Oc'ing My Ballistix

[PWatterson]

OK, I got Ballistix for Christmas and I am having a bit of trouble Oc'ing them. Can't really get them to go past 280, even with 2.9 volts and 3-4-4-8 timings. I have heard that Crucial has been having some quality controls issues lately, but also I know that these things need active cooling to OC well. Or, could it be that I just need more voltage? I really don't wanna give these things more than 2.95 v.

Also, is there some guide somewhere than can explain all the DRAM settings in a DFI BIOS?

[avalanche83]

You will probably need active cooling cause it usually take 3.0v-3.1v for these IC's to get high freqencies, and they get really hot. Are you running them through memtest? Do you start to get errors at 280MHz?

[PWatterson]

You will probably need active cooling cause it usually take 3.0v-3.1v for these IC's to get high freqencies, and they get really hot. Are you running them through memtest? Do you start to get errors at 280MHz?


Actually, I haven't run them through memtest, but through isolating diffrent variables, I found that this was the problem when priming. And as for the 280mhz, that was just a rough guess. Basically, if I have any hope of running these things around 290 to 300 do I need active cooling?

[avalanche83]

Yes. All the results I have seen is with 3.0v or more and they get really hot. I use 3x60mm fans, but a couple 80mm's should do fine. Have you tried to lower the multi on the cpu then raise the HTT to see what the ram is capable of that way you know it is not a bottleneck?

[PWatterson]

Well, here's where it got a little strange. I am somewhat of a noob at oc'ing, as this is my first true OC, so excuse me if I don't make much sense.

I put down my LDT multi to 1, and my CPU multi to 4x, and my ballistix at 2.9v to 300 along with my HTT of course. It booted into windows, which was a way farther than anything had gotten before. Then, when I tried to put my Multis back up, it would BSOD. So, I have no idea whats up now.

Note: I didn't test or anything with the 300, but I though booting into windows was pretty darn good.

[avalanche83]

The 4x multi puts a divider on the ram so you really didn't have them at 300MHz. I think 5x is regular and puts the ram on the BIOS divider. Try setting it to 5x and running through memtest (test 5) at 280MHz. You should know after like 5 seconds or 10 passes if it is stable or not.

[PWatterson]

I shall do that tomorrow because its 2:30am here and I am getting tired. Also, which memtest should I use? The one in my BIOS or one from a floppy?

Also, thank you very much for the help. I appreciate it very much. :)

[avalanche83]

^^NP. The BIOS is the same as any and is alot more convenient.

[Klimpen]

It's seems I have landed in the right thread. Do you mind me going just a tad OT here?
I will keep on track as much as I can.
I just sold my Kingston HyperX DDR500 that I a couple of years back thought were among the best but after reading legitreviews.com (http://www.legitreviews.com/article.php?aid=262) article about the Balistix I have learned my lesson :bang head
I see you having trouble getting the magic three hundred but I think you will. You have a good m-board so you wont fail. Just put fans on them and crank the voltage up.
But the question I'm about to throw at you all in here is:
What is the difference between Ballistix (the golden ones) and the Ballistix Tracer (the black ones)
Is it the exact same kind only with different colors of the cooling and with the Tracer having LED's??

I'm buying either of them but I really need to know because the dealer only have Tracer in stock (black ones).

I will get back here with results as soon as I have them tested.
I got up to 275 with my kingston and i HAVE to beat that!

[PWatterson]

Actually, I have no idea what the difference is.

Using memtest, test 5, these things passed at 280 with 2.96 volts, 3-4-4-8. But, I am keeping them on a 9/10 divider until i get some fans on them. My HTT is at 289, so my ballistix would be at 260 with 2.77v, 3-3-4-8. Also, I found a guide on DFI-Street that explains all the RAM settings, so I will read that over as I wait for my fans.

That brings me to my next question. How should I cool these things? Space is really tight because of the Ninja. Could I do somethings like this?

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The two vertical lines on each side represent whatever size fan I can fit. The horizontal lines are my modules. I would have one fan pushing air over them and the other would be pulling away.

[PWatterson]

Well, I solved my cooling problem (see thread "Cooling Woes"). Now the problem is, I cannot get them stable at 289. I have tried a few different BIOS configurations, and I have read DFI's guide. Also, I have no idea what voltage to use. I heard somewhere that too much can affect performance. Any ideas?

[madhatR]

i would be very careful with putting 2.9 thru .. these sticks run hot as hell .. even at 2.7 volts .. even with active cooling i would be careful .. or you might end up playing the rma game like alot of people have

[PWatterson]

PROBLEM SOLVED!

