The Unofficial Official Ballistix Results Thread

[Serotine]

I did some testing on the PC4000 Ballsitix recently. Only at 2.85V though, that's all I can get out of this board unless I do a Vmod.

I did extensive testing with 2x512 modules on an MSI K8n Neo Board with an array of different timings/fsb.

here are the results:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=321801

 

[Mordith]

I got my 2x512 PC3200 Ballistix running at 233 MHz at 2.6V with 2.5-2-2-5 timings. I haven't tried pushing it any higher yet but so far i'm pretty happy with this RAM.

 

[Ramlaen]

gonna put some voltage threw my set soon see if i can go higher than rated timings. Do i need to place fans on it at 3.2 volts?

 

[Clevor]

Are Ballistix PC3200 and PC4000 single-sided or double-sided? I have a feeling it is single-sided.

 

[man_utd]

They are pulling 1t so single sided.

 

[Clevor]

They are pulling 1t so single sided.

Can anybody confirm? Damn, no good for P4 boards then. Why in the world would Crucial build them like this, knowing how much better the 875/865P boards perform with DS ram?

 

[man_utd]

I have it at 2.75V. Timings are now 2.5-3-2-10 with Aggressive mode enabled on 1T. This memory is having trouble with cas latency of 2 and Ras-to-cas of 2. It's stable enough to benchmark, but memtest errors out, so it isn't worth it. However, Sandra wasn't reporting a significant difference between 2.5-2-2-10 and 2.5-3-2-10 anyway... about 50MB/s.

Rated timings are 2-3-2-8, which is impressive for PC4000. I suspect that it's either the motherboard or more likely the CPU that doesn't want to hold that. Maybe with DDR Booster...

Odie

UPDATE (2 hours later): Well, 9x250 at 1:1, 1T is no problem for this memory/CPU. Bandwidth went up about 150MB/s, while CPU arithmatic score dropped by 500 flops. I think I'm going to stick with 10x240 for now and let it settle in for overall performance. I was able to boot at 10x250, but Windows started to freeze. I'm sure it is the CPU, but I'm going to mess with some settings before I max the VCore at 1.8V. Although, at 1.75V, my temps never hit 50C. Is it worth bothering trying with the memory set to 2T?

This is from before in the thread

 

[K4mui]

Can anybody confirm? Damn, no good for P4 boards then. Why in the world would Crucial build them like this, knowing how much better the 875/865P boards perform with DS ram?

Because the single- sided RAM is much better for AMD's A64

 

[Oldjim]

I asked the same question of Crucial UK and it appears the 256Mb are single sided and the 512Mb double sided.

 

[mckennaiii]

would their ballistix pc-4000 be a good choice for a p4 3.0es?

 

[Clevor]

I asked the same question of Crucial UK and it appears the 256Mb are single sided and the 512Mb double sided.

99.99% of normal ram is that way. But I hear Crucial is going with SS 512 MB sticks in mid production of -5B C ICs. On their web site, they say the 512 MB sticks are 64x64. Not a ram expert, but I think that means SS.

On P4 boards, you lose as much as 300-350 unbuffered bandwidth with SS sticks. That's the difference between 3600 and 3300, a whopping amount. However fast CAS timings can make up for it. For instance, the Anand review says the Ballistix at DDR514 (257 fsb) get 3600+ unbuffered, pretty good, but probably because of 2.5-2-2-5 timings. DS BH-5 at 2-2-2-5 would get close to 3800.

Is anybody running 2x512 MB SS sticks of Ballistix (PC3200 or PC4000) on a P4 board? Can you list your fsb, mem ratio, CAS timings, and unbuffered bandwidth? I can tell you if it's good or bad. If somebody can confirm the 512 MB sticks are indeed DS, no need.

 

[ResponsiblAdult]

On their web site, they say the 512 MB sticks are 64x64. Not a ram expert, but I think that means SS.

.

