Round 2: Cheap Corsair 6400, Was Near the $100 Mark... but like always newegg...

[Kunaak]

Round 2: Cheap Corsair 6400, Was Near the $100 Mark... but like always newegg... jacked up the prices on this exact ram by almost $30 since I got them...

I wish I could tell you guys these are great $100 ram like my first set...
but with neweggs prices fluctuations, thats not very likely anymore.

anyways, if anyone remembers, my first set was doing cas 4-4-3-8 at 1040 mhz, with 2.3 volts, stable in 32M, and alittle bit of other testing, before the ram got killed... most likely from the 5V-SB...

lesson... make sure all power to your board is off... before taking DDR2 out of the board, otherwise, you might kill it silently...

lesson learned.
back with a new set.

well, heres a small comparison.

my original version came from newegg a few months ago, and was version 1.8.

the new ones I got, are version 4.1

the differences...

version 1.8 seems to have alot more voltage tolerances, to about 2.3 volts before it starts giving errors from just plain old too much voltage.

version 4.1 seems to be a low voltage ram, and seems best suited to 2.1 volts or less. 2.1 volts seems to be the sweet spot for these, any more and they will give errors no matter what, cause of too much voltage.
so 2.0 to 2.1 volts seems perfect with these.

version 1.8 was more giving on cas latency, doing cas 4-4-4 up to 1 ghz easy.

version 4.1 is less giving of cas, needing cas 5-5-4 to gain stabilty past 1 ghz.

version 1.8 doesnt go much farther then 1 ghz, before it takes a sharp drop in stabilty.

version 4.1 seems to be much more stable past 1 ghz, and is more likely to hit 1.1 +

so these new versions of the Corsair 6400A... version 4.1, are less giving of cas latency, but require less voltage, and OC higher on MHz...
seems a trade off I can live with

so, after my afternoon with this ram, heres what I found.

800 mhz, cas 4-4-3-10.

900 Mhz, cas 4-4-4-10.

1000 mhz, cas 5-5-4-10.

1100 mhz, cas 5-5-5-15.

topped out at 1120 mhz.

all testing was done with 2.1 volts, with memtest 86, for a few hours each (got dead rising today, so I found something to do while the ram was testing )
all tests were error free.

the real sweet spot for this ram appears to be about 2.15 volts.
any more then 2.2 volts and you will get errors almost instantly in tests 5 and 6.

this version, does not seem to like the low Tras, Tras Below 10 and you get errors almost instantly in test 3 of memtest 86.

basic tests are being done at boot up speeds.
this shot here, is just one of my first from tonight with this ram.
just now starting the windows testing, which is why I used alittle clockgen on it, to get from 500 to 520... just want to play right now.
so much memtest today, wanted to finally see what I can do with it in windows.

Anyways, still a good solid set of ram, especially since both my sets here hit 1 ghz with relative ease, and this new version 4.1 seems to do it with less voltage... which makes it a great canidate for day to day use, or boards like the P5B which have little Vdimm to use.

Still Testing.

[LordofDoom]

Any ideas on the IC's? This ddr2 valuram is pretty neat stuff.

[perkam]

That would be the ddr2 6400 cas 5 stuff...I know that the ram Kunaak previously had was this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145566

This stuff I could only find in 1gb modules, not 2x512mb...the difference being...there are two different non-6400c4 sets of ram:

TwinX1024A-6400 and
TwinX1024-6400

Perkam

[althes]

Man aint newegg just a fun company.
Great sticks right up my alley for a little system I am putting together

[ferds]

thanks kunaak for this info. atleast i know i got a good ram..

[The_Hardstylez]

Hmz, rev 4.1 . I have that sticks to, but they don't do even 430mhz on 2.4v

What for motherboard have you ? Ds3 /ds4 ?

[ferds]

i believed he's using a DFI 975X mobo. according to his first thread
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=112223

[The_Hardstylez]

i believed he's using a DFI 975X mobo. according to his first thread
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=112223

hehe, no He used a P965 based board. Look at SETFSB.

[alexio]

I'm pretty sure it's Elpida IC's. They overclock very well on loose latancies as Kunaak's results show

Nice job oc'ing these. If you want to be 100% sure these are Elpida's try to mix them with Micron IC's (if you have any RAM with these). It should not boot up with this mix.

[DTU_XaVier]

Sweet... Those are the ones I ordered for my new setup (but now the arrival date for my mobo has been pushed back again ! A month of waiting is a long! time...)
Hope they'll do as well as those in this review, though I probably won't need 'em to...

Best Regards

[Kunaak]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145566


This is the exact ram I got, but dont bother getting it right now, unless you got alittle extra to spare.
I have no idea why, but the price on this ram seems to fluctuate alot lately at newegg, when I got them they were $103 a set, shipped.
last week they were $120 something...
now they are near $140... with a rebate...
neweggs prices for this ram just seem to be completly out of whack at the moment... but if you see them again at the $100 mark or near, these aren't a bad set of ram to get, especially if you like low voltage ram.

to the person that said thiers doesn't do 840 something, at 2.4 volts...
well, that there is the problem.

voltage doesn't always solve problems, sometimes, it just makes it worse.
these chips on the revision 4.1 dont seem to like anything above 2.1 volts, and honestly 2.2 volts works on, but just is more unstable then 2.1 volts.
try lowering the voltage, and use Memtest 86, test 5 to spot if your rams gonna crap out from too much voltage.
test 5 is just a test I like, cause it's totally unforgiving. at exactly 98% if your rams unstable, it will show it right there, everytime.
test 3 usually shows me if I am pushing the tras to low for the ram to handle, so you might also try that....
this way you dont have to run the entire test for 20 minutes to find 1 small set of errors.
when Memtest 86 starts, just hit C-1-3-5-enter-0.
this will set you to run test 5 over and over.
thats the easiest way to spot if your pushing too much voltage through the ram.

also, you gotta remember, sometimes ram just isn't all that great.
sometimes CPU's aren't good clockers, same with ram.

