Are people shying away from Ballistix?

[charloscarlies]

I've noticed people complaining about Ballistix oc'ing being hit or miss. After the excellent reviews from AT, I was just wondering what the deal is now? Are people shying away from Ballistix? What kind of OC's/timings are people getting?

Are the Samsung chips the preferred choice right now? I noticed Ballistix has come down to $130ish with a 4% coupon, but Mwave seems to have a great deal on HyperX with the Samsung chips. I think it's like $110-115ish after a $25 mail in rebate.

Another option I was considering is some PQI or PDP with the same Samsung chips. My local Fry's has them for $130 a stick and it might be nice having the luxury to return them if they suck.

What would you buy? Anybody have experience with the HyperX or Ballistix?

 

[Shimmishim]

well i've seen reviews and the kingston don't seem to o/c as well as some other companies

the two best performing are

ocz plat rev 2 pc3200 and
gskill pc4400

both use samsung tccd and are capable of ddr600

as for teh ballistix

people say that they are hit or miss... lots of people claim that anandtech got cherry picked modules... i say it's all luck...

pqi is also another good option...

they can do some insane speeds as well at a reasonable price...

so my choice order would be

g.skill
pqi
ocz
kingston

ocz 3rd because their prices are a bit higher than the rest

just my 02...

 

[Ricericebaby]

I've hit 470mhz ddr with my ballistix at 2.5-2-2-10-1T on my A64 rig.

I am running them at 2.7v, .1 underspec because my motherboard can't hit 2.8v(darn asus!) I believe at 2.8v, I could probably hit 2-2-2-10-1T.

They work beautifully. I think pairing the ram up with a good stable motherboard matters too. MSI fried my ram, but asus is rock solid stable.

 

[Squally Leonharty]

Ballistix modules are good for both stock and overclocked speeds. See this page for more information. Ballistix PC3200 received a Gold Award for its stable overclocking at DDR500.

So yeah, I'm guessing it's either luck or nothing. As for me, I just run them on stock speed. I'm not interested in overclocking (yet). ;p

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

$130 a stick is out of range of the casual enthusiast. I can buy 2x512 PDP CAS2 for $90 a stick. Quick, anybody have a calculator?

 

[charloscarlies]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
$130 a stick is out of range of the casual enthusiast. I can buy 2x512 PDP CAS2 for $90 a stick. Quick, anybody have a calculator?

True but I doubt they'll do 250+ fsb.

I was pretty excited about the Kingston at that price, but the PQI isn't a whole lot more. Maybe I'll give them a shot. I've also heard some really good things about the Gskill, but where can you get em?

 

[Concillian]

Ballistix are best at lower FSBs, Samsung TCCD will run extreme speeds, but will be higher latency than the Ballistix. Ballistix have been hit or miss above 250 according to a few forums. The TCCD are consistently hitting in the 275 range, but will have higher latency than the Ballistix at most frequencies.

You can get Gskill at excaliberpc.com, but it's about the same price as you can get the others at newegg.

 

[imported_juanflaiter]

I´ve tried both Samsung TCCD and Winbond BH5, and this are the greatest mems I´ve ever tried. Why don´t you pick a pair of OCZ PC3200LL rev.2? They have Samsung TCCD rated at 2-2-2-5 400mhz, but they can make without being overclocked 500mhz on tight timings (this are 4ns chips).

 

[Zebo]

People are morons. Ballistix is the best memory period 255Mhz and below, every site and evety compitant person I trust show this fact. Unfortunatly they are tying it in POS 939 mobos or tying to push it high FSB like TCCD which..well is'nt there.,

 

[Zebo]

new

Originally posted by: charloscarlies

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
$130 a stick is out of range of the casual enthusiast. I can buy 2x512 PDP CAS2 for $90 a stick. Quick, anybody have a calculator?

True but I doubt they'll do 250+ fsb.

I was pretty excited about the Kingston at that price, but the PQI isn't a whole lot more. Maybe I'll give them a shot. I've also heard some really good things about the Gskill, but where can you get em?

Charles if you want bad assed mem for cheap get this

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=20-220-006&depa=0

http://www.ocforums.com/showpo...57022&postcount=27

 

[Avalon]

Why no mention of Geil Ultra X?

 

[Concillian]

Geil Ultra X is covered under all the discussion of Samsung TCCD.

 

[Jhatfie]

I have no experience with the Ballistix, but after reading numerous threads of them being sporadic in overclocking ability, I decided to try something else. Having been unable to locate a mate for my 512MB stick of OCZ EB PC3500 (which is awesome memory, to bad it is discontinued), I sold it and bought that something else. It being a 1GB kit of the PQI turbo PC3200 (2-2-2-5) for $245. So far I have been pretty impressed. Only does 2-2-2-5 timings up to 210mhz, but will do 2.5-3-3-10 1T timings up to 280 (at 1:1 asn two dimms even) so far in testing with only 2.8v, maybe more as I have ony done limited testing. My EB needed 3.1v to do 270mhz with 3-4-4-10 timings.

