Value VX Warning:

[Stealth5325]

On Ryan's advice, both my friend and I purchased 1Gb for 'value' VX at the same time.
NEITHER set works. We've tried 4 total sticks on the following boards:
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
ABIT NF7-S V2.0
Epox 8K3AE
ASUS PC-DL

Each board gave us the no memory (long repeating beeps) error. I RMA"ed my set to OCZ, and I've now sent them an email forwared with my original reciept from Atacom asking for a refund. I think that there's just got to be some kind of problem with this ram. We cleared the BIOS'es on all the boards, and they all booted just fine with 2X512MB BH-5. Also, I've managed to boot all 4 boards with 2X512MB Twinmos value UTT ram.
Just a warning: Although OCZ so far has been wonderful during this process (and I will update on this thread), it's a real pain to have to be out 2gb of ram total.

[chinkgai]

atacom will replace it for you if its still within 30 days

my set works fine

ocz has been great at support for me

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/chinkgai/Untitled-4.jpg

thats the results from my value vx

four sticks really seem odd, did you try one at a time? what voltage? what timings?

[chinkgai]

oh be wary of atacom, their policies are kinda shady...read and re read their policy regarding rma's

make SURE its bad before u send it to them or they gona charge u for shipping it back to u or 15 percent if u dont want it anymore

[Tony]

On Ryan's advice, both my friend and I purchased 1Gb for 'value' VX at the same time.
NEITHER set works. We've tried 4 total sticks on the following boards:
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
ABIT NF7-S V2.0
Epox 8K3AE
ASUS PC-DL

Each board gave us the no memory (long repeating beeps) error. I RMA"ed my set to OCZ, and I've now sent them an email forwared with my original reciept from Atacom asking for a refund. I think that there's just got to be some kind of problem with this ram. We cleared the BIOS'es on all the boards, and they all booted just fine with 2X512MB BH-5. Also, I've managed to boot all 4 boards with 2X512MB Twinmos value UTT ram.
Just a warning: Although OCZ so far has been wonderful during this process (and I will update on this thread), it's a real pain to have to be out 2gb of ram total.

Going by our wonderful RMA service do you really think warning people not to buy is a good move? We have sold tons of value VX with no issues what so ever, it just was a little unfortunate you had issues but im sure you will be sorted out swiftly by Sean over at the office.

[perry_78]

Going by our wonderful RMA service do you really think warning people not to buy is a good move? We have sold tons of value VX with no issues what so ever, it just was a little unfortunate you had issues but im sure you will be sorted out swiftly by Sean over at the office.

I agree. You should have first conulted the issue with one of the OCZ reps before posting such a thread.

[jikdoc]

I agree. You should have first conulted the issue with one of the OCZ reps before posting such a thread.

what the hell? the guy had problems with his ram and felt like posting about it. why does he have to con[s]ult with an ocz rep before posting? what you're advocating is censorship. this isn't some totalitarian society where a person should feel obligated to ask permission to voice his feelings.
i've purchased ~$1000 ocz ram and have had mixed experiences with ocz, some very good, but some bad as well. you need to quit being a fan boi. if you read his post carefully, he states he's getting good customer service but that he thinks it's a pain to have had 2gb dead ram delivered to him. i can't think of a person who'd feel differently.

[Ashe]

what the hell? the guy had problems with his ram and felt like posting about it. why does he have to con[s]ult with an ocz rep before posting? what you're advocating is censorship. this isn't some totalitarian society where a person should feel obligated to ask permission to voice his feelings.
i've purchased ~$1000 ocz ram and have had mixed experiences with ocz, some very good, but some bad as well. you need to quit being a fan boi. if you read his post carefully, he states he's getting good customer service but that he thinks it's a pain to have had 2gb dead ram delivered to him. i can't think of a person who'd feel differently.
of course he might post everything he wants to, but i would have choosen a more telling name (like "Value VX wont run on my boards ..." etc.). Just a "Warning" sounds to general to me.

