Bye-bye for ballistix?

[Seanohue]

My ballistix are getting really testy right now. They'll run fine at the settings in my sig but for an unknown reason, they'll crash. After the reboot, the system won't post unless the HTT is lowered (mind you it's on a 166 divider so its at 255 with 312 HTT, but around 240 on 300 HTT, which should not be happening). Voltage on the chips has been locked at 2.8, lower or higher it will not post. Timings are at max, 3-4-4-10. Now the odd part: yesterday I was going all up and down on the HTT and cpu voltage. I started at 312 and 1.475 and it ran good for awhile then crashed and wouldn't post until the voltage was raised up. So I put it at 1.55 and it crashed again later. Then this process repeats at 300 HTT. But before I went to bed last night, I set it back to 312 HTT 1.475v and it works fine now. Something is on crack lol. Its gets high and works great but then it goes on a downer and craps out. Anywho, should I RMA these if they give me trouble again (and this is the 3rd time so far that I have had to do this process)?

[EagleClaw]

I RMA'd mine twice, sick of messing with them. When my last RMA returned I sold them.

No word if people are getting back better sets now or not so really it's your call.

[boundrose]

Do you have Crucial Ballistix Z503 ?
Make some research and you'll find out about "bad" revision of this kit.

[unixadm]

I bought a set in early October '05 and it died by early December. I got second set from Newegg using their RMA process and it has just started to degrade. I'm running the memory in a Shuttle SN25P with an AMD X2 3800+. Memory is running at 480mhz, 2.7VDIMM. Under clocked and volted and it still died. I'm trying to get something else to replace this crappy memory. Premium price, terrible reliability.

[evancold]

I RMA'd mine twice, sick of messing with them. When my last RMA returned I sold them.

No word if people are getting back better sets now or not so really it's your call.

That is exactly what I did as well :beer:

[Seanohue]

I see. For $300 we really should be getting something better. What's the next best thing? Those OCZ gold ones? I think I'm gonna RMA and sell em too.

[Xoligy]

yikes seems like there not doing well my mate had a 2gig set and they died too this was right after he got a new cpu too!

[Seanohue]

How well do these stack up to the ballistix? I havent seen anyone using them http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227225

[meionm]

Did you run them through memtest?

[Seanohue]

Mmmhmm, its always memtest stable. 18hrs prime stable. Still get these crashes for no reason.

[EvilCloudStrife]

dont feel too bad. its happening to most everyone

[Seanohue]

/cry

[unixadm]

I just ordered the 2GB kit of G.Skill. All I need is DDR480 - by the time I need more I'll upgrade to the new DDR2 platform that's still several months out.

$197 is a good deal for 2gb of PC4000.

I also opened another RMA with Newegg for this memory and when it comes back, I'm selling it on Ebay. If I get $217 I'll be happy - I just want it to pay for my new G.Skill. :)

[Seanohue]

Well, sent my ballistix back today. All hail the $35 Mushkin! It's more stable than $300 ballistix lol.

[zeimbo]

mine have been running rock solid like this for 4 monthes now, not a hiccup. you expect that when you crap out $300 for some memory, it better be able to suck you off. but ive been very happy with the way theyve been running, i run memtest about once every 2 weeks just to make sure everything is error free and then the cycle of priming, occt, 3dmark05, spinrite and superpi :). i do have the L503's tho so that could be a difference. teh l3d's are pretty

[jivetrky]

you expect that when you crap out $300 for some memory, it better be able to suck you off.

Your memory does that? want to sell it? I even tried putting mine down my pants....I only got scratched up and a little chill from the cold heatspreader on a warm body part.

[Ach3r0n]

I didn't want to start a new thread for this but I am curious as to others' experience with this.

After reading and re-reading the Crucial warranty and confirming with a Crucial rep, it seems there is no warranty from Crucial if you buy from a reseller ( as opposed to buying direct from Crucial).


Me: "What happens if my Crucial Ballistix doesn't perform at the rated speed and timings and I purchased it from NewEgg?"

CSR: "Then we can't help you. We don't guarantee timings unless purchased directly from us."

Me: "OK ... What if I use your compatibility chart to find a module and it turns out to be incompatible with my motherboard - and again, I purchased it from NewEgg?"

