2Gb 250Mhz DDR RAM Recommendations

[ChipDeath]

I've currently got 1Gb of Crucial Ballistix, but I'm 90% sure at least one stick is crap (Reboots and blue screens from time to time while gaming and stuff)

The reason I'm fairly sure it's the RAM is this:
I had 2x512Mb Crucial Ballistix PC4000, I RMA'd half because it was shagged, they replaced it with some ballistix PC3200 (same stuff, different SPD table), but that failed memtest86 from the off (although nowhere near as bad as first stick), but I couldn't be arsed to wait another 3 weeks with only 512Mb of RAM. I just relaxed timings and overvolted to compensate. This has worked, and is still usable, but it's been gradually getting worse and worse. Because I've overvolted it I've voided the warranty on the replacement so I can't really RMA it.

I'm fairly sure one stick is still ok, so I'll probably e-bay that one. If I'm buying new RAM, I think I may as well get 2Gb. I know my CPU will happily do 2.5Ghz+, so I would of course like some stuff that will definintely hit 250Mhz and above, in dual channel of course.

So the basic question is, what's the best overclocking RAM currently available in 1Gb sticks? I accept that I'll probably end up with sticks too dense for my poor winchester and have to run 2T, but I'm fairly sure the advantages of having 2Gb will easily outweight that. Besides, I'm currently running at 3-6-6-11 2T, 3V @ 200Mhz, so virtually anything's an improvement. :lol:

I'm sure Wusy will have some good suggestions.... :twisted:

Anyway, the stuff idiots forget to say when asking these sorts of questions:
A64 3200+ Winchester
XP-120
Abit KN8 Ultra
512Mb Crucial Ballistix PC4000 (think this stick is ok)
512Mb Crucial Ballistix PC3200 (Think this stick is screwed)
6800GS
Enermax 430W PSU

I trust the PSU, but I have considered changing it for something with a single 120mm fan for noise reduction.

I am, of course doing some googling and suchlike, but you can't beat first-hand experience..

 

[ChipDeath]

I suggest you save up the money and spend it on DDR2(and a new rig) later this year

What money? It'll be a credit card purchase :lol:

Nah, The rig works well enough besides this... since I'm now buying a house, I won't be able to spare the cash for quite some time. I figure with 2Gb, and 2.5Ghz, it should keep merrily banging along for a good few years, with possibly a Gfx upgrade, and perhaps a dual core chip when I can grab one cheaply in a year or two.

Any idea what chips Kingmax PC3200 SuperRAM uses? Pretty crap ones I guess, but it's half the price of the equivalent Corsair. Not wishing to be a cheapskate, but as I said, I'm buying a house...

 

[ChipDeath]

how about this OCZ stuff?

 

[ChipDeath]

or maybe two of these little Corsair beauties, at CL2.5 and 3V... would they hit 250Mhz you think?

Or a cheaper option with this OCZ stuff... Slacker timings, but then it's only rated for 2.6V. If I stick 3V+ through it, how high would it go you reckon?

*fondly remembers stick of cheap Crucial PC2100 that would do 180Mhz*

 

[ChipDeath]

Thanks for your input Wusy, I'll probably go for those....

I can probably stretch the budget that far, Since this is the last I want to spend on the PC for a fair old while.

I'll double-check it is my RAM with memtest later, and upon confirmation I'll order that stuff.

Hopefully the whole thing will then just run sweetly. I should be able to run new games quite decently for a good while, as my GS easily does over 500Mhz....

 

[ChipDeath]

Yup, I find it hard to work up any enthusiasm nowadays....

I'm strangely far more interested about the fact I'm buying a place that has a greenhouse, than I am about how much I can overclock my PC. I just want to get it happy and stable, so I can run what games and apps I require for a couple of years.

The one other thing I would change is the PSU... (Enermax 430W) I suspect the fans are on the way out now and will be making nasty noises before too long.