[Stealth5325]

The reason I chsoe to post a warning was bcasue it is, in fact, inconvenient. I'm not telling people not to buy, I'm just stating my experience. I have, in fact, had zero problems thus far with my RMA to OCZ, including the request that it be changed to a refund, of which I have not heard back yet. I wanted to get this information out to the public, and I intened to fully document my experience (and my friend's, who is going to RMA through atacom). This way, we will have more fact on the RMA experiences of both companies. If everything goes crappy, I'll post here, but I will also post if everything goes well. OCZ could very well do this perfectly and I will tell the world! I do, however, think it's fair that people know the rate at which these machine tested sticks are failing.
Edit: SPD timings have been tried, at 200mHz, with voltages up to 2.85 (didn't want to void warranty)

[HARDCORECLOCKER]

:D I agree with jikdoc, maybe "warning" sounds a bit too hard but it seems to me that there is a serious problem with the RAM.

When running fine in other's rigs it is maybe only caused by a bad charge so in my opinion the post is helpful for other people got RAM from that charge and have not the possibility to try it on 4 different boards.

:toast:

[drcrawn]

Going by our wonderful RMA service do you really think warning people not to buy is a good move? We have sold tons of value VX with no issues what so ever, it just was a little unfortunate you had issues but im sure you will be sorted out swiftly by Sean over at the office.

he never "warned ppls not to buy" you sound like you are threatening him with the possibility of bad rma service now that he talked about this. That seems really f-ed up to me man.

I agree. You should have first conulted the issue with one of the OCZ reps before posting such a thread.

nonsense, this is why forums exist, to communicate and solve problems that could affect others.

[The Mofo]

Did you review the first Value VX thread where it specifically stated you need a LOT of voltage to do 2,2,2? What volt mods do you have done to those boards?


Sounds like you jumped the gun.

[chinkgai]

i kinda find it hard to believe that you got four bad sticks all at once.

i mean :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: happens, but all four at once?

[Stealth5325]

Mofo, I appreciate your reply, but read mine.
I was using the SPD timings, not 222.
2nd of all- I've not needed a volmod yet, as the DFI board does 3.3v stock, but I've not used that much either, due to me wanting to keep the warranty intact.

Update:
Got an email from Sean who told me that they cannot process refunds through OCZ. That must be done through the reseller. He assured me that he would test my kit on the boards I tested the kit on and send me one that is confirmed to work. I will keep everyone posted.
Edit2: Did not get four sticks at once. I ordered 2 and my buddy ordered two. None of the four worked at all on the boards mentioned.

[HARDCORECLOCKER]

Mofo, I appreciate your reply, but read mine.
I was using the SPD timings, not 222.
2nd of all- I've not needed a volmod yet, as the DFI board does 3.3v stock, but I've not used that much either, due to me wanting to keep the warranty intact.

Update:
Got an email from Sean who told me that they cannot process refunds through OCZ. That must be done through the reseller. He assured me that he would test my kit on the boards I tested the kit on and send me one that is confirmed to work. I will keep everyone posted.
Edit2: Did not get four sticks at once. I ordered 2 and my buddy ordered two. None of the four worked at all on the boards mentioned.

:D Better luck next time Stealth......... :toast:

[Negative Design]

this may prove my theory that they use crappy/failed chips in baby Vx...

Goodluck with your situation...hopefully some good can come out of this.

[Ashe]

this may prove my theory that they use crappy/failed chips in baby Vx...
They are not failed VX , but being untested for VX is not a guarantee they will do VX speeds either.
:stick: ;)

[Negative Design]

:stick: ;)

Dont 4get to check the quote when they said its NOT UTT ....then check for the one when they said it IS :stick:
Ask for KerryOCZ :banana:

[Ashe]

Dont 4get to check the quote when they said its NOT UTT ....then check for the one when they said it IS :stick:
Ask for KerryOCZ :banana:
where`s that? :confused:

[chinkgai]

Dont 4get to check the quote when they said its NOT UTT ....then check for the one when they said it IS :stick:
Ask for KerryOCZ :banana:

what are you talking about...?

[Negative Design]

what are you talking about...?


OCZ has many times in the past claimed their Vx is not from winbond and not UTT but after Twinmoss has grown to big then they admitted that it was in fact from winbond and thus why I dont trust em.

Sorry the thread jack :( get back on subj.