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: Concillian
Geil Ultra X is covered under all the discussion of Samsung TCCD.

A few were mentioning specific brands that used Samsung TCCD, but there was no mention of Geil. Just thought I'd throw them a mention. I'm probably a Geil fanboy, though
Too bad the cheapest price I can find for a gig of their Ultra X is for $275 shipped at Newegg.
I probably will have to snag another brand that uses Samsung TCCD if it can be had for closer to $200.

 

[Shimmishim]

you can find g.skill at excaliberpc.com

as for the ballistix again...

they are awesome... but most people have complained about not getting the same results that anandtech claims to have obtained... hence why people think they were sent cherry picked modules...

but the ocz pc3200 plat rev 2 and the gskill are consistently hitting upwards to 280 to 300 mhz with 2.5-3-3-7(8) timings...

ddr600 at cas 2.5!!!


as for the geil...

yes, the geil ultraX use samsung tccd as well... and they are good stuff....

i believe the patriot/pdp uses samsung as well and do not know why they are so dirt cheap!!!

i wonder if they are capable of 280 mhz though...

also a thing to know is that the ocz pc3200 rev 2, g.skill, geil ultrax, and patriot pcp use a different pcb layout then the jedec standard called the brainpower pcb... these have been confirmed to o/c about 10 mhz higher than memory on jedec standard pcb...

good stuff i tell ya..

 

[Avalon]

So that Patriot memory that Zebo linked to...is that Samsung TCCD?
If it is...that's CHEAP!
I could pawn off my Geil for more than it would cost me to buy a gig of that stuff, and I'd get better timings and overclocks...

 

[charloscarlies]

Originally posted by: Avalon
So that Patriot memory that Zebo linked to...is that Samsung TCCD?
If it is...that's CHEAP!
I could pawn off my Geil for more than it would cost me to buy a gig of that stuff, and I'd get better timings and overclocks...

I don't think that first one uses the Samsung chips...but I could be wrong. If they do...damn what a deal!

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Zebo
new

Originally posted by: charloscarlies

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
$130 a stick is out of range of the casual enthusiast. I can buy 2x512 PDP CAS2 for $90 a stick. Quick, anybody have a calculator?

True but I doubt they'll do 250+ fsb.

I was pretty excited about the Kingston at that price, but the PQI isn't a whole lot more. Maybe I'll give them a shot. I've also heard some really good things about the Gskill, but where can you get em?

Charles if you want bad assed mem for cheap get this

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=20-220-006&depa=0

http://www.ocforums.com/showpo...57022&postcount=27

That's the stuff I was mentioning.

 

[Avalon]

After further investigation, it appears that the $178 2x512mb PDP stuff is based on CH-5 winbond modules, as per its model number. LLK is CH-5, XBL is TCCD. Still good stuff though if it's CH-5.

 

[Mean MrMustard]

Originally posted by: Squally Leonharty
Ballistix modules are good for both stock and overclocked speeds. See this page for more information. Ballistix PC3200 received a Gold Award for its stable overclocking at DDR500.

So yeah, I'm guessing it's either luck or nothing. As for me, I just run them on stock speed. I'm not interested in overclocking (yet). ;p

I read the Ballistix review and was all about getting this RAM. I guess it is hit or miss. They work fine at stock speeds but while overclocking, I can't pass a single Prime95 test using large FFTs, using small FFTs it has no problems. My timings are 2.5-3-3-11 @2.75v.

 

[jpeyton]

PQI & PDP are my favs for cheap TCCD memory. I believe both use the same Brainpower PCB as well. 270MHz FSB and up at 2.5-3-3-7. Not bad at all; the PDP is around $230 for 1GB dual channel, and the PQI is $250 for the same.

 

[trayu]

I just got a stick of ballistix 512mb 3200 that is currently running DDR 500 with 2.5-2-2-10 1T timings. 2.8v

This on the Epox 8KDA3J mobo. Very pleased with the memory. Planning on ordering the second stick tommorow.

 

[ChunkyBarf]

Great discussion. I have learned a lot from this thread. I will be in the market for more memory within the next few months.

Thanks for all of the input everyone,
ChunkyBarf

 

[sbuckler]

I've been very impressed with my cheap crucial DD400 and I run that at 3-2-2-6 at DDR460, 2.85V. Not bad for budget memory. I've got a P4, I wouldn't be suprised if it didn't work so well with an A64 setup.

 

[slag]

Originally posted by: trayu
I just got a stick of ballistix 512mb 3200 that is currently running DDR 500 with 2.5-2-2-10 1T timings. 2.8v

This on the Epox 8KDA3J mobo. Very pleased with the memory. Planning on ordering the second stick tommorow.

My bh5 will do that. Actually, it will do 2-2-2-10 1 t timings.