The Unofficial Official Ballistix Results Thread

[Oldjim]

K4mui - you may well be right as I had expected better.
But further tests have indicated that this may not be a ram problem
Memory 133 in bios, Vcore 1.7v, memory 2.8v, Ht 3x - Max speed before immediate lockup 245 x 10. Didn't even try running Prime 95
Basically I think I have hit my CPU limit as 230 x 10 is totally stable at stock voltages.

 

[Thaer]

I'm going to buy a AMD Athlon 64 3500+ with the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum mainboard and a FSP 400w powersupply.

What RAM do yout think I should buy?
The PC3200 or the PC4000? Which one will perform best in games and in 3D programs?

Another question: The PC4000 runs at DDR500 and at timings of 2-3-3-8? That's really good, right? But can I overclock them more or do I only need to overclock the timings - if I can? -

Can you say that these memories actually goes on 250Mhz (250 * 2 = DDR500) ?

 

[K4mui]

Another question: The PC4000 runs at DDR500 and at timings of 2-3-3-8? That's really good, right? But can I overclock them more or do I only need to overclock the timings - if I can? -

Can you say that these memories actually goes on 250Mhz (250 * 2 = DDR500) ?

No, PC4000 runs 250MHz@ 2.5-4-4
And this is still quite good (though a-data do this as well)

LOL, of course you can overclock these modules! Would be a shame if you couldn't...
And actually you cannot overclock timings- but you can try to make them faster

 

[situman]

I dont believe ballistix are good overclockers, even some reviewers cant get more than a 6mhz oc on pc4000.

 

[Thaer]

Then should I get the PC3200 and get timings of 2-2-2-5 at DDR460 instead of having DDR500 at 2.5-3-3-8?
Bare in mind that I'm going to play games a lot in this systems and I personally think that DDR460 at 2-2-2-5 will be better than DDR500 ar 2.5-3-3-8.

 

[K4mui]

Bare in mind that I'm going to play games a lot in this systems and I personally think that DDR460 at 2-2-2-5 will be better than DDR500 ar 2.5-3-3-8.

It definately will!
But I don't know if they can keep these timings up to 230MHz?

 

[Serotine]

I bought 2x512 PC4000 recently and had them delivered to me yesterday.

So far I am pleased.

Max Stable DRAM Clock: 255MHz @ 2.5-3-3-8 (2.8V)
Test Methods: Memtest-86, Prime95, 3dmark.
I haven't done enough testing yet to confirm that this is rock stable, but so far it's running sweet. I haven't gone beyond 255MHz yet, I'm burning in first.

Question for PC4000 Ballistix Users:
What command rate are you using? because I can only seem to get '2T' and not '1T' with my timings. Even at default settings (2.5-4-4-8 2.8v) my system wont boot with '1T'. I dont know if it's a motherboard issue, or a BIOS issue. If anyone has any ideas let me know.

As for anyone who is planning on getting PC3200 Crucial Ballistix, you might as well go for the PC4000's since they can do the same 2-2-2 low timings at '200MHz (DDR)', although they aren't 100% guaranteed, but from what I've seen from my own experience and other peoples experiences most of them certainly will do 2-2-2 @ 200MHz (DDR400).

Happy Memory Clocking ;P

 

[Serotine]

This is just to confirm that I can run my 2x512MB PC4000 Ballistix at:
2-2-2-6 2.8V 200MHz (DDR400).

 

[MiKeLezZ]

Mine go 2-2-2-5 1T @ 200MHz @ 2,65V too

 

[Serotine]

Mine go 2-2-2-5 1T @ 200MHz @ 2,65V too

Neat, could you post Sisoft Mem Benchmarks using those settings please?

I want to compare performance. What mobo do you have?