[chinkgai]

maybe kerryocz just didnt know since the chips are usually wiped clean or stamped with ocz rather than anything else...hehe

i'd trust ryan though, he's the friggin ceo

[Negative Design]

sure why not :) I'd trust ken Lay too...he's the CEO right :D

[Torin]

Poor comparison, OCZ is a far cry from Enron.

[chinkgai]

sure why not :) I'd trust ken Lay too...he's the CEO right :D


um..i have value vx that i got for 143 as soon as ryan announced it...and its stable at 250 (ddr500) at 2-2-8-2 with 3.4v

hence leading me to believe ryan isnt a liar


edit: btw, my last name is lay

and my brother's name is ken! no joke! rofl

i trust ken lay ^^

[Tony]

Value VX is just untested any higher than 200fsb...its not fails or anything else but it is not screened as much as the 3200 and the 4000 to keep the cost down.

Stealth5325

have you tested with high voltage...3.2V should get you 2-3-2 if not 2-2-2 and is always worth a shot.

[Stealth5325]

Another update:
Sean told me my replacement ram has shipped, and according to fedex, he's right. I should get the RAM Tuesday and I will be all over the testing and reporting. I'll let everyone know how it goes. I can reasonably test in my NF7-S 2.0, my K8N Neo2 Plat, and my KT-400 based board I can't remember right now.
Bigtoe- No, I never gave it more than 2.85v, because it wasn't booting, I sure as hell wasn't going to void the warranty if I couldn't get it to turn on. Timings aren't really a concern of mine, as this ram is for a backup computer anyway.

[Tony]

If your running this ram as a backup then 2-3-2 is what you need to shoot for, it should do this with lower volts than 2-2-2.

[onemorekornkid]

I AGREE ENTIRELY.

Bought two sticks earlier, none work. RMA'd got a new batch, only one stick works.

[chinkgai]

unless you guys are gettin repackaged sticks, i dont see how there can be such a high failure rate

[Tony]

Ok, now I will look into this...email me when and where you got the modules.

[Stealth5325]

Email sent. Will report to you the success or failure of RMA'ed sticks.
As for timings, I'm really not shooting for anything specific. I'm just looking to get ram that works. If it overclocks beyond spec, then so be it.

[Stealth5325]

Update:
Just got RAM back today. Excellent speed on that RMA, and the service was personal and excellent.
Now the bad news:
Put the RAM in my NF7-S 2.0 just now and it won't boot again. On the advice of Bigtoe, I booted with another stick and set the voltage to 2.9v (The highest it will go), and set the timings to 2-4-4-8. (Yes that's CAS2, he told me to.) The ram still will not boot.
I am now thinking it must be a timing issue, so I'm asking OCZ reps here to help me!
What are the right settings to get this stick to boot? SPD doesn't work, and that's not good.

[ryanpgroovy]

Can you try another motherboard , I remeber some weird issues with winbonds and certain NF2 chipset and bios revisions , but its so long in the past I cant remeber much about it

If you throw it in your MSI and still have issues , just email me with a pic of the memory , I want to look into something

[perkam]

Can you try another motherboard , I remeber some weird issues with winbonds and certain NF2 chipset

Yeah I'm afraid far too many ppl when they see things not working out with timings think "Blame the Ram !!!!!!" without knowing if any other component might be the limiting cause. :rolleyes: and I think Saaya should change the subject title cos its the last thing we need ppl seeing the first post and then making their decision when Stealth here is sitting pretty with 3 OCZ official employees !!! helping him out with the issue.

Perkam

[Negative Design]

Perkam....uhhh...he tried FOUR motherboards...lets blame four more before we blame ram...thats using common sense...

[perkam]

Actually he hasnt put the new ram in any of the other boards, just the old rma-ed stuff ;) So we have yet to find out.

Perkam

[Stealth5325]

Update:
Tried ram on all four boards, same settings and others, no boot. I'll send you a pic Ryan, as soon as I can get my camera. Must be a setting I'm missing, as this is a consistent behavior.
I would like to question why I get these errors when nobody else does. What am I doing wrong?
Other ideas?

[Negative Design]

Very weird...
you putting CPC on?
I'm now convinced its you not the ram lol.

