new build.crucial ballistix1066--2nd failure.

[fbm211]

I am starting to get mad at myself for going with this ram.When it works its pretty fast.I was getting 13500 3dmarks on 3dmark06.At stock speeds.But I digress.The first set failed after 12 days.The second set after 10 days.I will not be able to rma it to newegg again cause I had to cut the box upc out to send in for my rebate.Im thinking my GA P35-DS4 mobo doesnt officially support the crucial ddr2 1066 I WAS using.I have a set of pny 667 running in it now.It runs fine,just slower. The first set that failed caused random reboots and finally it wouldnt boot into xp.And it corrupted my registry so I had to start over with a fresh install.I caught it the second time rebooting and when the blue screen flashed as it was about to open xp and rebooted again and the screen asking if I wanted to boot into safe mode came up I shut it off, installed the pny and now its ok.I suppose Im going to have to rma it to crucial but its probably going to keep happening.I hope not but im thinking this memory is overclocked 800mhz memory and will keep failing.The same thing happened twice and the chances of that are slim.I just hope I can get a refund if it happens again and go with ocz or corsair.Any opinions and suggestions are welcome.And I did run memtest when I got the second set for 8 hours and had no errors.

 

[badge]

I am starting to get mad at myself for going with this ram.When it works its pretty fast.I was getting 13500 3dmarks on 3dmark06.At stock speeds.But I digress.The first set failed after 12 days.The second set after 10 days.I will not be able to rma it to newegg again cause I had to cut the box upc out to send in for my rebate.Im thinking my GA P35-DS4 mobo doesnt officially support the crucial ddr2 1066 I WAS using.I have a set of pny 667 running in it now.It runs fine,just slower. The first set that failed caused random reboots and finally it wouldnt boot into xp.And it corrupted my registry so I had to start over with a fresh install.I caught it the second time rebooting and when the blue screen flashed as it was about to open xp and rebooted again and the screen asking if I wanted to boot into safe mode came up I shut it off, installed the pny and now its ok.I suppose Im going to have to rma it to crucial but its probably going to keep happening.I hope not but im thinking this memory is overclocked 800mhz memory and will keep failing.The same thing happened twice and the chances of that are slim.I just hope I can get a refund if it happens again and go with ocz or corsair.Any opinions and suggestions are welcome.And I did run memtest when I got the second set for 8 hours and had no errors.

I'm thinking four bad DIMMs of Crucial RAM by one user on one system...could user error be possible? I've used probably 10 times that many Crucial DIMMS in recent years and never had a problem. I was thinking to myself, PC28500 1066 MHz. DIMMS requires 2.0-2.1v to perform at advertised speeds. The DIMMs are programmed through SPID to default to 1.8v. What are the possibilities of user error being invoved that the user never set up the PC28500 1066MHz. in BIOS, including Mfg. specifications of 2.0-2.1v and 5-5-5-15 timings. Perhaps a little increase in NB voltage would solve the system crashing? Could it be Memtest, which is not a Windows based program, came up with no errors because the RAM was good? Then when the stsyem stressed to load a large software application like uhhhhhhhm, Window OS, the system shut down due to user error and failure to properly volt and set up the RAM to specs? Stick with DDR667 and stop all the FUD about a good company like Crucial, it requires less voltage and will run without setting up the hardware in BIOS. I can tell you there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of enthusiasts using Crucial DDR2 all over the planet.

 

[akhilles]

Define "failed".

 

[fbm211]

Thanks for the response.Well first of all I did set up the memory in the bios to the timings 5-5-5-15 it was stated to run at.The voltage set itself to 2.2v which it is advertised to run at.The memtest I ran is the one that runs in windows.(ie.Not memtest 86)As for the failure I would think it would have to do with my rig failing to boot into windows.Like I said it will reboot and as xp is about to open I will get a bluescreen that will flash by too fast for me to read what it says and when xp tries to load again I get the screen asking if I want to start normally or safemode.It will not start up in safemode if I choose that option either.And I am not giving crucial any FUD as I have been using thier memory for the past 12 years and never had problems.I am going to contact crucial in a moment and see if they can help.I think I have enough experence with computers to know what im doing as I have been rebuilding and upgrading mine for the past 12 years.Never had a problem like this.Help an guy out badge,I did not mean to offend you in anyway.Im just looking for help from someone with the same setup.GA P35-DS4, E8400, crucial ddr2 1066, 8800gts(g92),

 

[akhilles]

That usually happens when there's a conflicting driver left over from a previous build. That should be uninstalled before disassembling the old pc. If I had to hazard a guess, the most common would be upgrading from a different cpu architecture. i.e. AMD -> Intel.

