is ballistix crap?

[kingdomwinds]

I have 2 sticks of 512mb crucial ballistix ddr400 still wrapped in their packaging. I plan to oc an athlon 64 s939 system. specs are Abit Av8, 500w Ultra connectx psu, and cpu will be either 3000 or 3200 and im aiming for 2.4ghz.

I heard that many of these sticks dont clock to 250mhz. I have not tried them out yet because my cpu is not here but should i just return this crap and get cheaper yet better pdp memory? The reviews on anandtech mean nothing as i know they got their's handpicked.

[saaya]

welcome to XtremeSystems :toast:

no, they are not crap! lol, but tccd will indeed ok higher with acceptable 2.5 timings.
with the ballistix you will most likely reach a max of around 240mhz 2-2-2 or 2.5-2-2 and 260mhz+ 3-2-2 afaik, tccd based memory with brainpower pcb will do up to 250mhz 2-2-2 with high vdimm if your lucky, 270mhz+ 2.5-3-3 (some hit 300) and 300mhz+ 3-4-4 (some hit 340).

so yes, i would go for the tccd, then lower the multi and bump the fsb up with memory in 1:1

your getting an av8 2.0 though, right? dont get an older revision as most of the old boards dont have locks!

[kingdomwinds]

the rest of the parts are Abit Av8 rev1.1(has locks), . I might get a 3000 and oc to at least 2.4ghz. I just have doubt in my ram.

[Zebo]

not as crappy as your psu

[kingdomwinds]

how is the ultra connectx a crappy psu? you dont make sense

[Zebo]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=27&threadid=1400040

[kingdomwinds]

every psu can have a bad defective one no matter what brand. What made me jump to the conclusion that ballistix aint good is that on a number of forums ppl were having trouble ocing it. Some only got 217mhz. that is pittiful for expensive ram. I dont know how much mine will oc to but if its a lame oc, then ill know that ballistix sucks

[jlccarv]

The UltraX is a decent PSU...

[van Basten]

It depends on your goals.

Ballistix beat TCCDs all the way up to 250/260 @ VDimm upt 2,85, since 2,5-2-2-5 1T or 3-2-2-5 1T is a lot faster than 2,5-3-3-5 1T.

Some TCCDs are able to produce 2-2-2-5 1T up to 250, but therefore they need very high VDimm and - to be honest - why bother... since the CL of 2,5 (or 3) is not really important - compared to the Ballsitix results.

Also, the legend of all TCCDs being able to produce high clocks is - well, a legend. :D A lot of them sticks crap out preatty early (around 265) - with 2x512MB, that is. Some do more, but most of the time, those high numbers were achieved with either 2x256MB or on the DFI ut250GB - which is not a really representative board (it loosens some internal timings) - so "in real life" the numbers are not 100% representative. (Just take a look at the Bandwith in Memtest Screenshots - they are so low on the DFI.. :rolleyes: )

I tested around 6 or 7 GB-Kits of TCCDs from various brands here on different A64 Boards (754+939) - some were good, some were just a waste of time.

Anyway, Ballistix are very decent modules - the only problem is that they differ greatly in Overclockability. But if you do have good ones, forget about TCCDs - most of it is only a hype going on right now.

[Elisha]

forget about TCCDs - most of it is only a hype going on right now.

i totally agree with that statement. go for the ballistix or EB.

[TrIx]

that ram is not crap trust me dont send it back iam runnig crossair now that is good memory i think but it all depends on what you like

[Formann]

The first sticks were rather good i hear. The later ones is not so good.

I bought mine 6-8weeks ago, and they dont scale with voltage. Anything over 2.9v is just extra heat.

2.75vimm
2.5-2-2-10 - 230Mhz
3-3-3-10 - 254Mhz
3-4-4-10 - ?

3.2vdimm
2.5/3-2-2-10 - 245Mhz
3-3-3-10 - ?
3-4-4-10 ?


I might do some more testing later today. 3-4-4-10 and 3-3-3-10 with 2.9+v maybe.

[WiCKeD]

Wasn't ballistix about the memory bandwidth? I have never seen great clocks from it.

TCCD would be a better choice, but the OCZ Voltmaster stuff have potential if you have some volts to throw at it.

[RADCOM]

I have a very similar setup ( inc the psu) I got the ballistix because it was more readily available than the OCZ rev2 but I haven't tried vast overclock yet. The experts on this board tend to shun this board (ABIT AV8 3rd eye) :(