[Stealth5325]

Haha... putting CPC on.
I can't even boot! I'm using both totally SPD timings and the ones indicated, CPC (AKA 1T Timing) has been both on and off.
Another update:
Bigtoe and I have been trading emails. He seems to think it's the SPD timings, and my sticks are going to be replaced again.
As for Ryan:
I'm emailing you a picture of the front of one of the sticks. The other is exactly the same.

[Negative Design]

Have you tried 222?

on my Twinmos UTT I get Hundreds to THOUSANDs of errors when not using 222 might wana give it a try.

[chinkgai]

i knew that failure rate was too high

[Stealth5325]

Yeah, I tried 2-2-2 on all three sets of sticks now, on all four boards.

[Negative Design]

Yeah, I tried 2-2-2 on all three sets of sticks now, on all four boards.

At what voltages?

[Tony]

This is real weird, i would try here with the Abit but i have no CPU's anymore :( (all sold)

I will have the techs look at your modules once they get back.

I have seen other NF2 users without issues exceot for the usual CPC one so this is a weird case, but we will getr there.

[RacerX]

This is real weird, i would try here with the Abit but i have no CPU's anymore :( (all sold)

I will have the techs look at your modules once they get back.

I have seen other NF2 users without issues exceot for the usual CPC one so this is a weird case, but we will getr there.

bigtoe, send me a PM with your address and I can send ya a XP1800 for your Abit NF7. I have a few sitting here doing nothing and you guys work very hard at keeping everyone happy here. I don't want any favors just happy us members can help OCZ alittle.

[THunDA]

Have you tried to load optimized defaults with another stick of ram.. then power down and clear the cmos before you install the OCZ ram.. ?

Im sure you tried this but its just a thought..

[Tony]

bigtoe, send me a PM with your address and I can send ya a XP1800 for your Abit NF7. I have a few sitting here doing nothing and you guys work very hard at keeping everyone happy here. I don't want any favors just happy us members can help OCZ alittle.

You are tha man :), i had moved on from the older Athlons but I feel this may help.

im in the UK..is that an issue?

[Negative Design]

By the time the cpu reaches you the issue may have been solved :(

[RacerX]

You are tha man :), i had moved on from the older Athlons but I feel this may help.

im in the UK..is that an issue?

How much to send a chip overseas? I live on the eastcoast in MA. Really doesn't matter if the problem gets solved atleast you will have one if this issue ever rises again.

bigtoe, I don't mind sending it if it doesn't cost me my shirt.

PS. Just spoke with my fiance mother who's retired for the postal service. Shouldn't cost me anymore than $5-6 to send it UK with insurance. Send me a PM bigtoe.

[Dissolved]

How much to send a chip overseas? I live on the eastcoast in MA. Really doesn't matter if the problem gets solved atleast you will have one if this issue ever rises again.

bigtoe, I don't mind sending it if it doesn't cost me my shirt.

PS. Just spoke with my fiance mother who's retired for the postal service. Shouldn't cost me anymore than $5-6 to send it UK with insurance. Send me a PM bigtoe.

5-6bucks Snail mail most likely.. i shipped a Videocard to russia with 400insurence, and in about the size of a mobo box, and it cost me 55.00Usd for about 2 weeks shipping..

[Stealth5325]

Another update:
In case nobody read the previous posts, I've tried these sticks in the following boards with the following combinations:
2-2-2-8
2-3-2-8
2-4-4-8
2-3-3-8
3-4-4-8
2-2-2-5
2-3-2-5
3-4-4-5
Voltages from 2.6v-2.9v
Abit Nf7-S 2.0 (NF2)
ASUS PC-DL (i875)
ASUS A7V333 (KT333)
DFI NF2 Ultra Infinity (Nf2)
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (NF3)
And the ABIT KT400 board that I can't remember the name.
All gave same problem- no boot, repeating long beeps.
OCZ has been very good about communication, with only one complaint: I'm now speaking with: Tony, Sean, Ryan, and John. Although they are all helpful, nobody's quite up to speed.
I HAVE gotten my replacement sticks from Sean, and they gave me the same errors. I would prefer to have one person handle this, as having to say the same thing and fill out the same questionnaire 3 times is a bit bothersome.
Other than that, OCZ has far distanced itself in terms of customer service from any other company I've dealt with. I would easily stand behind the statement that they are superior to Newegg.
Ram still doesn't work though.

