Crucial Ballistix vs Corsair DHX

[Salahuddin]

I bought a pair of Corsair DHX TWIN2X2048-6400C5DHX 2x1GB recently for a very good price ($40 after MIR). Truth is, I didn't do much research on it at the time and I figured Corsair was a good name and I just couldn't go wrong with the price.

I haven't setup my new system yet, but upon further review, I found these RAM to carry ProMOS ICs, which are frequently labelled as being inferior to Micron ICs for OCing.

Several reviewers on Newegg (I know, not reliable) and one independent review, however, seem to have had luck OCing this RAM to over 1000MHZ, so I figured it couldn't be all that bad. There is, however, a general lack of reviews on this RAM.

Recently, however, I have found a pair of Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 2x1GB for the same price ($40) after MIR. As Crucial uses Micron ICs in all their RAM, I figured this would be a better choice for OCing. However, many official reviews of this memory shows less overclockability than expected, and many Newegg and individual reviews give mixed results (many have got good results, others have not).

So, I was wondering if it is worth the energy buying the Crucial Ballistix and trying to sell the Corsair (I'm sure I could make a small profit, but not sure if its worth the hassle). Despite the different ICs, should I really expect OCing on the Crucial to be better?

Of note, the Corsair is rated at 5-5-5-18 at only 1.8V. Initially I thought these timings to be poor, but as you can see in this review, the memory is capable of running tighter timings and over 1000MHZ with more voltage:

http://www.edmw.sg/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=45536

This suggests to me that this memory probably has decent OCing headroom, as even 1000MHZ at 5-5-5-18 at 2.2V would be good.

The Crucial Ballistix however is rated at 4-4-4-12 at 2.2V, which makes me wonder if that is worse or better than 5-5-5-18 at 1.8V. If I'm already pushing 2.2V in it to start, it might leave me little headroom for OCing.

But anyways, you guys are the experts. What do you guys think, should I make the switch or keep what I have? BTW I plan on OCing an E6750, hopefully to 3.6 GHZ.

[Waymon3X6]

I would keep what you have. The Corsair DHX modules are pretty good. However, if you would like to oce your C2D to 3.6 you might have to loosen the timings a bit. I would place the Crucial Balistix above the Corair DHX. The Balistix are pretty damn good at overclocking.

If you were to trade these in for something else, what would be your budget?

[Linchpin]

The Ballistix are awesome overclockers but they seem to die quite quickly if you run them at 2.3v or more 24/7. I personally won't bother if I were you since the DHX is good reliable memory for 24/7 running and Promos ICs are pretty good, my old Team Elites were able to do 1000MHZ 5-5-5-10 with 2.3v and they were rated for 800MHZ 5-5-5-15 and 1.8v. However if really want to get every last drop of speed out of your system the Ballistix is your friend.

[3lfk1ng]

The OLD Ballistix are awesome overclockers
I took it upon myself to fix your post. The new ones aren't that great.

[Linchpin]

No problem, thing is they still sell old Ballistix stock where I live so never had a chance to see how the newer ones perform.

[Polizei]

See what you can do with the Corsair sticks before buying the Crucial.

For what its worth, Ive got Crucial Ballistix in my rig, and I can run them at 4-4-4-10 @ 2.15v @ 1000MHz 24/7 no problems. I do however, have an 80mm fan blowing on them directly so the get plenty of airflow. Even while playing BF2 and Stalker, I can stick my hand in and touch them and they arent warm to the touch.

[Salahuddin]

Thanks for the info guys.

Budget wise its not an issue, I just don't like wasting money. I have had some offers for the Corsair for $70 for the kit, I didn't end up taking them initially because the PC2-6400 Ballistix were around the same price with taxes. I know the RAM shouldn't make THAT much of a difference to worry about it that much. But, now that they are $40 bucks, I could maybe make $30 profit for potentially better RAM. I just wanted to make sure its indeed BETTER.

[SparkyJJO]

I have a similar corsair kit except I got the C4DHX with 4-4-4-12 timings. Haven't overclocked anything yet though so I'll have to see how it goes. BTW, got it for $37 AR :D

[TheScavenger]

I am running 4GBs of crucial ballistix at 1081MHz. I am using this with an E8400 at 4.0GHz. I haven't really had the chance to adjust the timings yet but everything is perfectly stable. Just my two cents.

Josh

[karateo]

here are my 4x1 6400 sticks
vdimm 2.19 (accurate reading)
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee157/teodor_ch/everest-memory.jpg

[Salahuddin]

Well, all you Ballistix owners convinced me. Sold the Corsair DHX for $70 and bought a pair of Ballistix for $70 with $30 MIR. Considered I am also getting a $30 MIR for the Corsair, looks like I'll end up making a small profit as well ;)