I am just trying to show, theres some potential to value ram too, thats all
you dont need to spend $300 for a set of ram that will do 1 ghz.

I dont know what chips is on these ram here, but I would say I am 90% sure its some form of Elpida...

I was using a DFI 975X for a few weeks, but I am now back on my Gigabyte DS3, and in a week will be on my P5B Deluxe.
still have the DFI, just wanted to try something new.

[The_Hardstylez]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145566


This is the exact ram I got, but dont bother getting it right now, unless you got alittle extra to spare.
I have no idea why, but the price on this ram seems to fluctuate alot lately at newegg, when I got them they were $103 a set, shipped.
last week they were $120 something...
now they are near $140... with a rebate...
neweggs prices for this ram just seem to be completly out of whack at the moment... but if you see them again at the $100 mark or near, these aren't a bad set of ram to get, especially if you like low voltage ram.

to the person that said thiers doesn't do 840 something, at 2.4 volts...
well, that there is the problem.

voltage doesn't always solve problems, sometimes, it just makes it worse.
these chips on the revision 4.1 dont seem to like anything above 2.1 volts, and honestly 2.2 volts works on, but just is more unstable then 2.1 volts.
try lowering the voltage, and use Memtest 86, test 5 to spot if your rams gonna crap out from too much voltage.
test 5 is just a test I like, cause it's totally unforgiving. at exactly 98% if your rams unstable, it will show it right there, everytime.
test 3 usually shows me if I am pushing the tras to low for the ram to handle, so you might also try that....
this way you dont have to run the entire test for 20 minutes to find 1 small set of errors.
when Memtest 86 starts, just hit C-1-3-5-enter-0.
this will set you to run test 5 over and over.
thats the easiest way to spot if your pushing too much voltage through the ram.

also, you gotta remember, sometimes ram just isn't all that great.
sometimes CPU's aren't good clockers, same with ram.

I am just trying to show, theres some potential to value ram too, thats all
you dont need to spend $300 for a set of ram that will do 1 ghz.

I dont know what chips is on these ram here, but I would say I am 90% sure its some form of Elpida...

I was using a DFI 975X for a few weeks, but I am now back on my Gigabyte DS3, and in a week will be on my P5B Deluxe.
still have the DFI, just wanted to try something new.

which bios are you using with your DS3 ?
Thanks for the tips anyway

[The_Hardstylez]

Try my sticks with 2.1V and 5-5-4-10 timings and with mch 0,1V.



500Mhz no problemo


My best memory deal ever.. I have paid 106eur for this kit.

[DTU_XaVier]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145566


This is the exact ram I got, but dont bother getting it right now, unless you got alittle extra to spare.
I have no idea why, but the price on this ram seems to fluctuate alot lately at newegg, when I got them they were $103 a set, shipped.
last week they were $120 something...
now they are near $140... with a rebate...
neweggs prices for this ram just seem to be completly out of whack at the moment... but if you see them again at the $100 mark or near, these aren't a bad set of ram to get, especially if you like low voltage ram.

The same thing happened with the 2gb kit here in DK... I've ordered them for 200€, and now they're up to 240... Strange, but I suppose it makes sense

Best Regards, and nice review

[Kunaak]

some more testing.

up to 366, cas 3-3-3-9.
up to 450, cas 5-4-3-9.
up to 540, cas 5-5-5-10.

all with 2.16 volts on the ram.

[Lestat]

120 bucks this morning so still not a bad deal considering what they can do.
too bad though they are only 2x512. but still ok.

[The_Hardstylez]

I start some bench of my corsair sticks.




567Mhz 5-5-5-10 on 2.1V

Corsair rocks

[Kunaak]

I start some bench of my corsair sticks.




567Mhz 5-5-5-10 on 2.1V

Corsair rocks

whoa, nice.

my board here definatly has problems with anything above 1.1 ghz on the ram, I think that getting stable 1.1 ghz on a gigabyte board is a challenge, so I dont think I have really found the limit of the ram yet.

in a week I will be on a P5B Deluxe.
wwith neweggs weekend sale on these, for $220, I couldnt help it and finally broke down and got one.
I think it will be easier to get more from this ram with that board, then this board. while the DS3 is great for FSB, it's not much more then average when it comes to pushing ram.

[nn_step]

how does the ram run at tight timings?

[±Pink=FloYd±]

has anyone ran these @ 4 x 512?

[situman]

Hmz, rev 4.1 . I have that sticks to, but they don't do even 430mhz on 2.4v

What for motherboard have you ? Ds3 /ds4 ?

well if u read his review carefully, you would have known you might be giving your sticks too much volts.

[ferds]

heres mine

rev 4.1

550 @ 5-5-5-10 2.1v

i was lucky to get this sticks for only $106 from ZZP last month

[charlie]

Eric always finds the surprising value ram that KILLS the expensive stuff....

Remember your AMP-X that went like 500+ @ cas4??

[Cooper]

Eric always finds the surprising value ram that KILLS the expensive stuff....

Remember your AMP-X that went like 500+ @ cas4??

I wish there were more people researching cheap/value memory possibilities since memory prices are so high now.

[Kunaak]

Max OC. Unstable, just showing it can be done with this ram.

2.35 volts.
boot into windows with ram at 1.1 then set FSB on the way up.
2.4 volts and more, just result in zero chance of it booting into windows.
however, past 2.15 volts, still results in instability, but can pass some benchmarks anyways....

583 validation