Crucial Ballistix PC4000 2GB Memory Review

Post by **Apoptosis** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 10:56 am

Today Legit Reviews takes a look at the latest and greatest from Crucial Technologies, the Ballstix PC4000 2GB kit. While the PC4000 may look like any other modules with its 3-4-4-8 timings, don't be fooled. We take a look at this PC-4000 memory kit and give you our thoughts.

The next major push was at 3-3-3-8, where these modules scaled all the way to 287FSB (DDR574) at 2.93V, which is well past their rated speed of 250FSB. I was pleasantly surprised here, and considering the very modest voltage increase and the fact I still hadn't loosened the timings to their rated specs of 3-4-4-8, I thought this kit would fly past 300FSB (DDR600). Alas, loosening the timings to their rated speed only garnered me a slight increase to 292 FSB (DDR584).

Article Link: Crucial Ballistix PC4000 2GB Memory Review
Pricing: Current Price

sbohdan · Post by **sbohdan** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 12:02 pm

wow, these are awesome specs! I will consider these for my new rig, if not too pricey.

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 1:28 pm

I've heard that AMD cannot scale too high using 2x 2GB sticks (for gaming)???? You seem to have benched Far Cry and Doom3 @ ddr574 but I've read that 2GB sticks can go higher (prime95 stable) but crap out when gaming...Is this right???? Mayby AMD need a new revision to cope with really high OC's using 2x 2GB? (not gonna happen till M2)

Your limit was 292 @ 3-4-4-8???
Yet you benched using 287 @ 3-3-3-8?
Was the ram not stable over 287MHZ when gaming??? Or was the timings so bad it wasn't worth it?

Nice review by the way!

Ps. you said the sticks get very hot! = I always tought it was the voltage which increased the heat with Ram? - there is no need to actively cool this stuff???

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 4:30 pm

I've been using these sticks pretty heavy the past two weeks. My results from benchmarking are actually quite a bit lower than what I see from actual consumers on forums. Most are hitting DDR600, but I topped out at DDR584. I played HL2, CS:Source, and Rome: Total War for hours at those specs without any problems at all. I really like this stuff, but it does get pretty damn warm

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:07 pm

Sweet.....I think I'll wait for 2x 2GB of DDR2 with M2.....I just shelled out a load of â‚¬â‚¬â‚¬ in the last 2mths....
You said the sticks are hot....too hot to touch? I can't see why ram should be so hot if all your using is 2.9v....anyhow....Nice review...2.5-3-3* @ 250Mhz with 2x 2GB is amazing....even some good 1GB sticks can't do that!

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:15 pm

They weren't too hot to touch.....but they were very warm. They didn't quite hit the 250FSB mark at 2.5, but did come damn close at 248FSB. I was mostly impressed by the versatility of these modules and the fact they were able to achieve their full range of timings at or near their rated voltage.

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:26 pm

Yeah, they are like TCCD for 1GB sticks....except 2GB lol
You can do 2-2-2-5 @ 200MHz or go as high as your CPU will allow (without dropping the multi) I would grab theese sticks asap, if it wasn't so close to Christmas....Versatility is the key for AMD as i have only just learned....You are forever trying to find the right multi/htt combination...Seems Crucial have created a product which will satisfy everyones needs!!!!
Kudos

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:32 pm

Yeah, it is very nice to have that kind of versatility in memory. I currently have that kind of versatility with my RAM and I'm LOVIN' it!!!

But heat is definately an issue. When I run my RAM at 300mhz, it is very hot and I would not feel comfortable doing it without direct active cooling. It's really amazing what that extra 20-30mhz can do for heat output on DDR!!!

Very nice review btw. I liked the comparisons between the RAM speeds and performances at those speeds. And, as always, the price per mhz is always interesting to compare!!! Kindof interesting how two different RAM products costing like $15 differnce can actually come out so close in terms of overclocked performance.

-mogwai · Post by **-mogwai** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 6:36 pm

we gave a gig of that away at the hurricane katrina relief lan... some lucky dude won it

pastorjay · Post by **pastorjay** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 7:12 pm

This stuff just rocks!

I have looked at many reviews of 2GB kits, and there are not many that do what the Ballistix are capable of...

Great review!