 

[Oldjim]

Update on Ballistix Results

Finally managed to get the m/b to accept reduced cpu multipliers without crashing.
Results on 2 x 512 PC4000 at 2.8 volts
2.5-3-3-8 1T 251 MHz stable
2.5-4-4-8 2T 266 MHz stable
Using 3D Mark 2001 best performance for me was 240 x 10 at 1:1 2.5-3-3-8 1T.
266 x 9 at 1:1 2.5-4-4-8 2T was worse.
Processor limit at 1.7v is 2400

System - now in sig
EP-8KDA3J, 3000+ newcastle CG, 2 x 512 MB Ballistix, Audigy 2, Radeon 9800pro, CNPS7000A-AlCu cpu cooler, Tagan 480W PSU

 

[einsig]

Nice to see some MSI K8N Neo users getting good results with this RAM. I'm ordering a set of 2x512 sticks of the PC4000 this week. I previously ran XMS 3200LL 2-3-2-6-1T, but could never get it past DDR440 and Prime stable. I do have a C0 stepping Clawhammer 3400+, so memory can be a little tricky. I'm shooting for 2.6 witha multi of 11 on watercooling, so hopefully this RAM will do the trick. I'm not too concerned witht he timings because as we have all seen the socket 754 memory controller isn't affected much at all with looser spd settings.

 

[Rabbi]

Finally managed to get the m/b to accept reduced cpu multipliers without crashing.
Results on 2 x 512 PC4000 at 2.8 volts
2.5-3-3-8 1T 251 MHz stable
2.5-4-4-8 2T 266 MHz stable
Using 3D Mark 2001 best performance for me was 240 x 10 at 1:1 2.5-3-3-8 1T.
266 x 9 at 1:1 2.5-4-4-8 2T was worse.
Processor limit at 1.7v is 2400

System - now in sig
EP-8KDA3J, 3000+ newcastle CG, 2 x 512 MB Ballistix, Audigy 2, Radeon 9800pro, CNPS7000A-AlCu cpu cooler, Tagan 480W PSU

Try running 2.5-2-2-8 Oldjim ... set your VDimm to the max your board has to maximise stability. If those timings dont work try 2.5-3-2-8 (the 2 is RAS-to-CAS)

 

[K4mui]

I'm not too concerned witht he timings because as we have all seen the socket 754 memory controller isn't affected much at all with looser spd settings.

That sure about it?
Look at this

 

[xgman]

I've been running B4000's at 253 3-2-3-1T with 2.85v. Do you think they will run at cas 2.5 at these timings/htt/voltage? I haven't tried yet. probably won't make much difference though.

 

[K4mui]

I've been running B4000's at 253 3-2-3-1T with 2.85v. Do you think they will run at cas 2.5 at these timings/htt/voltage? I haven't tried yet. probably won't make much difference though.

Exactly
But why don't you just try it? You already tried to set RAS-to-CAS at 2, right?

 

[xgman]

ras to cas 2 isn't stable enough for my taste without more voltage than 2.85. I'll try cas 2.5 for the heck of it, but I am installing a A8V 2.0 later.

 

[Oldjim]

Try running 2.5-2-2-8 Oldjim ... set your VDimm to the max your board has to maximise stability. If those timings dont work try 2.5-3-2-8 (the 2 is RAS-to-CAS)

Interesting result.
At 2.5-2-2-8 1T stable at 240 at stock Vdimm 2.7v - max on board 2.8v gave no improvement
Increased 3DMark 2001 by 320 points to 20,261 as I can run 240 x 10 at Vcore 1.7 which is optimum for my rig
Comparison with previous results
230 x 10 at 2.5-2-2-8 3DMark result is almost identical to 240 x 10 at 2.5-3-3-8 which shows the benefit of low latency

 

[Ramlaen]

2.5-3-2-8 @ 1t

10 x 250

Is my stability point at this moment. Haven't had more time to tweak w/ my ballistix

Memory seems to top out here as well as the processor. So unless i find more voltage thats it for me.

 

[zexmarquies01]

what i want to see, is what this stuff can do, on say a DFI lanparty B mobo, at 3.3 volts.

i'm running a DFI-LanpartyB mobo. with OCZ EB PC3500. and i can hit 255 FSB. ( but im running 250, to be fully sure that i'm 100% stable. ) but i have, and can hit 255 FSB and get into windows without a problem.

i want to see how high of a FSB Ballistix's can really do.

so far, what? the highest is like 250 FSB on Ballistix?? i'm sure if someone can give it 3.3 volts, they can get higher.

Edit: sorry, didn't notice, that someone got it up to 266 FSB.