

First off, I wouldn't call what we are discussing "bitching." Don't get so defensive; I am just trying to help you.

At the bottom of page 5 (http://techgage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166&page=5&pp=10) are the results of mine that you were looking for. Since then, I have gotten up to 268 MHz (268 x 10) at 3.0v with my timings at 2.5-3-3-10. I know that's not stellar but I am satisfied with them so far and with better cooling, I know that more is available. I am not trying to verbally spar with you, just trying to find exactly how I can help you.

[abracadabra]

Maybe defensive. So do you think there will be much difference in 2.6ght 2.5-2-3-10 over 2.55ghz 2.5-3-3-10. The first settings will be what id use with less noise without another fan and the second set is what i think id get with a fan on my ram. thanks

[(cf)Eclipse]

you must have that backwards :p

the difference between the two are probably negligable...

BUT
the cooler you keep the ram, the longer it'll last. ;)



btw rob, you need different smilies :cool:

[abracadabra]

Well its official, whats in my sig is 100% stable. Thanks guys. Yes it was backwards! oops. Ill take that into account ( about temps ). Somethong is making my antec neopowers fan speed up! perhaps it is the ram. Ill put that fan in and let you guys know what differance it makes if your interested. It will prob be a few days because that fan i mentioned earier is for dell motherboards + the wires are to short.

[Rob Williams]

Grats, you will get great performance out of that configuration. That's using 1:1 right?

[abracadabra]

Note the sig change. This had to be done because i decided to to more stress testing in my room with the windows shut on a boiling hot day. Now i am happy to say this config is stabe even in a very hot room which is what i wanted. Thanks alot for your help. Ive just done some benchmarks and even though the numbers dont mean much its looks like quite an improvment? I could from now try get 2.5-2-2-5 out of my ram. Perhaps this willneed up to 3V1 though so would need better cooling. Ive had loads of fun in the last few weeks learning about overclocking, i knew i wanted to do it for my linux compiling, divx encoding and games, thus the parts i purchased for my new comp but didnt think it would make much difference. Perhaps in a few months i might look into this watercooling stuff and maybe its worth me getting a venice core! Memory bandwidth seems a little low especially at stock 2-2-2-5 or that about right? Cheers

OC ............................. stock 2-2-2-5

cpu arith 11412.................... 9164
________ 3907/5051.................3129/4055

cpu multi 23540......................18895
________ 25316......................20360

memory band 6982.......................5682
________ 6904.....................5619

3dmark03 13104 12566
3dmark05 6416 6303

[Rob Williams]

Those scores are bang on bro.. good stuff. You have nothing to worry about.

As I said, to see any more improvement, I believe you'd need a newer model AMD.

Good stuff for sure though.

[abracadabra]

Well my computer is still working!woo hoo. I thought id do some more stability testing even though theres prob no need. Earlier on in the thread in place TFTs was the suggestion fo running prime95. After googling for 10 mins i was shocked to see i couldnt find any clear documemtation on which settings to use. So i ask you, which setting do i use for ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM STRESS testing of cpu and ram.

Surely it would be custom? with min tft=8, max tft=32768 and 1024 for ram. and time to run each tft, well aslon as i want i guess 30mins?. Am i right? Why dont other people do this? i want to run it for 48 hours. You may think this is unneccecary but frankly i want to do it anyway.

Please dont just say do blend because surly theres a more vigorous test! Thanks guys

[Rob Williams]

I personally never used anything but Small FFT's. If you can pass that for 24 hours, you are golden. Blend mode may be used specifically to stress test weaknesses in memory, which you will likely not have.

You could custom it if you are really ambitious, but I am not even sure if that would be much different than Small FFT's. I could be wrong..

[abracadabra]

well ive done all types of prime95 an passes 24 hrs with all of he, my games run fine too. I do however have stuttering about three times when playing a divx movie, soemtimes i have to copletly restart the movie. it does it on any movie and doesnt do it when the system is not overclocked. Its definitly related to the overclock. Im confused now because i thought my system was stable!. Hope you can help me with this one rob,thanks. Perhaps this should be posted somewhere else.

[Rob Williams]

There are some things that just don't like overclocking.. and I have wierd issues like that as well.

I remember when Unreal Tournament first came out.. my system was very overclocked, and rock stable. However, every once and a while, the game would just close on me for no apparent reason. After digging further, I discovered it was a common issue, because the game's fussy when it comes to overclocking.

I knew it was not because of an unstable overclock, because every single other game and app worked fantastic.

I possibly have another wierd quirk due to overclocking as well. Every so often when I open Winamp, all my settings are reset. I never actually took the time to figure out if it's due to overclocking, because I never use stock, but it could be.

So, to be honest, if you want to watch movies, I'd just revert the OC, or possibly try a different player.

[abracadabra]

I see. Thats a bummer for me, i was hopeing everything would be dead stable. I might just splash out on an expensive cpu and a more stable motherboard. seems a shame really.

