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Crucial Ballistix 2x1GB PC4000 kit gone bad (merged)


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One interesting thing that has come to light whilst my HyperX is away. My motherboard is still reluctant to start first time. Even with another set of memory? (currently running with 2x256 533 modules) Wonder if I have MB problems as well?

 

 

I feel a song coming on

 

 

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN............................

 

 

 

why do they do this?

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I hope you guys can help me out with this one.

 

I was running 270x10 1:1 stable for about 2 months. For now it seems I´m forced to constantly lower my RAM now down to 250. Three things to mention first:

 

1. I never ever got any errors in Memtest nor did I ever encounter a BSOD at all.

2. I never EVER give more than 2.66 Vdimm. (usually running at 2.60)

3. My kit doesn´t tend to get hot at all (I can tell for sure, because it is my 2nd Kit and my first one was really getting hot and died after 3 months. Now it´s z503 TP stuff I think). I already ran this kit on i875p at 2,45Vdimm (!!!) and that´s about a year ago. So I can´t really believe it will fail after such a long time.

 

I can´t get throught 1M-32M Dual-SuperPi. Dual Prime mostly fails in one instance around 30-45 minutes. When doing heavy multitasking system hangs up with the horrible sound we all know from RAM errors. Games tend to hangup with the RAM-failed-horrible-sound usually after 30 minutes, too.

 

System now even failed 2x32M Superpi at 250x10 1:1. Here are my Genie Bios settings, please have a look. This really is driving me mad now!

 

FSB= 250 ----- (tried 260,270,280 ALL settings seem to fail in a similar manner described above)

LTD/FSB Ratio= x3.0 ----- (tried 4 for 250 and so on...)

16up-16down ----- (never changed)

Cpu/Fsb Freq Ratio= x10 ----- (always used 10x)

PCi-Ex Freq= 100mhz ----- (never changed)

Cool & Quiet= Disable ----- (always disabled)

Cpu Vid Startup= 1.350V ----- (tried 1,40 and all in between and down to 1,275)

Cpu Vid Control= auto ----- (tried same setting as Startup, mostly auto)

Cpu Vid "special"= auto ----- (tried 102,xx %)

LDT Voltage= 1.2V ----- (never changed)

Chipset Voltage= 1.52V ----- (never changed)

Dram Voltage Control= 2.60V ----- (tried 2.66 with no improvement)

 

Dram Configuration Page:

 

Dram Freq= 200 1:1 ----- (never used divider, can´t see the point in using it, so always 1:1)

CPC= Enable (always enabled)

Tcl= 03 ----- (never changed)

Trcd= 03 ----- (never changed)

Tras= 08 ----- (never changed)

Trp= 03 ----- (never changed)

Trc= 16 ----- (loose, but already was down to 8)

Trfc= 18 ----- (see above, tried down to 10)

Trrd= 03

Twr= 03

Twtr= 02

Trwt= 02

Tref= 3072 ----- (I am very unsure about this. mostly kept it at 3072, somtimes auto or 4196)

Twcl= Enabled

Dram Bank Interleave= Enabled (never changed)

 

DQS Skew Control= AUTO ----- (never changed)

DQS Skew Value = 0 ----- (never changed)

Dram Drive Strength= Level 7 ----- (not sure here: auto or 7)

Dram Data Drive Strength= Level 2 ----- (not sure here: auto or 2)

Max Asynch Latency= 8ns ----- (tried 9, with no effect)

Read Preamble= 6ns ----- (5,5ns-6,5ns....nothing)

Idle Cycle Limit= 256 cycles ----- (tried 16-256)

Dynamic Counter= Disable ----- (tried enabled and plaed with the Idle Cycle Limit down to 16 - for me just even more unstable)

R/W Queue ByPass= 16x ----- (tried 8 with no effect)

ByPass Max= 07x ----- (was down to 4, no change at all)

32 Byte Granularity= Disable ----- (never changed that)

 

 

For system spec see my signature, please. Temperatures are ok:

 

Cpu: always under 50 degrees

Chipset: way under 50 degrees

PWMs: 40 degrees on load

 

 

I´d really appreciate any help as I don´t habe any ideas left. Most important question would be: "Can the Ballistix be dead/gone bad without showing errors in Memtest or causing BSODs?" <-> I ever thought not.

