Can someone help me understand memory timings?

[one7]

Hi everyone... another stupid question. 😉 Here's the deal: in February I bought a 2x512mb dual channel PC3200 Mushkin RAM from Newegg ($135 at the time, $90 now... argh...) Anyway, I didn't build the PC until a couple weeks ago, and the system was completely unstable, spontaneously rebooting. I isolated the RAM as the problem after running memtest86 for 6 hours and getting over 486,000 errors. Of course, Mushkin has a lifetime guarantee, so I called and they cross-shipped me a new set. However, the specs are different, and I think they sent me a lower grade memory. FWIW, I don't overclock, everything is running stock on a 3.0GHz 530J on an Abit AS8 mobo.

Original set is CAS 2.5-3-3-8, and is 512mx16, with 8 chips on each side of the stick. The chips are stamped with: "mushkin 20505 mud860808A8A8-5B"
Here's an image of the front and back and the info label: Text


Replacement set is CAS 3-4-4-8, and is 512mx8, with 8 chips on only one side of the stick, and the chips are stamped with: "Blitz BLD9608A8A-5C HQ514 " and there's a gold "Blitz" logo at the corner of each stick.
Here's an image of this set: Text

I know that low latency is better, however, I don't know what the difference is with the Blitz chips, or with the 16x16 vs. 16x8 chip alignment... is one better than the other? I've read about the BH5 and CH5 chips and all that, how can I identify what I've got here? Should I demand a CAS2.5 replacement? Considering I overpaid for these to start with, I don't want to futher downgrade the quality level...

Thanks for helping to enlighten me. 🙂
-Mark

 

[imported_itr]

recently, i just bought the exact ram on newegg with the blitz chips. mine also runs at 3-4-4-8 at default. all i did in bios was adjust it so it ran at 2.5-4-4-8. i also emailed mushkin support regarding with the stock CL 3 when newegg lists the specs as 2.5. currently, i am waiting for them to reply back.

 

[Azsen]

Yeah you are getting ripped off. Your original chips were faster.

 

[one7]

Originally posted by: itr
recently, i just bought the exact ram on newegg with the blitz chips. mine also runs at 3-4-4-8 at default. all i did in bios was adjust it so it ran at 2.5-4-4-8. i also emailed mushkin support regarding with the stock CL 3 when newegg lists the specs as 2.5. currently, i am waiting for them to reply back.

Well, the ones I originally got were the 2.5 that was advertised... good luck with their support, too. They were very nice to me, but don't seem to be very organized. They took my CC info to do an "advance replacement"/crossship. Then I got an email the next day saying they wouldn't send the replacement until they received the old ones, which did not make me happy, and I let them know that (I was able to run the system on one of the chips, and don't have any other RAM to put in while I'd be waiting for a replacment.) The day after that (yesterday) afternoon I got a FedEx shipment with the replacements, including a return ship label... and a couple of hours later, I received another email, apologizing that there is absolutely no way they can process an advance replacement. I don't think they have a clue what's up...

 

[one7]

Originally posted by: Azsen
Yeah you are getting ripped off. Your original chips were faster.

That's what I figured. I was hoping that maybe these were better chips or something.

Can you explain (or point me somewhere I can find out myself) what the difference is in the chip configuration (double-sided vs. single-sided, or Blitz vs. mushkin?)

Thanks,
-Mark

 

[imported_itr]

i believe the corsair value selects are also single sided. they, however, have an image of "value select" on te chips.

 

[piasabird]

The CL rating and timings are better off being lower. CL is the latency it takes to actually find and retrieve the data. Lower means faster.

I think most manufacturers have and sell both the CL2.5 and the CL3.0 but they are usually different part numbers. So you should ask for an exact replacement of what you purchased assuming you did not overclock what you had and burned it up. There is no telling whether the person who sent you the new memory actually knows what they are doing.

 

[one7]

Originally posted by: piasabird
The CL rating and timings are better off being lower. CL is the latency it takes to actually find and retrieve the data. Lower means faster.

I think most manufacturers have and sell both the CL2.5 and the CL3.0 but they are usually different part numbers. So you should ask for an exact replacement of what you purchased assuming you did not overclock what you had and burned it up. There is no telling whether the person who sent you the new memory actually knows what they are doing.

Any tips on how I could just get my money back and buy something else? This is going to turn into a nightmare with Mushkin...

 

[strend]

I'm done with Mushkin. I have built 20+ PCs for work with their memory with no issues. BUT the last 3 sticks I have got of Mushkin from newegg would not work at rated speed, if at all(XP system was a no go at all, A64 systems needed to run at 333 with loose timings). All had "Blitz" tags on them.

 

[one7]

I just got off the phone with Mushkin customer service. I was told that "basic ram is basic ram" and there is no difference with the type of chips or the CAS or CL rating. They're telling me just to hard-change the BIOS to run the CL3 replacements at CL2.5. I'm not a hardcore enthusiast, and I don't overclock, so please forgive my ignorance... are they not in effect telling me to overclock the RAM? Thereby voiding my warranty?

 

[imported_Mitchell]

"Any tips on how I could just get my money back and buy something else? This is going to turn into a nightmare with Mushkin..."

Yes, call them and tell them you want the memory you purchased. 2.5-3-3-3-8

Settle for nothing less, it's your right as a customer.

 

[one7]

Originally posted by: Mitchell
Yes, call them and tell them you want the memory you purchased. 2.5-3-3-3-8

Settle for nothing less, it's your right as a customer.

Thanks, that is where I left it. Thing is, I don't have _any_ faith in either their product or their customer service at this point, and I'd rather just be done with Mushkin. At the very least, they should replace these with an upgraded model, as far as I'm concerned, but I don't expect that to happen. Especially with the smart-ass rep that I was dealing with. So I just bought the Kingston HyperX set that I saw in the forums here (Outpost.com) with overnight delivery. Once the mushkins are replaced, you'll be able to find a set of new, unopened Mushkin DDR on eBay, and I'll be short around some $50...

 

[one7]

By changing the BIOS settings to run the CL3 at CL2.5, would that not be considered overclocking? And void my warranty?