Then I can get on with growing tomatoes, tweaking my car, and doing DIY....[/old man]

 

[ChipDeath]

Insurance would screw me completely for either of those two

I've only held my licence for 18 months, and had a couple of claims, so the best I could get is ~£600. This is for a car I bought for £350.... In case you weren't aware, you can't legally drive a car here without being insured. And of course, because you have no choice the insurance companies charge as much as they can get away with.

I would be paying in excess of £3000 for insurance on either a skyline or an Evo. That would rise hugely if they were modified at all as well.

All that's before you consider the price of petrol (currently around £0.90 a litre), and road tax (£110/year or £180/year depending on engine size)...

Driving in this country is more expensive than almost anywhere...

 

[FITCamaro]

In the mean time I've set my new goal, buy a fully modded 1999 Skyline GT-R before I turn 30.

Hope you make a lot of money for a 19 year old. Get a Vette. Way cheaper to own, fix, and can handle just as well if not better. Guess by the name I'm big into cars. If I weren't I'd have a lot nicer of a computer...

I'm only 23 but I'll tell you, get out of this import craze. Its pointless and like any other fad, it ends. Driving a car that looks like something out of The Slow and The Stupid doesn't make hot asian girls pop out of nowhere and sleep with you.

 

[ChipDeath]

Get a Vette. Way cheaper to own, fix, and can handle just as well if not better.

I doubt that's the case in New Zealand.... :tongue:

Besides, Them jap motors have 4WD, and lots of computers to figure out where all the power/braking is supposed to go... Corvettes supposedly spin so easily that if you park them in a car park for 10 minutes and come back, the car will often be facing the other way...

The corvette might be more fun, but around a track in the hands of an average idiot.... no. Unless the track is one of those huge oval things.

mostly just ribbing, having never driven either except on gran turismo on a playstation - where, incidentally, the Skyline is definitely the one to pick...

 

[ChipDeath]

Well, I've memtested one stick, and that comes up with plenty of errors. Since I simply cannot get this fucking* thing to boot with the other stick, I'll assume that's even more screwed. I'd had that problem in the past, but not actually realised it was that stick. If I had to reset the CMOS, I always used to take a few goes before I could POST it to get into the BIOS. I always thought it was because It was autodetecting Vmem at 2.6 and the RAM was supposed to be 2.8, but now I guess it was that stick all along... :?

Ah well, It's enough proof for me, so I'll be ordering the new stuff shortly


*if swearing offends, I apologise, but that was a bit frustrating.

 

[ChipDeath]

Personally I think it'll be a better bet if you go with this one which uses handpicked Infineons.

err.... you sure? I just found this review that suggests it's actually using handpicked Samsung UCCC chips...

hmm...

 

[ChipDeath]

Decided to go for some Corsair TWINX2048-4000PT.

X-bit labs Had fairly decent results with it (265Mhz) and I found it for £146.82

Not the tightest of timings, but looks to be a good compromise I think. Plus it appears to be perfectly happy doing 250Mhz 3-4-4-8 at 2.6V, so less heat inside the case...

 

[ChipDeath]

Whoa! Searching about, some of these UCCCs do 310Mhz, at 3-4-4-8.. That's simply incredible for 1Gb modules... 8O

Well, I was almost hoping that having this RAM would discourage me from trying to overclock.... Seems like it won't now.. :roll:

And I ordered a VGA silencer for the 6800GS while I was there... I just know the stock fan will start whining fairly soon, and besides the silencer is quieter anyway. Wonder if it'll help me squeeze more from the GS... hmm..

Currently get noticeable errors in the 'Green light in forest' test thing in 3dmark when over around 510Mhz, but not played around too much with it really (because of all these other problems.... )

 

[FITCamaro]

Have you ever driven a Vette Chip? I'm sure it rains a lot in New Zealand but it does here too in Florida. Tires matter more when it comes to spinning out. AWD has an advantage but modern traction control and handling systems can cope fine as long as the driver isn't stupid. I have a 430 hp Camaro and it does fine in the rain. No traction control or even ABS either.

I've driven a 2001 Corvette Z06 (and thats just the 385 hp version) and a 97 Supra Twin Turbo, at 140 mph no less (brothers car with about 330 rwhp). Handling on both is great. Power on both is great. Not to mention my dads 2002 Trans Am WS6 6-speed with 330 hp and my Camaro.

The motor has nothing to do with the handling except for how much it weighs down the front end. Sure a turbo 4 banger is lighter than a V8 but with all aluminum engines its not as big a difference as it used to be. And yeah the Corvette has none of those computers....you know....just available shocks that automatically adjust to driving conditions using fluid that varies in viscousity based on the amount of electrical current going through it thats controlled by.....oh yeah computers. The Vette is one of the most technologically advanced cars there is (hence why it can make 400hp and get 29 mpg and still wipe the floor with almost any car out there on and off the track). Everything in it is taken directly off their race cars. And its so easy to drive anyone can hop in it. AWD is harder to learn to drive well then RWD as long as you don't step the rear end out too much but thats what the active handling system is for as long as its on.

If Skylines were as great as they're made out to be then they'd be in the major racing series like American Lemans along with the big boys. Instead you have the Corvette C6R owning the track while Skylines are mostly found in tradeshows showing off crap only rich spoiled kids can afford and in drift competitions. Oh and they're also in crappy movies that grossly overexaggerate and where the majority of the cars have nothing done to them except a body kit and a muffler to make it sound like it has a turbo (now available on Ebay for the people gay enough to buy them).

 

[ChipDeath]

I'm not in NZ, Wusy is...

I live in the UK, where having a driving licence tends to make you more of a criminal than your average burglar... But that's a rant for a different day.

Nope, I've never driven a Corvette. I don't particularly feel the urge to. But then I've never driven a Skyline either. If you read back over what I said, I just said that an average idiot would be a helluva lot faster around a track in the skyline or similar. I'm sure in expert hands that might prove different... But I bet you a million dollars a skyline is easier to park.

I haven't driven any cars that are particularly powerful (nothing over ~175hp). They're far too expensive to insure in this country unless you're over 35, and even then not cheap.... Some people are willing to sacrifice in many other areas of their life to be able to do so... I'm not though.

I currently have a 15 year old Ford Escort, with a 60Hp 1.3litre engine. It's slowcry, but at least it's cheap. I'll stick to playing need for speed until I've finished buying my house and figured out how much I can spend on something with a bit of grunt. 8)

 

[ChipDeath]

Here ya go... Not corsair, but samsung UCCC. Seems batch 0552 is one to look out for. Their sticks have the same defaults timings/speed as the corsair.

Stuff should be arriving today :mrgreen:

 

[ChipDeath]

Well, not 310Mhz, but it sure feels nice to have a happy computer again.

Plugged in, ran memtest and it seemed fine, so I just cranked it back up to 2.5Ghz, with RAM at 1:1 250Mhz 3-4-4-8 1T 2.7V. So I've not actually overclocked the RAM (yet.... :twisted But the PC is back to what it should be. Also whacked the GS up to 520Mhz, by way of celebration :mrgreen:

I'll probably try to get a stable 2.6Ghz/260Mhz at some point when I'm bored, but I'll leave it as is for a while, and just enjoy the fact I can once again play NFS with no judders/crashes/hitches... 8)

Settings now:
A64 Winchester 3200+ @ 250x10=2.5Ghz, 1.52V
Abit KN8 Ultra
2Gb Corsair XMS4000PT @ 250Mhz 3-4-4-8 1T 2.7V
Geforce 6800GS @ 520Mhz/1.1Ghz Core/Mem
Quick 3dMark05 run last night scored ~5880, but I can't remember if that was before or after I oced the GS some more (was at ~450Mhz).