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I hope you guys can help me out with this one.

 

I was running 270x10 1:1 stable for about 2 months. For now it seems I´m forced to constantly lower my RAM now down to 250. Three things to mention first:

 

1. I never ever got any errors in Memtest nor did I ever encounter a BSOD at all.

2. I never EVER give more than 2.66 Vdimm. (usually running at 2.60)

3. My kit doesn´t tend to get hot at all (I can tell for sure, because it is my 2nd Kit and my first one was really getting hot and died after 3 months. Now it´s z503 TP stuff I think). I already ran this kit on i875p at 2,45Vdimm (!!!) and that´s about a year ago. So I can´t really believe it will fail after such a long time.

 

I can´t get throught 1M-32M Dual-SuperPi. Dual Prime mostly fails in one instance around 30-45 minutes. When doing heavy multitasking system hangs up with the horrible sound we all know from RAM errors. Games tend to hangup with the RAM-failed-horrible-sound usually after 30 minutes, too.

 

System now even failed 2x32M Superpi at 250x10 1:1. Here are my Genie Bios settings, please have a look. This really is driving me mad now!

 

FSB= 250 ----- (tried 260,270,280 ALL settings seem to fail in a similar manner described above)

LTD/FSB Ratio= x3.0 ----- (tried 4 for 250 and so on...)

16up-16down ----- (never changed)

Cpu/Fsb Freq Ratio= x10 ----- (always used 10x)

PCi-Ex Freq= 100mhz ----- (never changed)

Cool & Quiet= Disable ----- (always disabled)

Cpu Vid Startup= 1.350V ----- (tried 1,40 and all in between and down to 1,275)

Cpu Vid Control= auto ----- (tried same setting as Startup, mostly auto)

Cpu Vid "special"= auto ----- (tried 102,xx %)

LDT Voltage= 1.2V ----- (never changed)

Chipset Voltage= 1.52V ----- (never changed)

Dram Voltage Control= 2.60V ----- (tried 2.66 with no improvement)

 

Dram Configuration Page:

 

Dram Freq= 200 1:1 ----- (never used divider, can´t see the point in using it, so always 1:1)

CPC= Enable (always enabled)

Tcl= 03 ----- (never changed)

Trcd= 03 ----- (never changed)

Tras= 08 ----- (never changed)

Trp= 03 ----- (never changed)

Trc= 16 ----- (loose, but already was down to 8)

Trfc= 18 ----- (see above, tried down to 10)

Trrd= 03

Twr= 03

Twtr= 02

Trwt= 02

Tref= 3072 ----- (I am very unsure about this. mostly kept it at 3072, somtimes auto or 4196)

Twcl= Enabled

Dram Bank Interleave= Enabled (never changed)

 

DQS Skew Control= AUTO ----- (never changed)

DQS Skew Value = 0 ----- (never changed)

Dram Drive Strength= Level 7 ----- (not sure here: auto or 7)

Dram Data Drive Strength= Level 2 ----- (not sure here: auto or 2)

Max Asynch Latency= 8ns ----- (tried 9, with no effect)

Read Preamble= 6ns ----- (5,5ns-6,5ns....nothing)

Idle Cycle Limit= 256 cycles ----- (tried 16-256)

Dynamic Counter= Disable ----- (tried enabled and plaed with the Idle Cycle Limit down to 16 - for me just even more unstable)

R/W Queue ByPass= 16x ----- (tried 8 with no effect)

ByPass Max= 07x ----- (was down to 4, no change at all)

32 Byte Granularity= Disable ----- (never changed that)

 

 

For system spec see my signature, please. Temperatures are ok:

 

Cpu: always under 50 degrees

Chipset: way under 50 degrees

PWMs: 40 degrees on load

 

 

I´d really appreciate any help as I don´t habe any ideas left. Most important question would be: "Can the Ballistix be dead/gone bad without showing errors in Memtest or causing BSODs?" <-> I ever thought not.

