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P4C800-E + Ballistix = :(

F

Fester_Silently

n00b
Joined
Jun 5, 2004
Messages
33
Okay Fellow Shut-Ins...I need some assistance/advice (what...again?!).

I just went absolutely insane and dropped $600 (tax+shipping) on 2Gbs (4x512) of Ballistix 3200. (And I know half of you fainted because you know your significant others would have stabbed you in the neck; while the other half of you swooned with envy. You swooners are sick! :rolleyes:

In any case, I have had a hardware day from HELL with this stuff! So now I've got a few questions:

1) Why, with all four channels full, is my PAT disabled? This article states otherwise: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=1851&p=5

2) Why, even with just two sticks in, can I not achieve 250fsb, 1:1, even at 2.5-3-3-5, *much* looser than the Anandtech timings at the same speed? http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2145&p=9

3) Why do I get SPD readings (in CPU-Z 1.24 ) of 2-4-4-8, when the bloody Crucial website (http://www.crucial.com/ballistix/store/partspecs.asp?IMODULE=BL6464Z402)shows timings of 2-3-2-6?!

I am tired...and afraid that I might have just thrown $600 out the window. My computer has crashed (to reboot) more times in the past six hours than Matthew Lillard on a weekend bender at a Tijuana Plastic Surgery clinic.

Anybody got any suggestions/questions/answers?

Fretting Fitfully,
Fester
 
1) Ive heard of this problem before, some people say they have it working but the majority ive read said they cant get it to work :(

2)250mhz is not gauranteed off ram designed to run at 200mhz, also worth noting in order to acheive good OC's ram will usually need more voltage. I try and not take mine above 2.9v if at all possible

3)the reported timings could be what the SPD on the memory chip sais, it does not mean its the maximum it will do, this is something that will have to be set in bios and probablt require higher voltage as well


so id go into your bios, raise your memory voltage and manually set memory timings

once again i stress not all ram will reach the same results, best of luck
 
Perhaps I should elaborate.

Well, firstly: where have you heard of this problem before? I googled and checked a few forums (here; Anandtech; Asusboards) to find only nothing.

Secondly: I could not even hit 210-215Mhz with this stuff stably. Not at all what all the reviews (both professional and customer) show.

Thirdly: "The maximum"? You mean the *minimum*, right? Those timings are just a few short steps away from DDR2 speeds, my friend. And I've already set the timings (as well as everything else) in my BIOS by hand. Although, at the end, I relented and let the board/memory choose its own "auto" timings, etc. just to see if I could get ANY kind of stability out of this stuff. And the first thing I did was to try upping the voltage. Apparently these sticks prefer stock volts.
 
1) search these forums youll see it, even from anandtech
In addition, we discovered that 4 double-bank dimms apparently turn-off PAT above 200FSB. This was confirmed by both CPUZ 1.18C and Sandra tests results.
Click to expand...

states that he was only able to use 4 single sided dimms in PAT


And aside from that sounds like you may have got an unlucky batch

oh and PS your board has a known memory voltage droop problem
 
Thank you for finding the quote for me (....apparently missed in my hardware haze :D ) (BTW - was that here or from Anandtech?)

And, does it matter that I've got the ratio at 5:4...which means the memory is running precisely at 200 Mhz? *Not* over...?

As far as the droop goes...the Ballistix ran STABLER when I let the board run it at stock voltage...*not* the other way around, droop notwithstanding. ;)
 
Weird. When I set everything to auto my Ballistix PC3200 goes to 2.8v 2-2-2-8 200MHz.
 
And, does it matter that I've got the ratio at 5:4...which means the memory is running precisely at 200 Mhz? *Not* over...?
Click to expand...

it doesnt state the memory has to be running over 200mhz it sais FSB. id take off your overclock and see if that enables pat
 
I *just* re-read Wes' article on the P4C800-E at Anandtech, and it *clearly* states

"...we discovered that 4 double-bank dimms apparently turn-off PAT above 200FSB. This was confirmed by both CPUZ 1.18C and Sandra tests results. At 800FSB (200) 4DS dimms tested faster than 2 DS dimms, while at 1136FSB (284) 4 DS dimms tested slower than 2 DS dimms. CPUZ 1.18C shows Performance Mode “enabled” with 2 DS dimms and with 4 DS dimms at 800FSB. With 4 DS dimms at 1136FSB (284), CPUZ shows Performance Mode “disabled”. 4 SS dimms show Performance Mode “enabled” at all speeds, and Memory Tests confirm PAT is working."

:me stupid:

So: has a workaround/solution since been found?

And what about the other issues?

Feeling Sheepish (but still cheated),
Fester

P.S.

