Does this mean I need to RMA these highly regarded 2 mo. old buffalo firestix? (micron D9?)

[adondeeres]

I have a pair of highly regarded buffalo firestix (2 x 1GB PC2-6400) that do not seem to overclock at all even though they are supposed to be micron d9 (the IC looks like micron from the bottom, although I didn't remove the head spreader). I currently have my E6600 @ 3.4GHz and sucking up 1.45V at that. I've run orthos small ftt for 14 hours with no errors at all. However, when I ran orthos blend, it crashed/stopped at the 1 hr 59 min mark (this was when I had my firestix at 5-5-5-10, DDR2-850). I proceeded to loosen the timing to 5-5-5-12 and then 5-5-5-15, but it still crashed between 2hr and 2 hr 15 min. I tried this 4 times yesterday and received stop errors 3 times and an automatic restart once. I tried a 378 FSB x 9 (3.4GHz) and DDR2-754, and still the same thing. However, when I ran orthos blend for 2.5 hours on 266FSB/DDR2-800 (stock 2.4GHz), it didn't crash (perhaps needed more time for it to crash?).

Additional info: my FSB is at 1.4V (tried 1.45V just in case, still crashed orthos blend), NB @ 1.45V and SB @ 1.6V. As I have an Antec 900, ventiliation is not much of a problem, so I wouldn't tend to think that the NB and SB are heating up so much as to cause my syste to be unstable...I mean...I was stable on orthos small ftt for 14 hr.

One thing I will note is this: I increased the vdimm for those firestix to 2.15, then 2.25, then 2.3. Once things booted up, I started opening a bunch of programs from shortcuts I had on the desktop at the same time. My system crashed and restarted noticably sooner when the vdimm was at 2.1, 2.15, and 2.25 as opposed to 2.3V. Because of this I decreased vdimm back to 2.1. I don't get it. These firestix were made to run at 2.1V. People have done 5-5-5-12 @ DDR2-1000 on 2.1V or less and I can't seem to stabilize these at DDR2-850 or DDR2-754 on 2.1V.

How likely is it that I received bad sticks of RAM? Is it likely that perhaps the "ram sockets" on my MB are damaged? Is it likely that my MB is to blame?

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks so much!

 

[cmdrdredd]

If you bought them only 2 months ago they are Promos NOT D9...and you cannot RMA them based on the fact they don't overclock. Even with D9, you are only guaranteed the advertised speed nothing more. Promos do not take voltage like you're trying to give them.

 

[adondeeres]

Thanks for the reply, cmdrdredd.

I actually bought them around February from newegg. Prior to buying them, I called buffalo and they confirmed they were D9. The person I spoke to also checked with their newegg rep and assured me that they were selling only D9. Are you sure they are Promos? Even if they were Promos, shouldn't they be able to run DDR2-754 with a FSB of 376? This is still less than what they were made to run at. I apparently jumped on the bandwagon when everyone else did right when the price of these sticks dropped to $190 ($170 after $20 newegg promo code).

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: adondeeres
Thanks for the reply, cmdrdredd.

I actually bought them around February from newegg. Prior to buying them, I called buffalo and they confirmed they were D9. The person I spoke to also checked with their newegg rep and assured me that they were selling only D9. Are you sure they are Promos? Even if they were Promos, shouldn't they be able to run DDR2-754 with a FSB of 376? This is still less than what they were made to run at. I apparently jumped on the bandwagon when everyone else did right when the price of these sticks dropped to $190 ($170 after $20 newegg promo code).

What is the full model number off the sticks? I can check for sure, but around january they stopped using D9 because of low availability, but they may have started using the new D9 revision a bit later.

If they don't run at rated speeds and timings with the rated voltage then you have something to complain about. I'd RMA them for that.

 

[adondeeres]

Thanks again, cmdrdredd.

This was item # 20-150-054 @ newegg. The part # is FSX800D2C-K2G R (direct from my newegg packing slip). Thanks for your help.

 

[adondeeres]

I found the link I was alluding to earlier: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=133320. That was also part of the reason I thought I had micron IC, but perhaps I just received bad sticks.

 

[cmdrdredd]

ok it is Micron still, but very low bin (not binned at all?) so you basically have to be lucky (or unlucky).

 

[adondeeres]

Thanks, cmdrdredd. I guess I have only one thing to do with these sticks... Out they go. I'll talk to buffalo and newegg about these tomorrow.

