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Memory can't run 1T timing at stock speeds/timings. Do I have a right to RMA?

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KillrBuckeye

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2005
Location
Livonia, MI
I'm new to memory overclocking, but my Crucial Ballistix PC3200 (2x512MB in dual channel) won't run 1T at the rated timings of 2-2-2-6 at the stock speed of 200 MHz. Prime95 fails almost instantly. The memory runs fine at 2T, but can only overclock to about 215 MHz, regardless of timings. Do I have a right to RMA this memory? I don't see anything about manufacturer's specs when it comes to 1T/2T mode. I thought 1T was normal for 2 sticks in dual channel. Is this not correct?
 
I called Crucial and asked them that very question and they said I could RMA my Tracer. But they doubt its the modules fault, but more a compatibility issue.

I dont know how picky that Asus board is though, when it comes to memory.
 
if it's not a known compatibility issue then you should be able to rma. Contact the vendor and see what they say. If they haven't listed any known compatibilities issues then I'd think a rma is in order.
 
Usually this is the fault of the memory... but that Asus board is a bit out of style... It could have a 1T/2T problem... I agree with the others.. Mainly, make sure the board can run memory at 1T in the first place, and there are no common bios bugs.
 
nicknomo said:
Usually this is the fault of the memory... but that Asus board is a bit out of style... It could have a 1T/2T problem... I agree with the others.. Mainly, make sure the board can run memory at 1T in the first place, and there are no common bios bugs.
Many others have run memory at 1T with this board, and Super Nade's guide even recommends it. So in my case it appears to be the fault of the memory. It doesn't surprise me since it barely overclocks even at 2T and very loose timings. These modules seem to be complete duds. I sent an e-mail to Crucial technical support to see what they have to say about it.

On a side note, I am having problems with my motherboard described in this thread. However, I'm 99% sure that I tried running 1T before this problem started and got the same result.
 
I think RMA may be out of the question if you have allready overclocked the memory...isn't that voiding the warrenty or something, I've been having problems with my Corsair stick, I still need recommdations but no ones posting on my thread
 
darkside1016 said:
I think RMA may be out of the question if you have allready overclocked the memory...isn't that voiding the warrenty or something, I've been having problems with my Corsair stick, I still need recommdations but no ones posting on my thread
I actually looked over the warranty information for these modules at Crucial's website, and I didn't see anything about this. It says something along the lines of "Crucial will not be liable if something gets damaged due to overclocking". The fact of the matter is that Crucial markets Ballistix modules to overclockers and makes claims about how this memory will run faster than their conventional line of modules. They choose their words very carefully, which is to be expected, but I think Crucial expects and accepts that people will be overclocking their Ballistix modules. In the past, Crucial has been very good about handling my issues, so I'm optimistic that they'll replace these modules for me. The only potential issue is that it has been over 30 days (33 or so) since they were purchased. However, I think this type of performance problem falls under their 1-year warranty.
 
Isn't the Crucial warranty lifetime for the original purchaser? I don't think that 30 days or 1 year even make a difference here.
 
typically memory has a lifetime warranty. is this not the case with crucial? even, so im sure if you can explain that you couldnt test then til now they would be fine with it. good luck.
 
darkside1016 said:
I think RMA may be out of the question if you have allready overclocked the memory...isn't that voiding the warrenty or something, I've been having problems with my Corsair stick, I still need recommdations but no ones posting on my thread

What, they can market it to you for overclocking, but then if it fails you aren't supposed to return it? I don't care what their policy is... Unless you abuse your memory, I'd say its perfectly ethical.
 
nicknomo said:
What, they can market it to you for overclocking, but then if it fails you aren't supposed to return it? I don't care what their policy is... Unless you abuse your memory, I'd say its perfectly ethical.
Ya man... If crucial having problem w/ top rated mem interms of OC, they should get out of mem business.
RMA the Suckers. Buy some TCCx's man. you can light a match to TCCD, P on it kick it and then stick it in your pc, they come on and say thank you.
 
largon said:
"DRAM Command Rate is synonymous for address and commmand decode latency of the chipset."

All DDR-SDRAM modules are capable of command rate 1T (CPC on). It's really not an issue of the memory.
I don't get your meaning. From the article you linked:

"Whether or not it is possible to run the Command Rate at 1T depends on a variety of factors, though.

- Memory bus frequency
- Number of chips on the DIMM (the more chips, the longer it will take the controller to sort out which specific chip is the one that needs to be selected)
- Quality of the DIMMs used
- Number of DIMMs running in the board (if there are more DIMMs, the total number of chips will naturally increase)
- Position of any given DIMM (move the DIMM to the farthest DIMM slot and it will fail)"


So my memory can't run 1T at stock settings for one of these reasons. How could you say it's "not an issue of the memory"?
 