[stockhatch]

Man that is some seriously messed up stuff! Do you suppose its your MB toasting the RAM somehow? Did you try the RAM in the same motherboard first both times?

[chinkgai]

Another update:
In case nobody read the previous posts, I've tried these sticks in the following boards with the following combinations:
2-2-2-8
2-3-2-8
2-4-4-8
2-3-3-8
3-4-4-8
2-2-2-5
2-3-2-5
3-4-4-5
Voltages from 2.6v-2.9v
Abit Nf7-S 2.0 (NF2)
ASUS PC-DL (i875)
ASUS A7V333 (KT333)
DFI NF2 Ultra Infinity (Nf2)
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (NF3)
And the ABIT KT400 board that I can't remember the name.
All gave same problem- no boot, repeating long beeps.
OCZ has been very good about communication, with only one complaint: I'm now speaking with: Tony, Sean, Ryan, and John. Although they are all helpful, nobody's quite up to speed.
I HAVE gotten my replacement sticks from Sean, and they gave me the same errors. I would prefer to have one person handle this, as having to say the same thing and fill out the same questionnaire 3 times is a bit bothersome.
Other than that, OCZ has far distanced itself in terms of customer service from any other company I've dealt with. I would easily stand behind the statement that they are superior to Newegg.
Ram still doesn't work though.


wow, you shouldnt have ANY complaints...you're the one who posted this up rather than calling the tech support department only...you should EXPECT more than one person to ask questions if you post this up on a public forum

i'd be flattered for so much help :rolleyes:

methinks you have poor word usage in this entire thread, starting from the title...

btw, shipping that cpu to the UK will probably take at LEAST 3 weeks...me shipping a tiny wireless pcmcia card to canada took 3ish weeks...

[Tony]

Another update:
In case nobody read the previous posts, I've tried these sticks in the following boards with the following combinations:
2-2-2-8
2-3-2-8
2-4-4-8
2-3-3-8
3-4-4-8
2-2-2-5
2-3-2-5
3-4-4-5
Voltages from 2.6v-2.9v
Abit Nf7-S 2.0 (NF2)
ASUS PC-DL (i875)
ASUS A7V333 (KT333)
DFI NF2 Ultra Infinity (Nf2)
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (NF3)
And the ABIT KT400 board that I can't remember the name.
All gave same problem- no boot, repeating long beeps.
OCZ has been very good about communication, with only one complaint: I'm now speaking with: Tony, Sean, Ryan, and John. Although they are all helpful, nobody's quite up to speed.
I HAVE gotten my replacement sticks from Sean, and they gave me the same errors. I would prefer to have one person handle this, as having to say the same thing and fill out the same questionnaire 3 times is a bit bothersome.
Other than that, OCZ has far distanced itself in terms of customer service from any other company I've dealt with. I would easily stand behind the statement that they are superior to Newegg.
Ram still doesn't work though.

Pick who you want to deal with, email the others to back away...we are just all VERY helpful and want to sort your issue.

I see this with many customers, they email me , Andy, Ryan, Eric, Spec3 etc etc and have us all trying to help.

[Tony]

How much to send a chip overseas? I live on the eastcoast in MA. Really doesn't matter if the problem gets solved atleast you will have one if this issue ever rises again.

bigtoe, I don't mind sending it if it doesn't cost me my shirt.

PS. Just spoke with my fiance mother who's retired for the postal service. Shouldn't cost me anymore than $5-6 to send it UK with insurance. Send me a PM bigtoe.

Send it US priority mail...that usually 5 day service.

i will PM you now

[Tony]

Stealth5325

please email me again, we need to get you happy, this has now gone on way to long.

[ryanpgroovy]

Just to note , I did check the test records on the RMA sticks as they were sent , They were pretested according to the information ( on the motherboard(s) you specified) that you gave Sean Sinha before shipping out.


That said I will back off and let Tony get you fixed up .

