Ballistix PC3200 Overclocking! (PC4400).

Big.Wayne

Big.Wayne

Big.Wayne

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Hi all,

I have just been testing my new/replacement Ballistix PC3200 1GB kit (2x512) and am fairly suprised at how much they overclock?

ballistix8ll.jpg


I wonder what these chips are? It should say *Crucial* in the manufacturer tab but instead says 7F7F7F7F7F9BFFFF (?)

I only found this out because I am trying to overclock my new Opteron and for some reason these sticks don't let me use dividers. My normal practice when I test a new CPU is to lower the frequency of the memory with a 5:4 divider and start whacking up the FSB/HTT, but for some reason these sticks were not letting my PC boots properly while doing this. At first I thought my CPU was a dog but after some headscratching I thought sod it, just put the memory back to 1:1 ratio and overclock it all at the same time.

As my old sticks of Ballistix PC3200 were able to run @250MHz with loose timings I thought that would be a good place to start, so I went into BIOS and slackened the memory, put the vDimm to 2.8v and started.

To my delight it booted fine and passed many hours of memtest and prime95, so then I did the same @260MHz no problems, 270MHz fine, but when I tried 280MHz I started getting the odd error in memtest. I tried adding more voltage to the Memory, CPU, Chipset and HTT but no joy.

There are a few more memory timings that I can change in BIOS but I am new to the A64 platform so I am not sure whats what?

Here is a screeny from A64 tweaker, which I dont know how to use but it lets me show you memory gurus my settings:

tweaker9nf.jpg


I want to try and *loosen* the memory but I am not sure what to change, maybe Trcd from 4 to 5 and Trrd from 4 to 5.

What sort of overclocks have you guys been getting from your PC3200 (and PC4000).
 
What no Ballistix love going on here? :)

Is it common now for memory to run at 275MHz 1:1 sync? or is everyone just interested in 2GB sets?

Passed overnight memtests and the whole day Prime95 blend @ PC4400 (DDR550) 3-4-4-8 (2.8v)

ballistixpc44005uo.jpg


Now testing @ DDR550 3-3-3-8 (2.8v)

Failed Memtest @ DDR550 2.5-3-3-8 (2.8v)

As soon as I finish testing the tighter settings I will loosen again and try and push up the fsb (maybe 3-5-5-8 etc), of yeah and I must try changing this 2T to 1T, so much to do so little time ;)
 
ukdave said:
Have you tried keeping the timings loose and bumping the Mhz up, say to 300 area (if possible)?
Click to expand...
Hi,

what 300MHz (DDR600)!! :eek: I'm not sure if that is possible, but I have had a bit of a bash at it, really doesn't wanna go much higher, was playing with it at 280MHz but memtest is giving errors. .

Cyber-Mav said:
i would back off on that voltage, i know they are rated for 2.8v but reliability shows thatyour safer to run them at something like 2.7v or less otherwise they will die out eventually.
Click to expand...
Sure,

but the stick are running very cool so I thought that wasn't a problem (it's the heat that harms them yeah?). This is my *replacement* set of PC3200, the original set I bought in approx Aug 2004 had some faults appear just recently (xmas). Those had been running pretty much 24/7 using 2.7vDimm (and running cool).

Hehe I wasn't expecting anyone to get excited over the results above, just that I figured they may prove useful to some people :)

One thing I will say is that I have been having an *issue* running my two 1GB sets of Ballsitix (PC3200 & PC4000) on an ASUS A8N-Premium when using *Dividers*. . .
 
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Dutch Guy said:
The memorychips will be the same but there might be some tweaking for high speed with relaxed timings or slower speed with tight timings but I have seen cases where PC3200 ran at 300Mhz or higher.
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Hehe thanks Dutchguy,

now I better get going because there is a mob of people ranting about how much they hate this stuff lol!

All I can say is the main problem I have with any Ballistix on my A64 system is that its not good with using memory dividers, seems all good on a P4 platform but somehow the A64 memory controller and Ballistix don't get along so well :confused:

Loving this PC3200 stuff though, if only I could wiggle something to get it running 280MHz! :eek:
 
Overlag said:
my best set run up to 295mhz 3-4-4-8 2.8volts

however it died after 2 weeks of constant 250 3-3-3-8 useage.
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Hi Overlag,

was that PC3200 or PC4000? Been running this replacement PC3200 for two weeks now at the speeds above? (runs off to check other PC is still running :eek: )
 
Hmmm, well its the recommended stock voltage, but most motherboards seem to set it at 2.6v while on auto mode, probably better to go into BIOS and manually set the vDimm.
 
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