[Rob Williams]

Naw man, I wouldn't upgrade if you don't really need to. Once you overclock, you will always overclock, no matter which CPU you have :P

Did you try a different media player? My similar CPU is overclocked as well, and I have no issues with skipping. I use Windows Media Player for videos and WinDVD for DVD's, obviously.

[abracadabra]

True i think i would try oc it anyway lol. yyeah i tried divx and medai player which made me think it was the divx codec at first. I guess ill have to watch a bunch of movies with the system stock and hope it pauses and starts aswell

[Rob Williams]

Did you try re-installing the Divx Codec? Or see if there is a new version available?

It could also be your video drivers.. I've seen that happen before.

[abracadabra]

Well im cying about nothing. I defragmented my two paartitions and now my movies play smoother than ever ( im used to linux ). I am really apprechiating your help rob. I do however get a bios beep at the login screen when i boot up sometimes. I ve checked codes but one beep for pheonix bios doesnt exist!

[DarkSynergy]

My BIOS beeps everytime at startup. That is nothing to worry about.

[Rob Williams]

You guys are nuts! I never plug my PC speaker in :D

Mine would beep at start up as well though, definitely nothing to worry about. It's just letting you know that you made your computer through POST.

[abracadabra]

Well not a crash yet! Although 1 in 6 boot ups of the machine take a long time, my hdd stops for a few minsa then starts again!.

I have a question about RAM if anyone can help me.

I would like to add more RAM to my machine. I currently have 2x512 in dual channel. Can i add 2x1024 to make 3GB of RAM and still keep ddr500 and same timings (assuming i buy more ballistix that is)?

[Blumen]

Hate to dig up a dead thread, but here's a question:

I have Ballistix pc4000 running on my NF7-S at 10x200. I can boot into windows at 9x222 no problems, but at 2.5-4-4-9, only. I was expecting a bit higher fsb window than that... Is there any known problems with NF2 boards and not liking fsbs higher than 220? I'm trying to look for modded bios, one that may help for higher fsb. I'm shooting for 10x250, i know it can hit the overall clock speed of that already. (13x200)

[(cf)Eclipse]

drop the memory divider a notch or two to see where the FSB tops out on your mobo. i was able to get 235mhz (mobo limit) at 2.5-2-2 with my pc3200 ballistix.

[Blumen]

Thanks a lot. I'm going to do a lot more research and beating on this rig tomorrow, it's my day off, so i'll let you guys know how it goes. I know people have had this mobo at 10x250, so the mobo limit isn't really an issue... it's just getting it to like running those clocks.

[avidgamer]

Hi all,

I've been reading the posts and I've had a similar issue with my ram and a DFI motherboard. I spent almost 6 hours trying to configure the crusial ballistix RAM to work with this MB.

I managed to get it stable after some time, but what I would really like to know is what are the 'ideal' settings for my system.

Here is what I have.

1gb of crucial ballistix 3200 RAM.
DFI nf4 UT SLI-D motherboard
AMD Athlon X2 4200+ Dual Core CPU
BFG 7900 GTX 512MB Video
Ultra X2-Connect 550W PSU

I can't seem to find stable settings above 200MHz ram speeds. And the bios for this motherboard is very complicated....

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!!:D

[Jakal]

Are you using the orange ram slots? I wasn't able to get my OCZ 10Mhz above stock in the yellow slots, no matter the settings. Using the orange slots I was able to get them to 250Mhz.

[Chandler]

I don't know too much about computers in general. But i am looking at getting a computer with a 2.67GHz Dual Core Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 processor. I was wondering if you would have an idea of what timings and what volts I should use? If that question doesn't make any sense then just ignore it.

[Jakal]

That's a sexy and very great performing cpu. I'm not sure on the timings or voltage, but I'm sure Rob could help you out. I've seen a 6700 go 3.6Ghz on air. For overclocking you'll need some good ram. If you want to overclock that is. Then you can talk about voltages, timings, fsb, etc.

[Rob Williams]

It really depends on what ram you have...and whether it's performance or not. Here's what I would consider -good- ram settings/timings. If you have value ram, it may not be able to do this... but if you have any ram in the $300 range it should do well up until the last setting. You would want -good- ram for DDR2-1100.

PC2-5400 (DDR2-667) - 3-3-3-8 - 2.0v
PC2-6400 (DDR2-800)- 4-4-4-12 - 1.9v
PC2-7200 (DDR2-900) - 4-4-4-12 - 2.1v
PC2-8000 (DDR2-1000) - 4-4-4-12 - 2.4v
PC2-8000 (DDR2-1000) - 5-5-5-15 - 2.2v - 2.3v
PC2-8800 (DDR2-1100) - 5-5-5-15 - 2.5v

If you need advice for ram... throw a price range at us and we can figure something out easily enough.