CSR: "We don't guarantee compatibility for any part purchased from a 3rd party vendor."

Me: "OK ... last question in regards to the warranty. What if the part is defective and doesn't work?"

CSR: "You would have to contact the reseller if it has been 30 days or less."

Me: "What if it has been more than 30 days?"

CSR: "Then we can probably issue you an RMA for it if we still have the identical module in stock."

Me: "OK, but the specific part I am looking at is no longer made. It's the same as one on your site but the timings are tighter. 3-3-3 versus 4-4-4. So you would send me the equivalent then .. with the 4-4-4 timings."

CSR: "No. If we don't make the exact module anymore, then we can't help you. If you buy directly from us, we would gladly give you the equivalent part or credit at the very least."



Well that f****n' sucks. Between their inflated cost over NewEgg on the modules I was asking about, plus tax (which I wouldn't pay at NewEgg), + shipping (which happened to be free at the Egg right now), it would cost me $80 more to buy from Crucial. Screw them.

[jivetrky]

that kinda scares me...I guess that if it doesn't run at rated speeds then find a way to kill it and RMA?

either way..thats SUUUUPER crappy on their part. I almost think that if I had known that before buying I might have looked elsewhere.

[Ach3r0n]

Just so people don't think I'm a raving lunatic, here is where the warranty statement begins in regards to Ballistix:


With respect to Crucial Ballistix products, Crucial warrants to the original customer purchasing such products directly from Crucial that all such products sold will meet the datasheet specifications

[zeimbo]

i did purchase mine directly from crucial, at the time it was $50 cheaper than newegg or monarch and it came with a free copy of king kong which i managed to sell for $20 :). always read the fine print fellas :)

[El<(')>Maxi]

Thats terrible warranty & service. I'd go with OCZ simply for those reasons alone.

[Vrykyl]

thats rubbish - my last set of ballistix tracer died, i bought the 2x 1gb sticks seperately...one on ebay the other from komplett.co.uk - both stopped working properly,so i phoned crucial uk support - they asked if I had my original crucial invoice order number and I said no as they didnt come from crucial - they then simply took my name and address, asked me to send the faulty modules back and 4 days later I had a new 2gb set of ballistix tracer back!! no mention at all if not being covered cos they werent from them - sounds like theyre fobbing you off!

[hawtrawkr]

Thats terrible warranty & service. I'd go with OCZ simply for those reasons alone.

i may not go with ocz (even though i do alot of the time for their awesome customer support and products) but i damn sure wont be spending any more money on anything from crucial. thats easily one of the lamest rma policies ive ever heard. did newegg make the memory too or did crucial? good thing other manufacturers dont follow that type of policy.

[hawtrawkr]

thats rubbish - my last set of ballistix tracer died, i bought the 2x 1gb sticks seperately...one on ebay the other from komplett.co.uk - both stopped working properly,so i phoned crucial uk support - they asked if I had my original crucial invoice order number and I said no as they didnt come from crucial - they then simply took my name and address, asked me to send the faulty modules back and 4 days later I had a new 2gb set of ballistix tracer back!! no mention at all if not being covered cos they werent from them - sounds like theyre fobbing you off!


when did this happen? maybe theyve changed their attitude since im sure theyve had waves of rma requests. least newegg will honor a rma for a year on them if you just want a replacement.

[Vrykyl]

that was maybe a month or so ago - the set they sent me as replacement for them was also faulty (one stick was anyway), and they went back again and this time i sold the replacement set (just before christmas)... both times i found their service to be fast and friendly

[zeimbo]

yea ocz makes a damn good product with a damn good warranty and it usually performs damn good. i wish ocz made video cards and motherboards and hard drives as well :). but this crucial memory will hit 300mhz fsb baby. ive only seen the ocz hitting 270ish. and i bought mine from crucial so there shouldnt be any issues, a lot of the stuff going around is just heresay from people. if you have an issue, contact them directly and see what they say. what do you mean when you say it was faulty? if they run at their rated speed, its not faulty

[Seanohue]

My next set im going to make something better to cool the ballistix. 1 80mm isnt going to cut it. Going to have to get creative with acylic and make some sort of a windtunnel.