Proto - auto settings bring me to 2-4-4-8 and 2.65 volts at 200fsb
 
Why don't you go into the bios and set the memory timings according to Crucials website? High FSB overclocks get harder with every extra DIMM you put in :(
 
Its PC3200, and you've got 4 sticks, I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary in your overclocking results for that setup.
 
Fester_Silently said:
Thank you for finding the quote for me (....apparently missed in my hardware haze :D ) (BTW - was that here or from Anandtech?)

And, does it matter that I've got the ratio at 5:4...which means the memory is running precisely at 200 Mhz? *Not* over...?

As far as the droop goes...the Ballistix ran STABLER when I let the board run it at stock voltage...*not* the other way around, droop notwithstanding. ;)
Click to expand...

well not all boards and or ram combo's are completely a sure thing to hit wicked high speeds ..but the ram shouldn't be the limiting factor have you thought to get a RMA on the ram and perhaps see if thats the issue?? or maybe its time to RMA the board? if you really just want to be able to run PAT don't bother while its somewhat faster (like maybe 5-9 precent ) it isn't worth this headache. Even the CPU could be the issue . Best thing to do is either :

A. Borrow a good ram stick (one you know works well) and test it at the highest stable speed.

B. Switch out the MB for another or (borrowed or bought) and see if thats it.

C. RMA the MB and ram and see if that finally helps out at all.
 
Just for fun you should try running 2 chips and see what kind of fsb you can get. I've read and personally noticed that the more chips you have the less your headroom is on OC'ing. Also make sure you use memtest on the ram to make sure you didn't get any dead dimms, I've heard numerous reports on bad ballistix chips (rma has covered every story I've heard tho, so just an annoyance).
 
gmkmay said:
Just for fun you should try running 2 chips and see what kind of fsb you can get. I've read and personally noticed that the more chips you have the less your headroom is on OC'ing. Also make sure you use memtest on the ram to make sure you didn't get any dead dimms, I've heard numerous reports on bad ballistix chips (rma has covered every story I've heard tho, so just an annoyance).
Click to expand...

Just for fun you should try reading the entire thread before posting, he already tried 2 sticks only.

Ditto on the memtest tho, maybe you have some bum chips somewhere in the batch

Remeber when overclocking your mileage can AND will vary, my board tested at over 183FSB on many sites, but personally I can't get anything over 150 stable, and my RAM and chip O/C like bitches, just poor luck on the board.
 
...back to my trusty ol' Corsair sticks.

After tax and shipping (this way and back), this whole adventure will have cost me nearly $100 and a weekend full of stress (for both me *and* my hardware!).

Live and learn, I guess. :rolleyes:
 
Ballistix is good ram, it's just that you can't expect high FSB's with 4 dimm's.
 
Just to answer a few of your basic questions (mobo capabilities, bios, etc.) here are my specs:

P4 Northwood 2.8 @ 3.5 (250fsb)
P4C800-E v1016 bios
2x512Mb Corsair 3500C2PT@2-2-2-5 (5:4 ratio)
BFG6800GT@400/1060 (love it!)
2x WD 740 Raptor (SATA)
2x Hitachi 160Gb (SATA)
550w Antec True PSU

And up until one day ago, I'd been running an awesome P4 2.4c at 268fsb - very stable for nearly six months. The Corasir RAM is even older - I've had it through my A7N8x deluxe, to my P4P800 deluxe through till now.

So, with the 2.8 running stably at stock voltage at 250fsb, what do you guys suggest for memory (only ONE Gb!) that I can run 1:1 with decent timings? :confused:
 
I hear the Kingston HyperX is the stuff nowadays, BH-5's and all that jazz, if you're lucky of course.
 
Some of those new samsung chips are pretty nice. They seem to be a bit more reliable on the OC's than the micron chips from what I've read. I hear very good things about the PQI turbo and OCZ platinum v2 sets, and both are priced fairly reasonably (under 300). The problem with the winbond chips (bh5/6) is that you need over 3.0v to get them to run high fsb's...that and they aren't really used anymore so they're much more difficult to find.
 
AFAIK BH-5s are out of production now, so go snap it up while you can, mushkin 3500 witht eh purple heat spreaders has BH5s too.

New shit is the new hynix chips, and they're found across the board, even PQI and Buffalo Tech have 'em and are producing some nice overclockable rams, course OCZ + DDR booster is the best setup atm IMHO.
 
So, after talking to my friend (who BURIES me in the "early-adopter" arena), I'm actually considering taking the $600 I'll be getting back and doing the following: keeping the faithful, derided Corsair sticks and picking up an MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum and a pretty li'l AMD 3500+ to sit on top of it.

Whaddaya'll think?

eagerly awaiting your opinion(s),
Fester
 
Get some BH-5, or some 3700EB if you want some nice 1:1 action.

Otherwise, grab a DFI NF3 board, a 754 chip, and enjoy the nice performance till your next overclock.
 
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