No Sir, I believe they're saying 64x64 equals a 512mb stick.

 

[Clevor]

No Sir, I believe they're saying 64x64 equals a 512mb stick.

Yes, but is that single-sided or DS? Isn't 16x32 a DS 512 MB stick? I would think 8x64 is then a SS stick with only 8 ICs on one side. I dunno, it's like scoring in bowling or tennis, I can never figure it out, I just play and let someone else keep score.

I e-mailed Crucial yesterday, but still have no reply.

 

[ResponsiblAdult]

It doesn't indicate single or double sided, just the total capacity. In other words, 64x64 isn't enough information to determine the chip density. On a 512mb stick, 64x8 chips indicate single bank, 64x4 are double bank, 32x8 are double bank.... I think I did the math right but I'm on my way out for the evening......I'll check tommorow.

 

[Clevor]

I checked the Anandtech review, the Ballistix PC3200 use 32M ICs (probably 16), and the article indeed says 'DS'. I believe the PC3200 with -5B Cs are now coming only in SS 512 sticks, but the Ballistix with -5B Gs are going traditional DS for 512 MB sticks. This is good for the P4 folks, maybe not optimum for AMD guys. You don't get the DS boost with AMD boards so you might as well go 2x256 MB with AMD.

 

[Silent Buddha]

I'm going A64 this Christmas...hopefully this stuff will still be around by then and not go through huge amounts of price gouging

 

[Odie812]

I'm certain that the PC4000 flavor is double sided, and pretty sure that the PC3200 modules are as well.

@Clevor:
Unfortunately I haven't seen any results with this memory on a P4 board, but pretty much all Micron chips do well on P4 boards. I wouldn't be surprised if this stuff was any different. Why don't you get a 512MB stick and try it out? Crucial, after all, does have a 30 day money back guarantee.

Maybe it can't hurt to try

Sincerely,

Odie

 

[Clevor]

I'm certain that the PC4000 flavor is double sided, and pretty sure that the PC3200 modules are as well.

@Clevor:
Unfortunately I haven't seen any results with this memory on a P4 board, but pretty much all Micron chips do well on P4 boards. I wouldn't be surprised if this stuff was any different. Why don't you get a 512MB stick and try it out? Crucial, after all, does have a 30 day money back guarantee.

Maybe it can't hurt to try

Sincerely,

Odie

I got a reply from Crucial and they said yes, the 512 MB Ballistix PC3200 are double-sided. I might try a pair. The advantage of the Ballistix over that other hot ram now (TCCD) is that I have the mT -5B Cs and they indeed do 5:4 very very well. The TCCDs are an unknown factor, and I strongly suspect they don't. In fact, on the Abit boards, the only ram that runs well at both 1:1 and 5:4 are BH-5 and mT stuff, as well as ADATA PC4000 with Hynix 4-4.5 ICs. Hell, I'm running 294, 5:4, 2.5-4-3-6 @ 2.8 volts on my IS7-E right now. The mT needs volts so the AI7 is the best bet.

 

[situman]

Im not sure the mT loves volts. It will max out and hit a brick wall no like no other. My first set of EBs hit a brick wall no matter wat the voltage. My gig of Ballistix PC4000 wouldnt do 260fsb no matter the voltage.

 

[Clevor]

Im not sure the mT loves volts. It will max out and hit a brick wall no like no other. My first set of EBs hit a brick wall no matter wat the voltage. My gig of Ballistix PC4000 wouldnt do 260fsb no matter the voltage.

I agree there in regards to 1:1. I meant at 5:4, where you can drive the thing to higher fsb and at faster timings. I'm not sure if it maxes at 3.1 volts as I didn't try higher (I was fsb limited). I was doing 294 or so, 5:4, 2.5-2-2-5 on a P4C800-D. Increase the volts and you can drive 2.5-3-2-5 to 2.5-2-2-5 at same fsb. So if your board is limited to 2.8 VDIMM, can't do much at 5:4.