[Stealth5325]

Alrighty, another update:
Once again, quick response from OCZ, and I'm delighted. I have chosen to deal with Tony, as he is most repsonsive, and I hear Ryan is CEO and I feel he shouldn't be bothered with pithy problems such as this.
No, I did not test it on the same board 1st both times, the first time it was the MSI board, 2nd time it was the Abit NF7-S board.
Ryan: I totally believe that this new ram was tested according to the boards I sent you guys, hence I beleive it's gotta be a timing issue, and that's why I'm pursing this rather than just getting my money back with Atacom.
Tony: Email sent, let me know what I need to do to help.
@chinkgai: I appreciate your opinion, but honestly, I didn't ask for it. If you can't garner a) my technical knowhow and b) my honest desire to get this resolved without slandering OCZ from my posts, then you're welcome to leave this thread. I've been nothing but honest from the start, and have not yet gotten angry, hidden the truth from anyone, or failed to report a step of this process on either side. I'm constantly prasing OCZ for their service, and I feel that my complaint that in two hours I get 3 emails and 5 PM's makes me a tad overwhelmed was justified. OCZ seemed to agree, and instantly solved yet another problem, hence I'm working with Tony only now.
As for the title, I'm sure I'm not the only one in the world to own these boards and have this timing/compatibility issue.
If you feel that my honesty is too much for you to handle, nobody's holding a gun to your head and making you visit this thread.

Edit: Woo hoo! Just got one stick to boot. I found that one stick will boot in my NF7 at 2.9v at pretty much any timings I throw at it, with a few caveats:
1) Only in slots 1 and 2
2) Only at speeds of 200mHz or greater! (Can't underclock)
3) CAS must be 2.
Second update: OCZ John has pm'ed me, offering to not only take the bad stuff back at OCZ's cost, but to send me some PC3200VX gold in exchange.
Regardless of whether or not that actually happens, concerning my most recent update of one stick working, I firmly stand behind all statements made thus far about OCZ's service. Apparently two people are now looking into this issue for the future.

[ryanpgroovy]

Glad to see we have some of the issues worked out :-D

[Stealth5325]

Final update:
Just wanted to finish this thread before it got too far back, since I feel OCZ deserves it.
My ram was replaced, at their expense, with VX 3200 Gold. The ram, of course, works perfectly.
Although we never did get the 'value' VX to work, and the VX I was shipped came with supposedly the same chips on the same PCB. I still stand by my original post that there has to be some odd incompatibility with the 'value' sticks and perhaps their SPD programming or something to that effect.
That said, OCZ is the best company I have ever dealt with, and despite three sets of ram that I've recieved that didn't work, to one set that did (a 25% success rate), I fully intend to continue buying OCZ products if for nothing else their wonderful service, prompt solution, and lack of a language barrier!
Kudos to OCZ, in a time where companies on the internet are fly-by-night and screw people over at the first possible chance, they are a change for the better.

[pancake]

hats off to ocz you guys are kings of customer service :toast:

[nebuchanezzar]

I just wanted to add a hats off to OCZ also. I received a set of Value VX and one stick didn't post at all. OCZ was quick on the response time and both sticks are enroute to Cali. That was in both a DFI UT and Infinity. After reading what stealth was saying maybe I should have tried cranking up the voltage. I didn't even test the good stick cuz I knew they both would have to go back. It's unfortunate that it works out like this but hat's off to the service dept. over there.

[Lithan]

Real nice customer service. Especially considering that this was their value line which they very likely aren't getting a good margin on. The vx compat issues are a bit odd. Anyone using vx value on socket A boards or Dual xeon boards without any problems?

[Rippthrough]

Can I just say that despite the problems with the value sticks, you've just managed to convince me to buy OCZ new time I get some RAM, and I usually don't bother paying out for 'performance' stuff.
That level of customer service is well worth shelling out for.

[ryanpgroovy]

Also guys try to remember that any problem with just about any product , by any manufacturer you read about in forums , is often pretty rare

Companies like OCZ are typicaly shipping hundreds of thousands of units and people are bound to have a few issues

[Tibu]

Goddamn, now I'm convinced that my next purchase will NO DOUBT be OCZ ram. Two thumbs up to the OCZ crew for their excelent support. :cheer: