The Fall of Micron D9

[djplanet]

Looking through this page, I saw that many earlier revisions of memory by popular brands (Corsair, G Skill, OCZ, etc.) had the blessed Micron D9 ICs. However, newer revisions reveal cheaper, and (from what I've read) less overclockable ICs like ProMos and Elpida. The switch of Corsair's mid-range XMS 2 sticks shocked me the most, and I'm not sure I want them anymore. Meanwhile, only Buffalo, Crucial, and Super Talent seem to offer reasonably priced RAM (under $300) with Micron D9 (Even Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 is impossible to find under $260).

God I hope I'm wrong, but it's the impression I'm getting from that list. But I ask:

Is this list reliable? Many Forumz members (including myself) have posted it, as well as posters from other tech sites.

Are Micron D9s the only way to fly? How well can Elpida and ProMos OC?

Can someone find a decent 2GB DDR2 800 stick pair with CAS 4 and Micron D9s for under $250?

I'm way in over my head, I've spent too many hours researching this crap. Bear in mind I want to take an E6600 over 3 Ghz with a P5W DH.

 

[Guest]

This is most likely attributed to the really high demand of DDR2 memory that Core2+ AM2 caused.

Even the buffalo's probably don't have D9 anymore. This list is good and reliable. The guy is keeping it pretty much up to date and he requires actual picture of the IC before making the changes.

If you want a E6600 at 3ghz, all you need is 667. Any DDRII-800 should run at 333 with tight timmings.

 

[djplanet]

Yeah, I get the impression Micron D9s are being reserved for the high end, they're still common in PC-8000 and above.

I just don't want to be hindered. I'll push it farther if I can (looking at Tuniq 120, Ninja, etc. for cooling). BTW... What about the stuff in your sig? Price?

 

[Syntonic]

Well, if you don't want to gamble on micron d9gmh(or higher ratings), then no, 2x1gb kits are hovering around $300 USD for ddr2 800. G.skill's HZ 2x1gb kit is about 290. It may be possible to find ddr2 667 2x1gb with d9gmhs for around 270 though. At that price you might want to consider the Wintec pc2 8000 as it has D9GKX ICs. The Cruicial Ballistix ddr2 800 model has been reported to still use d9s but not the d9s you are looking for (it uses lower rated ICs.) It was a somewhat recent report as people found out when buying during the Ballistix deal at Zipzoomfly last month.

D9 is just a designation by Micron for the memory and it's the letters after the d9 you need to be looking at. There are some kits out there on places like newegg that may have some old stock RAM when they were still using micron d9gmh's to make their ddr2 800 kits.

There is no one to complain to if you don't get micron ICs under the hood (or heatsink) if you gamble for it. For example, you could try going for the Buffalo Firestix from Newegg but I think it's been a few weeks since someone purchased and took off their heatsink from the RAM. Microcenter (not really recommended you buy from there) and places in Europe have Buffalo Firestix with Elpida ICs under the hood. I'm not sure about how reliable that list is anymore - I used it first myself but soon turned to other places for up to date reporting on things not on the list.

You have to realize DDR2 800 ram is already overclocking RAM no matter what ICs you have under the hood. Micron ICs are not necessary for overclocking - they help in extreme overclocks. Are you aiming for over a 3.6ghz overclock with the e6600? If you were looking at 4ghz and not the 3ghz barrier, you might consider higher rated RAM or trying to overclock the cheaper ddr2 800 RAM. EDIT: You could consider a memory divider as well instead of 1:1.

 

[steffato]

I have an E6600, a P5 WDH Deluxe with 1707 bios and 2x1024 Supertalent 800G5 (CAS5 rated). My system has been running flawlesly without restart for 2 1/2 months now under Vista 32bit using these settings:

CPU Clock 3195MHz (355x9) 1.4625Volts (not overclocking-friendly sample) NOW WITH 9700 ZALMAN , for the first 4 months with stock HSF

RAM 888MHZ (4-4-4-10) 2.15Volts (much better than advertised)
MCH 1.65V
FSB 1.4 V

PCIE-100MHz
PCI-33MHz

Just don't forget to DISABLE Hyperpath. Known to cause instabilities over 350MHz FSB.

You could use these settings as a starting point and probably your CPU will overclock more. For inexpensive memory, I'm very pleased with these Supertalents.

 

[PCAnalyst]

As was my concern from the start of component searching... I simply called the manufacturers and asked... "Are those D9GMH/k memory chips?"

Supertalent told me about 20% of the higher priced were micron... which translates "To ME" I wont be getting those sticks. - But... they guaranteed CAS 3 performance on DDR2 800 modules added to a lifetime warranty with overclocking.

Crucial is owned by micron... so not a big stretch for them... I would say you are pretty safe with crucial.

G.Skill told me some model numbers that use micron... like the ones in my sig.

They were the best value at the time... so I cut my searching short.

Nothing under $275 I would say is a safe bet for Microns - Just not cost effective.

 

[djplanet]

My dad found this thread over at TechPowerUp, I figured it was worth a revisit in this thread:

Micron D9s PWNED