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G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-800

BonzaiDuck

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Here's the link at NewEgg:

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB=2x2GB DDR2-800 4,4,4,12 @ 1.9V

I see these things priced at $50 in round terms. I realize that we've entered a DDR3 world with I7 and X58-chipset now touted to be Crown of Creation, but I also see a lot of folks continuing to play with their DDR2-based systems.

Since I blew a set of Crucial Tracer DDR2-800s after exactly a year (happened last week), and I had a spare set of Tracers because I purchased two sets for a really good price, I'm beginning to incline toward buying a spare-a-pair and keep the Tracers as back-up and insurance -- or vice-versa. But with the Tracers' bad rep over the last year or so after having been center-stage and "Cat's Meow," G.SKILL looks a lot better for immediate replacement of the Tracers.

SO . . . . WHAT'S THE SKINNY ON THE STREET, GUYS? The Egg reviews seem stellar, if only for my reading about two pages of them . . . .
 
The G.Skill PI Black is great for the price!
Tight timings - 4-4-4-12
Good voltage - 1.8-1.9v
Nice heatsinks
Lifetime warranty
 
how are they on overclocking? im in the market for some new hardware (ram and hard drive) and already have 2gb of G.Skill installed but i want more. Anyone know how a IP35 pro would overclock with 4 of these G.Skill blacks installed?
 
Originally posted by: covert24
how are they on overclocking?
Anyone know how a IP35 pro would overclock with 4 of these G.Skill blacks installed?
Click to expand...
What speed are you going to run your CPU FSB?
 
Originally posted by: covert24
well right now i have it at 446Mhz
Click to expand...

Is that with a 1:1 CPU-to-RAM ratio?

I have another set of G.SKILL 4GB-2x2GB in my VISTA-64 system, and they're great. Actually, I bought the DDR2-1000 modules, and underclocked them to 800. Some customer reviews were ambivalent or pessimistic about tightening the 5,5,5,15 stock timings to 4,4,4,12. I've got the voltage set to 2.025V -- for those particular G.SKILLs, the suggested voltage range was 2.0 to 2.1V.

@ 800 Mhz DDR I run them 1:1, pushing my E8600 from 3.3 to 4.0Ghz. But I've set the timings to 4,4,4,10 (CMD=2T) with tRC set to 14. I think I ran PRIME95 against them for 16 hours, and IntelBurnTest for 2 hours, and they're "rock-solid."

For the price, and from reports in the customer reviews about how cool-running these PI's are, I suspect that they "one-upped" Corsair with the latter's DHX heatspreader technology.

EDIT: for covert24: With my chipsets (680i and 780i), I've seen indications that filling four slots would be a drag on your over-clocking efforts, but I have no firsthand information. Obviously, you will increase the power-draw for the extra modules. And it would seem that they'd give you a lower over-clock. But I would guess they'd run at the stock settings at 800 Mhz DDR and 4,4,4,12.
 
Originally posted by: covert24
how are they on overclocking? im in the market for some new hardware (ram and hard drive) and already have 2gb of G.Skill installed but i want more. Anyone know how a IP35 pro would overclock with 4 of these G.Skill blacks installed?
Click to expand...

I just got the PI Black sticks to replace a defective set and they perform admirably at spec'd timings at stock voltage. Right now mine are running at about 425MHz. I made a brief attempt to go higher just by changing my divider, but I had some stability issues and would probably need to loosen timings or bump my voltages. I'll have to put some more effort into finding their potential, but reviews I've read have seen them breaking 500MHz at relaxed timings.

I also have a set of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231065

And they overclocked like mad. They broke 500MHz at stock timings and only a slight bump in voltage. I'm wondering if I can run them side-by-side with the PI Blacks and maintain a modest overclock.

But anyway, yes the PI Blacks are good. I wish I could comment more on their overclocking potential for you. I may make a go of it tonight and see how far I can get with them.
 
Originally posted by: CoinOperatedBoy
Originally posted by: covert24
how are they on overclocking? im in the market for some new hardware (ram and hard drive) and already have 2gb of G.Skill installed but i want more. Anyone know how a IP35 pro would overclock with 4 of these G.Skill blacks installed?
Click to expand...

I just got the PI Black sticks to replace a defective set and they perform admirably at spec'd timings at stock voltage. Right now mine are running at about 425MHz. I made a brief attempt to go higher just by changing my divider, but I had some stability issues and would probably need to loosen timings or bump my voltages. I'll have to put some more effort into finding their potential, but reviews I've read have seen them breaking 500MHz at relaxed timings.

I also have a set of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231065

And they overclocked like mad. They broke 500MHz at stock timings and only a slight bump in voltage. I'm wondering if I can run them side-by-side with the PI Blacks and maintain a modest overclock.

But anyway, yes the PI Blacks are good. I wish I could comment more on their overclocking potential for you. I may make a go of it tonight and see how far I can get with them.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I started this thread yesterday, and someone sent me a PM insinuating that the price went back up to $70. [Hope NewEgg isn't watching this thread, but -- paranoid -- they have too many products . . . so . . . ]
 
I hope NeweggSupport is watching this page.
Customers hold off purchasing if they see prices fluctuate a lot in a short period of time.

The PI Black was about $75 this morning when I checked.
I'll grab a screen shot the next time I find it high.
 
Originally posted by: gizbug
I would go with 1066, as the prices are just as low.
Click to expand...

Not true from my glance at NewEgg this morning. The PI Black DDR2-1000's are priced at $190.

On the other hand, these are indeed the same price as the DDR2-800's:

DDR2-900 4GB 2x2GB G.SKILL PI-Black

I don't know the details of the manufacturer's binning process, although it might explain the pricing of the DDR2-1000's. You have options. You can buy DDR2-800 RAM for either stock or over-clocked operation, and hope that pushing them beyond their rated spec has little or no impact (especially if you can keep the voltage within the spec maximum). Or you can get the 900's, which appear to run stock at fairly tight latency settings at that speed, with expectations of clocking them somewhere between 800 and 1000.

 
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