It turns out that having my modules in the yellow slots was not such a good idea. Now that they are in the orange ones, I can run 1:1! Life is good. :D

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread. :)

[tsuehpsyde]

Yep, the yellow slots don't seem as stable as the Orange slots, even for high voltage memory (supposedly TCCD = Orange slots and BH/CH = Yellow, but I've found otherwise).

Also, even though you just got these working, be sure to keep the active cooling on them. Or if you havn't put active cooling on them and I'm just assuming that you have, do that ASAP. These sticks need active cooling around stock speeds, let alone overclocking...you can get some nice performance out of the sticks, but they get blisteringly hot when you really start pressing them. And as for the bunk sticks of Ballistix that have been around, they should have mostly been weeded out of the market.

[PWatterson]

Yep, the yellow slots don't seem as stable as the Orange slots, even for high voltage memory (supposedly TCCD = Orange slots and BH/CH = Yellow, but I've found otherwise).

Also, even though you just got these working, be sure to keep the active cooling on them. Or if you havn't put active cooling on them and I'm just assuming that you have, do that ASAP. These sticks need active cooling around stock speeds, let alone overclocking...you can get some nice performance out of the sticks, but they get blisteringly hot when you really start pressing them. And as for the bunk sticks of Ballistix that have been around, they should have mostly been weeded out of the market.

I angled the fan on my Ninja to blow on the RAM as well. ~95cfm.

[tsuehpsyde]

I angled the fan on my Ninja to blow on the RAM as well. ~95cfm.

You should be good to go then. :santa:

[avalanche83]

Actually, I have no idea what the difference is.

Using memtest, test 5, these things passed at 280 with 2.96 volts, 3-4-4-8. But, I am keeping them on a 9/10 divider until i get some fans on them. My HTT is at 289, so my ballistix would be at 260 with 2.77v, 3-3-4-8. Also, I found a guide on DFI-Street that explains all the RAM settings, so I will read that over as I wait for my fans.

That brings me to my next question. How should I cool these things? Space is really tight because of the Ninja. Could I do somethings like this?

|_________|
|_________|

The two vertical lines on each side represent whatever size fan I can fit. The horizontal lines are my modules. I would have one fan pushing air over them and the other would be pulling away.Glad to here you fixed the cooling, because that could cause errors as well. Are you running 1T or CPC enabled that DFI likes to call it? That adds about 20MHz to the overall overclock. So if you where at 280MHz stable with CPC that is really 300MHz. Try taking that off if it is enabled.

[malccy]

Interesting thread. At moment i'm at 280x10 1:1 (3 3 3 8) with my Opteron 146 CABYE but cannot get over 285. Running memory at 2.7v and 2T as when try to do 1T I just get a reboot.

I'm very happy with 2.8 but would like to clarify the 2T 1T thing; am I right in thinking it's upto 260ish 1T and anything higher 2T?

I'm with the people who say don't go over 2.8v, so many bad batches of these Ballistix and overvolting is sure not gonna help long term.

[Bullnettles]

Sorry to thread jack, but you say you moved the sticks and got better OC. Think this would work on my board? I used to get 267Mhz at 2.5-3-2-5 @2.85 (no 2.8 feature on ASUS) on my P4P800-SE and now on this DLX I can't get the same OC. I'm aware PAT puts stress on the chipset, but should I try switching slots anyway? Again, sorry to thread jack.

[PWatterson]

Glad to here you fixed the cooling, because that could cause errors as well. Are you running 1T or CPC enabled that DFI likes to call it? That adds about 20MHz to the overall overclock. So if you where at 280MHz stable with CPC that is really 300MHz. Try taking that off if it is enabled.

It is enabled. I read 1T gave better performance/bandwidth. Would I gain anything if I disabled it? I thought the goal was to always one 1T. :shrug:

[PWatterson]

Sorry to thread jack, but you say you moved the sticks and got better OC. Think this would work on my board? I used to get 267Mhz at 2.5-3-2-5 @2.85 (no 2.8 feature on ASUS) on my P4P800-SE and now on this DLX I can't get the same OC. I'm aware PAT puts stress on the chipset, but should I try switching slots anyway? Again, sorry to thread jack.


Hey, you never know. I thought it would not make a difference at all, but when they were switched, it made a world of difference.

[PWatterson]

I'm with the people who say don't go over 2.8v, so many bad batches of these Ballistix and overvolting is sure not gonna help long term.

Why not? I mean these things are rated to go 2.8. It's only a 5.5% overvolt. :shrug:

Wouldn't mine have shown signs of weakening if they really were bad?

[avalanche83]

It is enabled. I read 1T gave better performance/bandwidth. Would I gain anything if I disabled it? I thought the goal was to always one 1T. :shrug:If you needed a little more room for the cpu then dissable it. If not then 1T is the better option.