 

[systemlord]

All four dimms were bad? Damn I have two sets of the RAM you have (Crucial Ballistix 1066) in two different computers (Asus) with no problems. In my gaming system I have my Crucial's running underclocked at 4-4-4-12 800MHz 2.0v and my second comp 5-5-5-15 1200MHz 2.2v using a fan to keep RAM cool because with a 400MHz OC your going to need to keep the dimms from melting. You must either have a bad batch or your mobo is killing your RAM. I find it strange that the Crucial dimms die after 10-12 days for two different sets of RAM, seems almost like clock work to me.

 

[fbm211]

It is strange indeed.I also think the motherboard is to blame but I dont understand how.The pny pc5300(667mhz) is running without any problems at all.It runs at 1.84v.the crucial ran at 2.24v(5-5-5-15).Of course I checked the gigabyte site for the memory support list for my 2.1 rev board and the crucial I had problems with was not on the list so maybe I should try something that is officially supported.That is if the third set failes also. Its a fresh xp install so no drivers are left over from my previous set up.

 

[nrn9520]

I have a GA P35-DS3L, an E8400, and the same crucial ballistix1066 you are using. It was not on the officially supported list for my mobo either, but it automatically set itself to the correct timings and voltage.

I built this rig as soon as the E8400 was available, and it has been running with no problems ever since.

 

[nrn9520]

I do not know how accurate this is, but if you go to crucial.com/ballistix they have a memory advisor tool to find compatible memory.

The Crucial Ballistix DDR2 1066 is on the list for memory compatible with the GA P35-DS4

 

[systemlord]

It is strange indeed.I also think the motherboard is to blame but I dont understand how.The pny pc5300(667mhz) is running without any problems at all.It runs at 1.84v.the crucial ran at 2.24v(5-5-5-15).Of course I checked the gigabyte site for the memory support list for my 2.1 rev board and the crucial I had problems with was not on the list so maybe I should try something that is officially supported.That is if the third set failes also. Its a fresh xp install so no drivers are left over from my previous set up.

At 2.24v no wonder they died on you, .04 may not seem like much but it does cause them to run hotter and over time... What speed are you running and are you overclocking?

 

[fbm211]

I am not overclocking and wont even attempt that untill my rig is running stable for a couple months.It was running at 1066(5-5-5-15).and the board set that voltage.Im not sure why it set the voltage a little high.When I get the next set from crucial Im going to call them and hopefully they can help me set it to 2.2 My board has an unusual voltage setup.It doesnt provide specific voltages rather a list of incriments .Ill look at it and get back to you.

 

[fbm211]

Wll I just checked the bios and it does not have a selectible voltage control where I could set it to a specified 2.20.All it has is an overvoltage control that begins at .05 and goes up from there.Looks like Im going to have to try some corsair or OCZ memory.I really dont want to have to send the board to gigabyte and go through all that.

 

[Serj]

What PSU are you using in that system? It may be entirely possible that your Voltage is dropping on the DDR while under stress and cause a stability issue. Also, the MOBO reading for your Voltage is not the ultimate determination of how much they are actually getting. Check voltages reported by CPU-Z and the Mobo Utility. If the Regulation on either the mobo or the PSU is bad, you could be getting spikes or overvoltage enough to kill the sticks within 2 weeks. the #1 most neglected component of ANY PC build is usually the PSU. I've seen people with incredible setups, OC'd and killer air cooling, then I see they're using an ULTRA or XION or even "DEER" PSU because it came with their case.

 

[buzznut]

hmmm. I had similar results with a set of 2GB crucial ballistix (pc6400) and had a bad stick. The failure came after 1 month of use. I rma'd and received a good set which is performing well now. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss a second failure, it DOES happen, unlikely as it may seem. Didn't happen to me but I could be lucky...

Crucial was quick to respond with a disclaimer that the failure rate for these modules was very low, then when I rma'd they wrote back saying that it would take 3 days to respond to an email because of the "high volume." uh, okaaaay.

I also noticed on newegg that quickly after I started having problems, many others were also reporting bad dimms (typically one per kit) and the overall score of the product was dipping. Some mentioned an appearance of a "bad batch." I don't have any data to support this, just an example of some peoples' (and my own) experience.

However I still feel that crucial has a good product, and they use micron chips and their rma service overall was very good, if a bit slow.

Considering you are having no difficulties now, and you only changed ram out (I assume), that along with the symptoms suggests bad ram to me.

 

[systemlord]

Wll I just checked the bios and it does not have a selectible voltage control where I could set it to a specified 2.20.All it has is an overvoltage control that begins at .05 and goes up from there.Looks like Im going to have to try some corsair or OCZ memory.I really dont want to have to send the board to gigabyte and go through all that.