But just to make sure, there should be very little chance it has anything to do with my motherboard, right?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: adondeeres
Thanks, cmdrdredd. I guess I have only one thing to do with these sticks... Out they go. I'll talk to buffalo and newegg about these tomorrow.

But just to make sure, there should be very little chance it has anything to do with my motherboard, right?

yes. Also lately there have been MANY reports of D9s dieing for apparently no reason. The problem? Voltage...running more than 2.1v kills em after a time. Sometimes a week, sometimes a few months. Although if the mfgr says 2.3v is ok then they will warranty and RMA for you np.

 

[adondeeres]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
yes. Also lately there have been MANY reports of D9s dieing for apparently no reason. The problem? Voltage...running more than 2.1v kills em after a time. Sometimes a week, sometimes a few months. Although if the mfgr says 2.3v is ok then they will warranty and RMA for you np.

Very interesting. Thanks for the heads up. I'll make sure NOT to run these any higher than 2.1V, which is what they're rated for.

 

[myocardia]

I was under the impression that Firestix haven't had D9 IC's for many months now. Anyway, I found a picture of your RAM, although this one doesn't have the R, with the heatsinks removed: link, and it has Elpida IC's.

 

[adondeeres]

Strange. The "R" doesn't appear on the actual UPC. I wonder what the "R" stands for. It might just be a newegg thing.

I sure hope these aren't Elpida or Promos...and I don't want to void my warranty by removing the heat spreaders. From the recent reviews on newegg, it would seem they are D9 since people seem to have success overclocking them. ...???

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: myocardia
I was under the impression that Firestix haven't had D9 IC's for many months now. Anyway, I found a picture of your RAM, although this one doesn't have the R, with the heatsinks removed: link, and it has Elpida IC's.

I checked around and found that they use D9s still. There was a time I thought it was promos or elpida and not D9, but I could not find any info to say that they aren't D9s today.

 

[adondeeres]

Thanks, cmdrdredd. I do quite a bit of research before I buy stuff and before I bought these sticks, the only thing I found alluding to the fact that buffalo firestix (PC2-6400) weren't D9 were some old, left over stocks at microcenter. There could have been more to the story (being non-D9's), but it may have slipped under my radar.

 

[cmdrdredd]

good luck with them.

 

[adondeeres]

Thanks. I'll update once I receive and have a chance to test out my new sticks.

 

[cmdrdredd]

It's so hard to really know what you're getting with hardware these days. I mean there's so many variables. ICs on memory, binning, PCB. It's almost like trying to find the perfect stepping on a CPU.

 

[n7]

WTF do you guys keep spreading around BS about the Firestix.

They are Micron, & have been always, save for a batch that got out last fall, & is long gone.

adondeeres, please trying running your E6600 with the 9x multi, not the 8x.

You're putting way more stress on the NB by using a lower multi, something i could do with my E6400, but i found my P5B-D didn't like that w/ my two E6600s.

So IOW, run 9x378 1:1 (DDR2-756) & see what happens for your RAM's stability.

 

[adondeeres]

Originally posted by: n7
WTF do you guys keep spreading around BS about the Firestix.

They are Micron, & have been always, save for a batch that got out last fall, & is long gone.

adondeeres, please trying running your E6600 with the 9x multi, not the 8x.

You're putting way more stress on the NB by using a lower multi, something i could do with my E6400, but i found my P5B-D didn't like that w/ my two E6600s.

So IOW, run 9x378 1:1 (DDR2-756) & see what happens for your RAM's stability.

Thanks for your reply. This is actually my first build, much less my first overclock. I appreciate the heads up on stressing the NB. Apparently, I missed that in the readings that I've done. I wasn't aware I was putting more stress by using a lower multiplier. One of the reasons I decided to use an 8x multiplier was that I thought I'd be able to get a higher overclock since I read that the P5B-Deluxe doesn't like FSB between 380 and 400. So in order to possibly get higher than 3.4 GHz (for example, 3.5GHz: 438 x 8 was semi stable in that I got it to boot, but 389 x 9 was more unstable in that it wouldn't boot), thus I decided to lower the multiplier.

In any case, I did try DDR2-756, as I said in my first post (I mistyped and said DDR2-754) with the 9x multiplier, but that still failed orthos blend (I however did not try to run orthos small ftt at 378 x9. I only know I was orthos small ftt stable for 14 hours at 425 x8).

