Crucial Balistix Tracer PCS-8500 Fails.....

LegomyKTM · 22 Mar 2008 at 10:42

Memtest http://hcidesign.com/memtest/ in safe mode. 1 stick in the first ten minutes throws up a fault the second had barely begun the test and I got a BSOD! tried 3 more times BSOD everytime. This is with a 1:1 memory ratio and everything pretty much default in the BIOS.
Now this is a new build. E2200, ASUS P5K premium, Samsung Spinpoint HDD, (which I've also got suspicions of) so I guess the RMA when I get it will involve a 3 week turn around. In the meantime does anyone care to suggest a rock solidish DDR2 thats cheap and reliable?

OLDPHART · 22 Mar 2008 at 11:03

DDR2 Memory-OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 £24.66 inc VAT.

Van Diemen · 22 Mar 2008 at 11:19

If your in the UK, Crucial RMA turnaround is around 3 days

LegomyKTM · 22 Mar 2008 at 11:33

Van Diemen said:
If your in the UK, Crucial RMA turnaround is around 3 days

Thing is, if you look round the web and look in awe at the humungous number of people rma/having problems with this memory (some of the comments/stories are hilarious), I'm going to need an alternative set to install whilst the crucial sticks are away which by the looks of things will be often :rolleyes:

LegomyKTM · 22 Mar 2008 at 11:35

OLDPHART said:
DDR2 Memory-OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 £24.66 inc VAT.

Thanks for that. I'll order some today :cool:

azteched · 22 Mar 2008 at 19:02

Check your memory voltage - the default ddr2 voltage is 1.8, the ballistix may want more (2.0-2.2V or so..)

LegomyKTM · 22 Mar 2008 at 19:34

azteched said:
Check your memory voltage - the default ddr2 voltage is 1.8, the ballistix may want more (2.0-2.2V or so..)

Yeah done all that

2.2 volts it is for the Ballistix. Tried it at all volts under most scenarios upto that maximum.

kitfit1 · 23 Mar 2008 at 11:51

Is this with the new single sided sticks ? What is with Crucial and the mortality rate of there ram. I have had the double sided 8500 Ballistix go belly up on me in the past as well. That set is the last set of Crucial ram i will ever buy. I don't care how cheap they are, or how good the RMA process is. Ram dying at the rate of Crucials stuff is not on, and should'nt be tollerated by us consumers.

WJA96 · 23 Mar 2008 at 12:13

kitfit1 said:
Is this with the new single sided sticks ? What is with Crucial and the mortality rate of there ram. I have had the double sided 8500 Ballistix go belly up on me in the past as well. That set is the last set of Crucial ram i will ever buy. I don't care how cheap they are, or how good the RMA process is. Ram dying at the rate of Crucials stuff is not on, and should'nt be tollerated by us consumers.

Well, like you say, no-one is forcing you to buy it, but good luck finding something that cheap that overclocks that well.

kitfit1 · 23 Mar 2008 at 12:25

WJA96 said:
Well, like you say, no-one is forcing you to buy it, but good luck finding something that cheap that overclocks that well.

I think you are missing the point a little bit. Crucial's stuff has had a habit of dying on a large scale, going back to DDR1 days. Personally i can't see the point of buying ram that is very likely to spend a large proportion of it's life in RMA. Your right of course, "no one is forcing you to buy it". So in future, i won't be buying it. What i did have clocked very well, but to last a couple of months. No, even if they were cheap (and they were'nt at the time), i'll pass thank you.

LegomyKTM · 23 Mar 2008 at 13:09

kitfit1 said:
Is this with the new single sided sticks ? What is with Crucial and the mortality rate of there ram. I have had the double sided 8500 Ballistix go belly up on me in the past as well. That set is the last set of Crucial ram i will ever buy. I don't care how cheap they are, or how good the RMA process is. Ram dying at the rate of Crucials stuff is not on, and should'nt be tollerated by us consumers.

It is the single sided stuff. I agree with the point you've raised. I'm wondering how long the next batch will last and the next and the next......

Cob · 23 Mar 2008 at 13:12

I've been hoping that the new chips would be more reliable than the old ones.

Happy · 23 Mar 2008 at 21:32

ok, just how bad are crucial, I picked them because I thought there were at least in the top 5 brands?!?! I just got 4Gb 8500 Tracers

Cob · 23 Mar 2008 at 22:20

Happy said:
ok, just how bad are crucial, I picked them because I thought there were at least in the top 5 brands?!?! I just got 4Gb 8500 Tracers

The memory is probably the best there is. Even their PC5300 Ballistix will often run at twice its advertised speed.

But it can be prone to failure. Thankfully Crucial replace it very quickly, no questions asked.

Tho we're no quite sure how the new versions will fare.

Happy · 24 Mar 2008 at 13:00

Cheers for clearing that up, I feel much better now lol

Datamonkey · 26 Mar 2008 at 17:36

as i mentioned in a previous thread.

my 8500 tracers, were working sweet, 1100 ddr2 at 2.2v 4gbs worth, then i started having problems playing games, thought i would do a re-install and i couldnt even get windows to install at stock with this mem in the board. 3 of the 4 sticks i have, have now failed mem test. so have gone back to my good ol' gskill 6400hz's will be rma'ing the cruicil sticks and selling

shame, their good when working.

Also im not sure on the single sided design, arnt there a fair few compatability issues with mobos and single sided dimms?? or was that in ddr and edo/fp mem days?

Superwol · 8 Apr 2008 at 00:31

Hmmm...

This is upsetting. I've just purchased a set of Crucial Ballistix Tracers (2 x 1GB) and I can't seem to be able to run it at the advertised timings, even at lowish speeds...

muon · 8 Apr 2008 at 01:53

Cob said:
The memory is probably the best there is. Even their PC5300 Ballistix will often run at twice its advertised speed.

But it can be prone to failure. Thankfully Crucial replace it very quickly, no questions asked.

Tho we're no quite sure how the new versions will fare.

1333mhz?