Ballistix the best 2x1GB to buy at the moment?

[Theo404]

As in the title.

Are they the best 1GB sticks avaliable at the moment or is there something better? Price doesnt really matter as ballistix are just about the most expensive 1gb sticks there are (in the UK at least).

I have the choice to upgrade to an X1800XT 512mb or a 7800GT + 2x1GB sticks. I have 2x512mb of gskill LE and a 6800GT at the moment, which option would you take?

EDIT: Also I see in the 2x1GB database that ballistix 'Z503' are the best, what does Z503 mean? PCB or what? Can you get them now in the UK? Is there a revision number for them?

[Major]

The Ballistix go OC higher than any other 2x1gig sticks around, and they do it at decent timings. I've had several pairs and liked them alot. BUT I also had to rma 2 sets, and from what I've seen posted they have been dieing pretty frequently. Not sure if its just high Vdimm (over 2.8v) that is doing them in or high mhz. Either way I'm not sure its worth the risk.

Right now I'd have to vote for offerings with UCCC. Most will do 270mhz at 3-4-4-7 @ 2.7v or less, and if your lucky maybe 280mhz or more.

[Theo404]

The Ballistix go OC higher than any other 2x1gig sticks around, and they do it at decent timings. I've had several pairs and liked them alot. BUT I also had to rma 2 sets, and from what I've seen posted they have been dieing pretty frequently. Not sure if its just high Vdimm (over 2.8v) that is doing them in or high mhz. Either way I'm not sure its worth the risk.

Right now I'd have to vote for offerings with UCCC. Most will do 270mhz at 3-4-4-7 @ 2.7v or less, and if your lucky maybe 280mhz or more.

Yeah I scaned the thread about ballistix having a flakey batch, wonder if that batch has made its way to the UK yet, or if the stock we have is earlier or later.

So basically, if the sticks dont die, they are the best 2x1gb avaliable?

[mdzcpa]

So basically, if the sticks dont die, they are the best 2x1gb avaliable?

Without a doubt.

I've had 3 pair. 2 I bought a while back....and one of those died and had to be RMA'd. The 3rd set I bought just recently (4 weeks ago) and they seem great. They also OC higher at less voltage than my first 2 pair.

Perhaps a better batch?

[Theo404]

good news, thanks

Any comment on this question?:

I have the choice to upgrade to an X1800XT 512mb or a 7800GT + 2x1GB sticks. I have 2x512mb of gskill LE and a 6800GT at the moment, which option would you take?

[Major]

I'd get the fasted Video card you can afford and keep the LE's, 1gig is fine still for the majority of tasks. Only a couple of games benifit from the 2gig.

[mdzcpa]

I'd get the fasted Video card you can afford and keep the LE's, 1gig is fine still for the majority of tasks.

Agreed! This would be my choice as well.

[ben805]

If I were you I'd take the advices from Major and stay away from these Ballistix, they're like top fuel dragster....very fast but only for a short burst! I too went through 2 pairs of Ballistix Z503 and both of them only last me 3 weeks.....I only use 2.7~2.8V and have active fan cooling them as well. If you really need 2GB....I'd too vote for the UCCC such as GSKILL HZ, they're only $217 at newegg so I'd say they're the best bang for the buck right now.

[amrgb]

By the way, what's the rma time with crucial?

I may need to rma mine. Right now I don't know if the problem is on the board or on the memories. But I'll find out soon.

[cronic]

ballistix didn't last 2 weeks for me with active coolling and 2.8v. I got the G Skill HZ and they are awesome. DDR550 rock solid stable at 2.8v and are very cool. I highly reccomend them.

[pancake]

id stick with your g skill le and get a 512 7800gtx if its for gaming.

amrgb: nice sig im glad someone quoted that thread before it dissapeared lol

[Capt_Caveman]

I also have had to rma my ballistix twice. Like Ben said, they're fast but also run out of fuel fast.

[uOpt]

The situation is actually pretty bad.

There clearly is a bad batch of Ballistix out there and you can't get the best Micron chips in any other PC4000.

People report that Infineon CE-6 equipped sticks often turn out not to hold up when gaming at clocks they prime fine at.