Orthos blend failed right around the 2 hour mark when I had it at 378 x9 and when I had it at 425 x8. I will RMA these sticks very soon, unless there's something else somebody would like to suggest I try.

Thanks everyone, for all the replies.

 

[Fallengod]

Id seriously doubt it is your firestix.... It sounds like its your motherboard.. Maybe wrong bios setting? The firestix can do like 1000mhz+ so..... I dont see why they would even accept an RMA if the memory works fine. Seems kind of wrong to try to RMA perfectly good memory for no reason.

 

[BladeVenom]

If it can do 8x400 at 1:1 ratio, then there's nothing wrong with your memory.

 

[adondeeres]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom
If it can do 8x400 at 1:1 ratio, then there's nothing wrong with your memory.

Thanks. I'll try that when I get home later tonight and update this thread.

What would it mean if it were able to do 8x400 at 1:1 and not 378x9 @ 1:1 or 425x8 @ 1:1?

Would it be a sign that my motherboard is to blame?

 

[Fallengod]

Either bios settings or motherboard. Theres nothing else to blame. Theres no way its the memory. Sorry but no way. Firestix can do 1000mhz easy. All of them, every single one. You didnt buy them at microncenter did you?

It could be bios settings. If you too tight of timings or something holding you back. Voltage? Hard to say. I dont know what to make out of those strange settings. It will do 400mhz but not 378? Or 425? That doesnt make any sense. Even the worst possible memory chips can overclock past 425mhz. And these are top memory chips were talking about.


I dont have too much experience with all different types of c2d mobos but, I thought the P5B deluxe was decent?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Fallengod
Either bios settings or motherboard. Theres nothing else to blame. Theres no way its the memory. Sorry but no way. Firestix can do 1000mhz easy. All of them, every single one. You didnt buy them at microncenter did you?

It could be bios settings. If you too tight of timings or something holding you back. Voltage? Hard to say. I dont know what to make out of those strange settings. It will do 400mhz but not 378? Or 425? That doesnt make any sense. Even the worst possible memory chips can overclock past 425mhz. And these are top memory chips were talking about.


I dont have too much experience with all different types of c2d mobos but, I thought the P5B deluxe was decent?

Yeah but I HAVE had a set of G.Skill HZ DDR2-800 that didn't run DDR2-533 without BSOD etc. It can happen. As good as anyone says some memory is, there's always a chance that one isn't as good as another. Especially since there is no binning.

N7 it's NOT spreading BS, it's FACT. Not all ICs are the same...even same binning process and same mfgr same PCB same board timings and voltages. One may die another may not.

 

[adondeeres]

Originally posted by: Fallengod
Either bios settings or motherboard. Theres nothing else to blame. Theres no way its the memory. Sorry but no way. Firestix can do 1000mhz easy. All of them, every single one. You didnt buy them at microncenter did you?

It could be bios settings. If you too tight of timings or something holding you back. Voltage? Hard to say. I dont know what to make out of those strange settings. It will do 400mhz but not 378? Or 425? That doesnt make any sense. Even the worst possible memory chips can overclock past 425mhz. And these are top memory chips were talking about.


I dont have too much experience with all different types of c2d mobos but, I thought the P5B deluxe was decent?

I bought these towards the end of February this year at Newegg. I haven't tried it at 400x8 yet. I will try it later tonight and keep everyone updated. All I know is that it has failed 378x9 and 425x8 at various settings, including the rated: 2.1V and 5-5-5-15.

Everyone: please let me know if there are any other settings/voltages at all from my BIOS that I can provide.

Last night, I tried to loosen the timing down to 6-6-6-18 @2.1V, but something happened and scared me so I won't be trying that again. It posted, but shortly thereafter, I get this screen that looks like I was in the BIOS (based on the .5 inch blue gradient strip at the top) and it just said "WAIT...". I left it like that for a minute and it didn't do anything. I turned off the power for 10 seconds, which is what ASUS recommends to activate CPR (I think it's called CPR) and turned it back on and hit the 'delete' key to go directly into BIOS, but same thing. Then, I turned off the power for a few minutes and was finally able get into BIOS. Strange. Possible sign of a mobo problem?

I'm using the final BIOS version which allow roll back. I think the later versions do not allow roll back to earlier BIOS versions.