Yeah but none of these reasons have something to do with faulty memory. Its all about your setup. So maybe he just meant that your memory fine. Which I also think by the way, since I had the same problems and I checked my memory on another board where it ran great.
 
Yes, most likely your ram is just fine.

I've heard quite many complaining about that particular board and 1T... Your problem is very likely a board related.
Have you tried oc'ing with a higher divider? I hear that board doesn't like high memclock and 200-divider.

If Crucial is willing to replace them, go ahead. I doubt that would fix your problem though.
 
Last edited:
largon said:
Yes, most likely your ram is just fine.

I've heard quite many complaining about that particular board and 1T... Your problem is very likely a board related.
Have you tried oc'ing with a higher divider? I hear that board doesn't like high memclock and 200-divider.

If Crucial is willing to replace them, go ahead. I doubt that would fix your problem though.
Hmm, I'm beginning to think you might be right about my board not liking this RAM. I searched a bit and could only find 1 other person reporting results with Ballistix modules on this board. He seemed to hit the same wall as me in terms of OC'ing, i.e. stuck below 215 MHz no matter what timings are used. However, your statement about the A8V Deluxe not liking 1T doesn't apply to all memory. Many have reported pretty good results (relatively high HTT) using 1T command with other modules, particularly TCCD.

At this point, I think my best bet would be RMA the memory and get something else. The problem is that I ordered the memory on 7/26... Crucial is not obligated to take it back. :cry: Maybe I could try to sell it here on the forums, but with my results would anyone want it? Would anyone actually believe that the problem with my results is my board and not the mem??? What do you suggest?
 
nicknomo said:
Usually this is the fault of the memory... but that Asus board is a bit out of style... It could have a 1T/2T problem... I agree with the others.. Mainly, make sure the board can run memory at 1T in the first place, and there are no common bios bugs.

Mate,

AFAIK there are no problems with the board per se. A crappy BIOS maybe, but no electrical issues whatsoever.

KB,
If possible, send your RAM to me. I'll test it for you. Details can be worked out via pm. Ofcourse, I'm doing this for fun and not monetary gain :)
If you want, I can test the MoBo out as well. I need your AGP card though.

Let me know.

S-N

Edit*
What about RF EMI? Are you near a radio/TV station or a wireless hub?
 
Super Nade said:
Mate,
KB,
If possible, send your RAM to me. I'll test it for you. Details can be worked out via pm. Ofcourse, I'm doing this for fun and not monetary gain :)
If you want, I can test the MoBo out as well. I need your AGP card though.

Let me know.

S-N

Edit*
What about RF EMI? Are you near a radio/TV station or a wireless hub?
As far as I know I'm not near a radio/TV station; however, my wireless-B router sits on my desk above my tower. Has this been known to cause issues?

Sending you the RAM to test is an intriguing idea. However, I'm wondering what exactly would come of it. Would you test it in your DFI board, your A8V Deluxe, or both? If only using the DFI board, it might show that the RAM overclocks well, but doesn't answer the question about its behavior in the A8V (maybe my board just sucks). If tested using only your A8V Deluxe and getting crappy results, we still wouldn't know how the memory performs in another board. If tested using both boards, we would find out a lot :). Let me wait to hear back from Crucial before I decide what to do. Thanks a lot for your offer.
 
KillrBuckeye said:
As far as I know I'm not near a radio/TV station; however, my wireless-B router sits on my desk above my tower. Has this been known to cause issues?

Sending you the RAM to test is an intriguing idea. However, I'm wondering what exactly would come of it. Would you test it in your DFI board, your A8V Deluxe, or both? If only using the DFI board, it might show that the RAM overclocks well, but doesn't answer the question about its behavior in the A8V (maybe my board just sucks). If tested using only your A8V Deluxe and getting crappy results, we still wouldn't know how the memory performs in another board. If tested using both boards, we would find out a lot :). Let me wait to hear back from Crucial before I decide what to do. Thanks a lot for your offer.

These are the setups I would test under:
My main rig:
DFI NF4
Venice 3200

Old rig (donated to my friend)
A8V-D
Winchester 3000

Let me know how crucial respond.

What would come of these tests?
Well, you should be able to figure that out :)

One needs a really strong EMI source to cause problems. Your wireless setup should be O.K to have close by.
Just as an experiment, try undoing your wireless setup and then test. Also, unplug all USB devices and Sound Cards/PCI cards.
 
E-mail response from Crucial:

"Hello, we do not recommend our mods to run at 1t, if a customer is able to get them to run at 1t great, but in our experience the unit is more stable at 2T."

One long run-on sentence conveying absolutely no useful information. Oh well, I give up. The system runs great for me with memory slightly above stock speeds and 2T command.

Super Nade: Thanks for your offer, but I don't want to be without a running system for several days. I'm just going to live with what I have and be happy about it. :) I don't really care about benchmarks as long as my gaming performance is good. For that, the best thing I could do is upgrade my video card and add another 1 GB of memory.
 
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