 

 

Yes mate, thats what happens when the TD's start to fail. Its been a big problem but its all resolved now with the TD1 modules, ALl you need do is send them bacvk to crucial and they have a 48 hour turn around. THe replacements now are fantastic.

 

I had to return mine twice until i got the updated modules. BOth the first 2 gradually died, like you say, 2-3 months in. Until eventually they stopped booting windows

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Thanks iwheeldon for your fast reply! But are you sure my RAM is in that "first phase" that finally leads to its death? How comes I don´t get any Memtest erros? How comes I own and run that sticks over a year now and never encountered any problems (not getting hot, running good even on 875p, etc.)?

 

Don´t get me wrong: for me it would be great if it would be the RAM. I´d just RMA and that´s about it.

 

I just want to be as certain about it as I can.

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My second set did the same thing. Got them in October 2005, ran them at 265 MHz, 3-3-3-8, 2.66v for months and they loved it. I did a Memtest in May after a couple of weird issues popped up, and it came up with a fair amount of errors, where there had been none earlier. I ran my first set at the recommended voltage of 2.8v, and they lasted two months. Due the the low voltage you ran yours at, it prolonged the life. Your issue sounds like the typical one though with the old TD sets, you have to keep lowering the memory's speed to get it to run stable.

 

Definitely go ahead and RMA the sticks. It was a bit of a headache for me and others back in July (I had to keep playing online chat tag and begging :P), but it seems to have gotten a lot better since then. Got my third set in July, and they're still going strong. They do run a lot cooler than the old TD's too.

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Thanks a lot for the information, n_w95482! I guess I will better rma my kit now before I can´t even get it stable at 200 mhz. :) What do I want to get as a replacement? TP1´s? Or how are the new ones named?

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Just RMA them and they'll send the new ones out, THey dont stock the TD's anymore, Just the TD1's ;)

 

 

on my heatspreader the sticker says:

CL1116F.TG

63240

 

on the anti-staic bag:

BL1286-1Z503.16TD1

 

Is this a good module then?

 

If I have a problem with them,

how do I RMA if I didn't buy it from crucial,

but from e-bay?

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That's nice to know:p

 

How would I know without the anti-staic bag?

 

 

I see in your sig you have

CL1116Z-88

and I have

CL1116F.TG

 

 

 

just different numbers?

 

 

So the TD1 will last me a lifetime,

and give me sweet SPEED

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello, I'm new to this forum and joined because of this thread. I'm planning to buy a Crucial Ballistix Z503 or L503 and would like to know if the "dead RAM" problems where really solved! 2 Months ago I started searching for the best DDR RAM and found out Crucial's was really good (the best in many databases), then a friend told me that they died easilly and that made me stop and rethink my choise, I read a lot and found out the memory was really good but lasted too short, so I changed to the Mushkin Redline (PC4000). But now I was going to buy the memory and I read at newegg that there was a new revision (F) of this memory and that the problems where solved. I live in Brazil, so RMA is not very easy (don't know if it is even possible), so I want to buy the best RAM that will last for as long as I need them (3 years+). Is the Crucial 503 F a good choise for me or should I play safe and buy the Mushkin? Is the performance really different (the price is! Mushkin is $300+, Crucial is $200+)? I prefer Crucial all my life IF they won't die on me any time soon (never!)... Please comment and help me decide (I have about a month to decide until I get all the part for my PC and start OCing). Is the L503 any better than the Z503 (forget the lights, I'm talking about performance and stability), Do they last longer or really have better power managment on the PCB (sound logical, hehe). Last but not least, where can I buy the F revision Crucial Ballistix (from Crucial, I know, but newegg has them cheaper, a lot cheaper, are they new revision allready?). Thanks!

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