Should I buy this $63.99 4gb kit (Geil Black Dragon DDR2 800)?

[LagunaX]

Hey guys, what do you think of this ram? I'm moving all my Vista gaming rigs (3) from 2gb to 4gb. I bought the G.skill ddr2 1000 kit already which seems to like only 5-5-5-15 timings, but for my rig with a clear acrylic side panel I thought these would be bright and run well too. Running 450-475 fsb on wolfdales running 4.2-4.4ghz. Thought about the 2 x 2 gb Ballistix Tracer kit but have been unimpressed lately with the way they overclock (seems older tracers had better ic chips).

GeIL Black Dragon 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
$63.99
Free 3-7 Business Day Shipping



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820144073

[reberto]

They're not bad, they're just average overclocking RAM.

[acidpython]

I have that set they ran 450FSB (2.2) fine with cas5, 400 (1.8) fine with cas4 they can take 1.8-2.4v. I think their eplida chips... i can't remeber for sure. Anyway if you do a search im sure you'll find some OCing threads on this forum.

I don't think their the same standard as tracers, and i think 475FSB is pushing them too much.

[Dee]

I'd get Ballistix over this. The new stuff is double sided, too.

[LagunaX]

thanks for the input guys - i'll let you guys know down the line what happens.

[RADCOM]

I don't think they are meant to be pushed but they look kinda eerie glowing in your case

[gillbot]

i think 475FSB is pushing them too much.

Darn, they looked pretty cool, too bad they weren't more FSB friendly, I'd grab a set.

[LagunaX]

Yeah they are pretty cool looking and pretty cheap.
They glow red and would be perfect for my clear sided case.
A second reviewer on the egg reports 4-4-4-12 up to ddr2 1000 but didn't state vdimm.
Good enuf for me though as I only want 465-475.
Bit the bullet and ordered this morning.
Will post back later with results in a week or so...

[bhavv]

There is also a 1066 Mhz kit for this ram.

The light on them seems really nice, but
I was put off the lack of heatspreaders.

[LagunaX]

Running memtest86+ now.
Passed orthos blend for over 30min already 464fsb 5-5-5-12 @ 1.9v.

Don't know what those reviewers on newegg were smoking talking 4-4-4-12.
These sticks won't even fully boot on Vista 5-4-4-12 @ 2.2v.

Nonetheless seems fine 5-5-5-12 1.9v 464fsb (464fsb x 9.5 = 4.4ghz on my e8500 e0 - 4.5ghz is too hot for air cooling).
Vista index 5.9 for the ram as well.

The glowing red is pretty cool in contrast to my blue fan leds...

Case closed. Decent value for the money for 5-5-5-12 @ 464fsb 1.9v.

[BreeSpree]

Those look phat, but they have no heatspreaders. You could just add some kama-wings, but like others have said, while this looks cool visually, other sticks could offer much better performance. For overclocking RAM you want the Micron D9 chips, found in Corsair Dominator 1066. You could also buy Patriot's or Crucials. I have used Mushkin once, and found some problems with it, but from what I've heard they make very nice RAM too, so I guess I just got a dud.

[LagunaX]

Update: Seemed stable at above settings but failed Windows Memory Diagnostic at above settings.
New stable settings: 464 fsb 5-5-5-15 @ 2.0v (pretty standard for 4gb kits, actually).