There isn't a mobo on this planet that doesn't have DRAM voltage control, the .05 is your voltage control I think. You need to contact Gigabyte as its a simple problem and it doesn't matter what brand of RAM you get, your mobo's BIOS will set the same voltage. Many mobo's including mine overcompansate for Vcore and sometimes the RAM is read incorrectly. At least we know why your RAM died, you can run your dimms at 4-4-4-12 800MHz 2.0 volts is your not going to OC yet. Just make sure your have a RAM fan on those dimms as they can fry an egg if not cooled properly.

 

[Serj]

My X38-DQ6 recognized the profiles on my ram and set it to a safe(albeit a bit slow) 5-5-5-18 @ 1.8v, so I honestly don't think the board is overvolting your sticks, although, it may be entirely possible and more likely if you had to RMA ram twice. On my board, if i set the voltages to auto, and manually set the EPP timings, it automatically gave my ram the correct voltage. so, you might wanna just use Gigabyte's EasyTune software just to see what it's reporting your mobo is giving the ram.

 

[fbm211]

TO serj- I have SilverStone ZEUS 560W PSU.Model ST56ZF.I also have cpuz,gpuz and HW monitor.HWmonitor reports that the pny I have installed right now is running at 1.84 volt.It should be 1.80,right.My board seems to be adding that 4 to any ram I install.I probably wont get my new set of ballistix till next week.I sent it to crucial yesterday so when I get it I will try to contact gigabyte and see if they can tell me where to find the dram voltage controll.I have looked at all the bios settings and it just isnt present.(bios F8)

 

[systemlord]

TO serj- I have SilverStone ZEUS 560W PSU.Model ST56ZF.I also have cpuz,gpuz and HW monitor.HWmonitor reports that the pny I have installed right now is running at 1.84 volt.It should be 1.80,right.My board seems to be adding that 4 to any ram I install.I probably wont get my new set of ballistix till next week.I sent it to crucial yesterday so when I get it I will try to contact gigabyte and see if they can tell me where to find the dram voltage controll.I have looked at all the bios settings and it just isnt present.(bios F8)

You cannot select DRAM voltage when it is set to [Auto], you must change DRAM timings to [Manual] to get the extra options for setting the timings and voltages. On my mobo there are no DRAM voltage or timing options until I select [Manual]. I believe this is why you do not see the options you are looking for.

 

[Shadow703793]

^Agreed.

@OP:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=29&post=246284&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=3&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0
to see more info on DDR2 voltage selection

For the Crucial Ballastix you need at least 2.2v.



Performance Enhance : Must be set to "Disabled" for a successful overclock.


System Memory Multiplier (SPD): This is the RAM SPD. Change this item so that the "Memory Frequency" shown below the SPD is not exceeded. It is OK to be under the "Memory Frequency" shown.


Memory Frequency (Mhz): The first RAM value listed (I will call this the "Rated RAM Speed" to make life easier) (to the left ) is the normal speed of the RAM being used; the second (to the right) is the memory frequency that is automatically adjusted according to the "CPU Host Frequency (Mhz)" and "System Memory Multiplier" settings. I would strongly suggest you decrease the SPD to stay at or below the "Rated RAM Speed". If your RAM is overclockable (i.e. RAM like the Crucial Ballastix) you should still set the SPD to the "Rated RAM Speed" as it would be one less variable in a CPU overclocking failure until you find the best stable overclock. I recommend that you DO NOT overclock the RAM until you reach a stable CPU speed.

System Voltage Control: Determines whether to manually set the system voltages (i.e. CPU core voltage, RAM voltage, PCIe voltage, etc). "Auto" lets BIOS automatically set the system voltages as required. I recommend that you set this to "Auto" only if your overclock is small like 10-11%. Set this to "Disable" if your overclock is high (i.e. 400+Mhz CPU speed increase). Also set this to "Disable" if you need to change RAM voltages, this is specially true for most high performance RAM like the Crucial Ballastix and Corsair XMS2, etc. If your RAM is higher than 1.8v you must set this to "Disabled" .

DDR2 OverVoltage Control: This is the RAM voltage. Increase this by +0.1v increments to reach the voltage specified by the ram manufacture. The standard voltage is 1.8v. So if your voltage is rated as 2.2v increase this to +0.4v since 1.8 + 0.4 = 2.2.

[fixed]

Rated RAM voltage - 1.8 = The needed voltage increase

Example:
2.2 -1.8 = 0.4
[/fixed]

 

[systemlord]

I don't get why Crucial tells you to use 2.2v @ 4-4-4-12 800MHz, mine run fine @ 2.0 24 hour Prime95 and Memtest. My dimms will run 5-5-5-15 1200MHz @ 2.2v, so why should I run them @ 2.2 @ 800MHz?