Samsung UCCC seems very solid and the newest batches clock very well but there is no way to get as good timings as with the other chips.

I haven't seen anything spectacular from Hynix chips, although I don't think anybody tried lately.

[Squire]

Socket M2 and DDR2 will be the new standard next year so I would spend my money on some cheap 2gb DDR1 sticks (Gskill UCCC) for now.

UCCC = 3-4-3-8 up to 265ish (3-4-4-8 up to 280ish)
Micron= 3-3-3-8 up to 280ish (Early death)

Yea... cheap 2gb UCCC sticks are the way to go for now. Rock solid, cool, and stable.

Then next year, switch to socket M2 and get some super fast DDR2 sticks by crucial

[cx323]

i would definately go with the gskill. newegg just lowered the price to 199, though i don't know what prices are like in the uk

[uOpt]

For what it's worth, I ordered one of the $205 shipped HZ kits this morning.

And I really don't think that this kit, especially the newest shipment that poppoed up here a few times, will be noticable inferior to the $300+ kits with Infineaon CE-6, at least not at 3D/game stability.

[RafaDel]

Well is quite public that Ballistix will die under 2.8V or more, but you may extend its live by running at 2.6V. I'm in a third pair right now... It is still ok but running at very low speeds. Best for me was mix 1giga of Mushkin Redlines with 512 megs of old BH6. I can get 2-2-2-5 at 246Mhz 2T overall is giving me more than Ballistix at 2.6V...

As far as the best 2 giga memory atm I would look at the new 2giga Redlines. They can do ~250MHz 3-3-2-7 1T

[uOpt]

Well is quite public that Ballistix will die under 2.8V or more, but you may extend its live by running at 2.6V.

This is nonsense. 2.8 Volts is what Ballistix is specified at, and only at 2.8 V. Look it up.

[Eagleclaw]

My first set of Ballistix crapped out in about 2 months, had to run them on a divider at the time at 243Mhz 2.6 V and had active cooling.

Second set ran for about 1 month same setup except 2.8 V.

I rma'd them and should have them back this next week.

My dilema is to try the new ones I get or keep the G.SKILL, the G.SKILL won't run at 1T though...sigh what to do

[ozzimark]

Well is quite public that Ballistix will die under 2.8V or more

depends on the ballistix. i've given mine 3.6v for a while without ill effect

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

id personally go for the 7800GT and 2x1gb sticks. with the better vid card over the ram, the games will be slightly better. but with 2x1gb overall system will be smoother and less load time in games and such.

[brandinb]

hehe i think it depends on your monitor size. or the resolution you run more specifically. if its 1280x960or so take the 7800gt if its 1600x1200 or higher get the faster card!

[Theo404]

id personally go for the 7800GT and 2x1gb sticks. with the better vid card over the ram, the games will be slightly better. but with 2x1gb overall system will be smoother and less load time in games and such.

I'm inclined to agree with you. I was messing about with my opteron the other day, using my old 2x256mb sticks of BH5, sure I broke my sPi record (27sec) but I tried loading BF2 and really noticed what more ram does to a system. The games that are going to come out are only going to need more ram, so I thought 2gb was the only option if you were upgrading.....

My opteron has a piss-poor mem controller, 280x10 1:1 takes 3-4-4-8 timmings to be stable (when 300x9 1:1 I can run at 2.5-4-3-6) ......2x1GB at 3-3-3-8 seem so bad now?

Maybe I can strech to a 7800GTX and 2GB of gskill UCCC.....

[Theo404]

Whats the difference between (gskill) ZX and HX? Will ZX not overclock as much? I ask because HX (and HZ) cost the same as ballistix here (£200 - $350), where as ZX costs £160.

How long has the ballistix death batch been around? I ask because I thought it might not of got to the UK yet, any UK ballistix deaths?

[Pyr0]

i think the zx uses infineon chips and the hz uses uccc

i ordered a set of ballistix before these plat eb's
the kit i got was directly from crucial, they were like two totally different sticks, completely mismatched
one stick would run at 250 with 2.6v while the other stick wanted higher voltages, obviously i couldn't get them to work well together, so they were sent back