Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC2-6400 2GB Kit

[infrared]

Today we take a look at the Ballistix Tracer PC2-6400 2GB kit from Crucial Technology. For those who haven't heard of the Tracer range, these modules feature eye catching blue backlighting and activity LEDs, making this RAM an excellent choice for making your PC really stand out! With most modern games using more and more memory and at the same time needing loads of bandwidth, this memory would be great for high-end gaming systems.

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[WarEagleAU]

Sweet kit and sweet results. The price isnt bad either, less than what I paid for my GSkill DDR400

 

[infrared]

I couldn't believe the price either. It was originally a lot higher, but i guess with the PC2-8000 and PC2-8500 kits here now they lowered it a lot. Certainly great value!

I'll post a new set of results shortly on my new Asus P5K Deluxe when it arrives. I'm hoping that i can run the modules 1140mhz 1:1! We'll see anyway

 

[Sovereign]

Thanks for the wonderfull review, Infrared!

I personaly own this kit and am just in love with them! It's too bad my motherboard is holding them back from their true potential. I've had Corsair XMS and OCZ EL Platinum & Platinum XTC in the past and nothing compares to Crucial and their Ballistix & Ballistix Tracer line! I'm going to go play with them some more and see if I can't get better results!

 

[lucassp]

According to the EPP profiles, this RAM is capable of 1 GHz with only 2.2V. It will be interesting to see if this is possible.

There are low end value sticks that can do 1000MHz 5-5-5-15 2T at ONLY 1,9V.

 

[infrared]

Great... go ahead and use that then.

Thanks for the wonderfull review, Infrared!

I personaly own this kit and am just in love with them! It's too bad my motherboard is holding them back from their true potential. I've had Corsair XMS and OCZ EL Platinum & Platinum XTC in the past and nothing compares to Crucial and their Ballistix & Ballistix Tracer line! I'm going to go play with them some more and see if I can't get better results!

Thanks for the compliments, and I'm glad you're enjoying yours as much as me!

 

[Grings]

damn infrared, i thought you were selling your ram when i saw this thread, bugger

 

[infrared]

Sorry

 

[Sovereign]

In case anyone is wondering, PriceGuideNetwork.com is currently selling this kit @ $110 !!! I've bought a 1GB kit of Ballistix PC3200 from them in the past and can attest to good service and fast shipping.

Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2GB (1GBx2) DDR2-800 PC2-6400 240-pin LED Gaming Memory BL2KIT12864AL804 @ $110.44 USD

 

[PaulieG]

I have the 2x1GB PC2-8500 Tracers. I currently have them set at 950mhz 4-4-4-6 1T and 2.150v on my evga 680i board. They are super fast. I did try to test them at 4-3-3-6, which caused errors. Probably asking too much! They were $219 with a $75 rebate, bringing them to $144. I just got an email confirmation from crucial, that the rebate is being processed. Sweet.

 

[Ketxxx]

Try 3-3-4-8, they should like that.

 

[hat]

Micron D9??
Hm so I suppose the Tracers ARE better than the Ballistix for overclockability??

 

[PaulieG]

Nope. They did not like that at all. Just a long beep. I even tried to give it 2.2v (spec).

 

[PaulieG]

Yes, they are D9's. My guess is they are the best of the best, since they are top of the line, and Crucial is owned by Micron.

 

[DOM]

Micron D9??
Hm so I suppose the Tracers ARE better than the Ballistix for overclockability??

No there the same just the Tracers got the Blk HS and leds I think cuz look a mine Crucial Ballistix (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) {OC'ed to 1100Mhz@5-5-5-15} @ 2.25v dont have 2.2v just 2.15,2.25

There are low end value sticks that can do 1000MHz 5-5-5-15 2T at ONLY 1,9V.

Edit: I tryed it again @ 1000Mhz 5-5-5-15 1.8v and passed Also look at my specs. 1100Mhz @2.05v

On the Rivew Good Job

 

[lucassp]

I tryed mine @ 1000Mhz 5-5-5-15 1.9v and passed but which ones are going to OC better and with lower Tim

yeap, Crucial sticks are far better than mine using low timings

 

[zOaib]

< ------ proud Owner of the Ballistix pc 1000 4gb kit.

 

[Ketxxx]

Nope. They did not like that at all. Just a long beep. I even tried to give it 2.2v (spec).

Change one latency at a time until you find the latency that causes the system to not boot, that latency is likely the latency that isnt supported in the SPD data.

 

[PaulieG]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I'll play around with it tonight. I also wonder if 950mhz is too high with tight timing like you suggested. I'm gonna try underclocking them a little more, and see if it helps. Then, I think I will start testing the latencies one at a time. On another note, people have mentioned that they see better performance on DDR2 with higher frequencies, and looser timings. I've found the opposite to be true, particularly in super pi and everest benchmarking.

 

[Ketxxx]

Clock them to 800MHz with a starting voltage of say 2v, adjust latencies one at a time to fund that latency that isnt supported in the SPD data, then see how far you can take the modules before having to increase voltage

 

[Ravenas]

does this ram come with a little sticker like most g.skill ram does? lol i know this is a stupid question but im interested

 

[alias_1ab]

does anyone else have a problem with the ddr2-6400 ballistix being identified by CPU-Z on a EVGA 680i NF-63 board? cpu-z shows me no information about the ram at all. nor does everest or nvidia control panel. and it doesnt matter whether if i take out the 2 ballistix sticks without the leds or vice versa no matter what speed settings. any ideas on whats the issue?
(i have 2 x 1 gb non-tracers and 2 x 1 gb tracers, all ddr2-6400)
(also have memory voltage set to auto which the board determines is 2.2v)
(can easily hit 1 ghz at 5-5-5-15 timings)
(currently running at 853 mhz at 4-5-5-13 timings, Linked FSB:MEM ratio of 5:4)

 

[PaulieG]

does anyone else have a problem with the ddr2-6400 ballistix being identified by CPU-Z on a EVGA 680i NF-63 board? cpu-z shows me no information about the ram at all. nor does everest or nvidia control panel. and it doesnt matter whether if i take out the 2 ballistix sticks without the leds or vice versa no matter what speed settings. any ideas on whats the issue?
(i have 2 x 1 gb non-tracers and 2 x 1 gb tracers, all ddr2-6400)
(also have memory voltage set to auto which the board determines is 2.2v)
(can easily hit 1 ghz at 5-5-5-15 timings)
(currently running at 853 mhz at 4-5-5-13 timings, Linked FSB:MEM ratio of 5:4)

Have you updated the bios to p28? If you haven't try that. The flash through Nvidia update actually works quite well.

 

[infrared]

does this ram come with a little sticker like most g.skill ram does? lol i know this is a stupid question but im interested

nope, sorry. Whats the one that cames with g.skill ram? a case sticker?

 

[alias_1ab]

ive already updated the bios for the board. im pretty sure it was doing the same thing even before I flashed the board. Maybe its a slight defect with the board? From what ive read online about the EVGA NF-63 board is they basically are NF-68 boards but they were "declassified" because they couldnt run the quad-core cpus or something like that. Too bad I dont have another DDR2 board to test the ram out in.