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.

After reading the review here, 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 and superPI
edit: just noticed that you said CPU stability. silly me. use in-place FFT's in prime95


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, which will tell you the BIOS date. You can head over to techPowerUp! 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, which will tell you the BIOS date.

yup, in the memory tab, if you have trouble finding it

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

 

[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!

 

[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