Asus A8V Deluxe & Crucial Ballistix PC3200

[Squally Leonharty]

Dear Anandtech members,

I'm new at the board here, even though I'm a regular at the main site. I absolutely love the reviews there. The point of this thread is that I need some help on choosing good memory for the Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard.

I had Crucial Ballistix PC3200 in mind, since that's one of the good performers according to a couple of Anandtech's reviews. I want to order 2 sticks of 512MB each. However, since the motherboard only supports memory voltage up to 2.8V, will it be a bottleneck for the Crucial Ballistix memory, as that requires at least 2.8V?

Also, will that memory work just fine in dual channel without any complications?

If you want to suggest other memory brands, by all means go ahead. Suggestions are welcome, because I want to build an excellent gaming PC. I'd prefer memory that's in sync with the motherboard's FSB, i.e. 400 MHz DDR, unless you can convince me.

The specifications of the new PC are as follows:

Motherboard: Asus A8V Deluxe
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Socket 939 OEM
Cooling:
- Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu
- Coolermaster Stacker CrossFlow Fan
- Arctic Silver 5
Memory: 1GB Kit (2 X 512MB) Crucial Ballistix PC3200
GPU: Leadtek GeForce 6800 A400 Ultra 256MB DDR3
Case: Coolermaster CM Stacker (STC-T01)
PSU: OCZ PowerStream 520W
HDD: Western Digital 200GB (WD2000JB, 7200RPM, 8MB)
Monitor: Mitsubishi/NEC Diamond Pro 2070 22" CRT

Thanks in advance and I'll be looking forward to your reply.

Best regards,
Squally Leonharty

 

[Slug]

I'm using the same cooler, mobo, and CPU. The Ballistix ram is currently at 250 @ 2.5-4-4-10-1T, cpu at 2375.
It's stable in everything except prime 95. Maybe I need more voltage?
Doom3, Sandra burn in, and PC Mark have no problems. No problems in everyday use. Good luck.

 

[Squally Leonharty]

Finally someone who responded. Thanks for your reply. I'll go ahead then and purchase the Ballistix RAM.

 

[Zebo]

2.8 is the max benefit that ram can use anyway. In other words more vDimm does NOTHING for micron G chips.

And this 2.8 is used only when overclocking to 250+ Mhz.. Are you doing that?

Excellent setup BTW.

 

[Squally Leonharty]

Well, I don't plan on overclocking. I'm only wondering about the voltage, because Crucial recommends 2.8V for the Ballistix RAM for normal and proper operation. I've also read some threads here where people say they had trouble with the RAM when the voltage was set to a value lower than 2.8V, like 2.5V.

I'm glad you like my system, by the way.

 

[Zebo]

Here is an excellent ballistix results thread. You should not have to run more than 2.7 vdimm to run stock 200Mhz @2-2-2 1T


Ya your system is really perfect and a lot of thought went into it. Nice powerful PSU with high 12V rail, Awesome gaming monitor...it's actually the first system in a long time I'm a bit jealous of...and I build a lot of sysems

Edit the only thing I would change is the case to lian li PC-73SL for silence and good looks

 

[Squally Leonharty]

Thanks for the link. I'm now convinced that Crucial Ballistix PC3200 is the best RAM for my motherboard.

As for the new PC itself, it's going to cost me about 2500 Euro (around $3000). >_< Hopefully the PC will last long enough to make it worth the money. I'm glad RMA and warranties exist, should something go wrong.

Edit: I'd like to keep the number of stores I'm purchasing the components from rather small. I've already purchased the motherboard, graphics card and monitor. Each of them in a separate store, since I couldn't find a store that has all of the components. I purchased the keyboard and mouse in a local store here. I might change the mouse to Logitech MX510, though. *_*

Now, I want to buy the rest from www.icomputers.nl (I'm from the Netherlands). They do offer Lian Li cases, but not the one you mentioned. The closest is PC-71. What are the real differences between the Cooler Master Stacker and Lian Li PC-73SL anyway? I think the Stacker case will do the job, though.

 

[Concillian]

Originally posted by: Zebo
2.8 is the max benefit that ram can use anyway. In other words more vDimm does NOTHING for micron G chips.

And this 2.8 is used only when overclocking to 250+ Mhz.. Are you doing that?

Aren't these the same chips that OCZ uses in their EB memory? If so, the tech support people from OCZ differ in opinion from you, they warantee their EB memory to 3.1v and consistently recommend pushing the voltage on their sticks of the Micron, but also using a fan over the memory, since they tend to get hot. They have noted that the fan can mean the difference between a stable overclock or not.

It is the Platinum Rev 2 (Samsung TCCD) that they say 2.8-2.9v max and higher actually hurts.

Also, the EB memory is listed as End Of Life at OCZ, which may mean that either Crucial is taking all the ICs or Micron is not producing the same chips anymore.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Concillian

Originally posted by: Zebo
2.8 is the max benefit that ram can use anyway. In other words more vDimm does NOTHING for micron G chips.

And this 2.8 is used only when overclocking to 250+ Mhz.. Are you doing that?

Aren't these the same chips that OCZ uses in their EB memory? If so, the tech support people from OCZ differ in opinion from you, they warantee their EB memory to 3.1v and consistently recommend pushing the voltage on their sticks of the Micron, but also using a fan over the memory, since they tend to get hot. They have noted that the fan can mean the difference between a stable overclock or not.

It is the Platinum Rev 2 (Samsung TCCD) that they say 2.8-2.9v max and higher actually hurts.

Also, the EB memory is listed as End Of Life at OCZ, which may mean that either Crucial is taking all the ICs or Micron is not producing the same chips anymore.

No.They are Micron G. EB uses Micron C, very different, Obviously by the higher timings, different Vdimm etc.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Squally Leonharty
Thanks for the link. I'm now convinced that Crucial Ballistix PC3200 is the best RAM for my motherboard.

As for the new PC itself, it's going to cost me about 2500 Euro (around $3000). >_< Hopefully the PC will last long enough to make it worth the money. I'm glad RMA and warranties exist, should something go wrong.

Edit: I'd like to keep the number of stores I'm purchasing the components from rather small. I've already purchased the motherboard, graphics card and monitor. Each of them in a separate store, since I couldn't find a store that has all of the components. I purchased the keyboard and mouse in a local store here. I might change the mouse to Logitech MX510, though. *_*

Now, I want to buy the rest from www.icomputers.nl (I'm from the Netherlands). They do offer Lian Li cases, but not the one you mentioned. The closest is PC-71. What are the real differences between the Cooler Master Stacker and Lian Li PC-73SL anyway? I think the Stacker case will do the job, though.

http://www.twistedmods.com/mod...warticle&amp;artid=256

 

[Squally Leonharty]

Very interesting. I've done a search in several Dutch stores and it seems there's only one Dutch store that has that case (http://www.tweakers.net/pricewatch/88102). They sell it for a hefty 289.90 Euro (around $355). >_>; Too expensive for my likings.

I'll stick with Cooler Master Stacker, which only costs 155 Euro (around $190). Thanks for the suggestion, nonetheless.