G.Skill Pi Black? What IC's? (Also, what are some great 4GB DDR2 kits?)

[AddSub]

I just sold my Corsair DHX 4GB kit (DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 @ 2.1V). It was a really nice looking kit, but very power hungry on my 680i platform. I was thinking of picking up one of those new G.Skill Pi Black kits on Newegg that do DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 at only 1.8V. Anyone know what IC's these kits use? Anyone have any personal experiences with these? Is 1.8V really a sure thing with these kits?

Also, what are some good 4GB kits in general? Crucial Ballistix Tracers maybe? (I hear those can run at 4-4-4-12 1.8V as well, although it seems to be just random luck as far as reviews are concerned.)

 

[PP Mguire]

I jut bought the G.Skill Pi Black but i cant use them yet till i get my cpu back this weekend. If nobody has answerd your questions by then ill be happy to.

 

[Guru Janitor]

If 4-4-4-12 isn't a necessity, I use these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 They are very good, and run stable pretty high, although I am running them at stock right now. 1.8v at stock settings, pretty good. I've yet to have problems with G.Skill, I'm sure the Black's are just as reliable.

 

[AddSub]

Nice and affordable kit you got there. I've been digging around and I've found many reports that G.Skill Pi's are supposedly using Powerchip IC's. Nothing official though.

Crucial Ballistix Tracers seem to have a high failure rate from what I've reading on various forums in the past hour or so. Although, it seems Crucial did release a "A" revision of their Tracer lineup this summer that again supposedly fixes whatever issues existed to being with. Doesn't exactly infuse me with confidence when it comes to their Ballistix lineup even though I owned a solid kit of DDR-400 Ballistix in socket 939 days.

 

[AsRock]

Just e-mail them, they told me what IC's mine used all though this was Feb\March time.. BUT ya never know till you ask right ?.

 

[Kursah]

Sorry to dig up this thread, but I'm reading a little...the G.Skill Pi Black DDR800 2x2GB kit is only 49.99 shipped, where-as the 900 kit is 59.99 + s/h (about 4 bucks)..I need ram that can be capable of 1000-1050. The 800's seem like a great deal, I've worked with them in a couple of other builds, but never pushed them beyond 800 on those builds.

I need a decent set of ram on a budget, but it's also gotta be capable...really pushing over $50 is bad news atm, but I'm relegated to 2x1GB till then, and I'd rather fix that and only use 2 dimms!

Anyone get the Pi-B 900's? Would it be worth +$14 over the 800's on a very limited budet for 1000-1050 max speed?

 

[dark2099]

Sorry to dig up this thread, but I'm reading a little...the G.Skill Pi Black DDR800 2x2GB kit is only 49.99 shipped, where-as the 900 kit is 59.99 + s/h (about 4 bucks)..I need ram that can be capable of 1000-1050. The 800's seem like a great deal, I've worked with them in a couple of other builds, but never pushed them beyond 800 on those builds.

I need a decent set of ram on a budget, but it's also gotta be capable...really pushing over $50 is bad news atm, but I'm relegated to 2x1GB till then, and I'd rather fix that and only use 2 dimms!

Anyone get the Pi-B 900's? Would it be worth +$14 over the 800's on a very limited budet for 1000-1050 max speed?

There is someone on the forum running a set of the G.Skill Pi Blacks and has them doing 1022MHz 5-5-5-15 2.1v. Don't know which ones they are, but I think all the Pi Black chips are the same just flashed to run different stock speeds and timings. Fitseries3 has a set too, but I don't know how his are doing.

 

[HTC]

There is someone on the forum running a set of the G.Skill Pi Blacks and has them doing 1022MHz 5-5-5-15 2.1v. Don't know which ones they are, but I think all the Pi Black chips are the same just flashed to run different stock speeds and timings. Fitseries3 has a set too, but I don't know how his are doing.

A dude, here in Portugal, bought a kit of the 900 ones and was complaining that they weren't good for CL5 but had,'t tried to OC them @ CL4.

According to this, the 800 ones go up to 940 in CL4 but only 976 in CL5.

Haven't seen any reviews of the 900 PI black ones, yet

 

[DrunkenMafia]

Sorry to dig up this thread, but I'm reading a little...the G.Skill Pi Black DDR800 2x2GB kit is only 49.99 shipped, where-as the 900 kit is 59.99 + s/h (about 4 bucks)..I need ram that can be capable of 1000-1050. The 800's seem like a great deal, I've worked with them in a couple of other builds, but never pushed them beyond 800 on those builds.

I need a decent set of ram on a budget, but it's also gotta be capable...really pushing over $50 is bad news atm, but I'm relegated to 2x1GB till then, and I'd rather fix that and only use 2 dimms!

Anyone get the Pi-B 900's? Would it be worth +$14 over the 800's on a very limited budet for 1000-1050 max speed?

Iwould put my money on them being easily able to do DDR1000 @ 5,5,5 timings, make sure your mb can raise the volts up at least to 2v. I have the g-skill pi 1066mhz and they are awesome. Love em. The heatspreaders rock too.

 

[Kursah]

Iwould put my money on them being easily able to do DDR1000 @ 5,5,5 timings, make sure your mb can raise the volts up at least to 2v. I have the g-skill pi 1066mhz and they are awesome. Love em. The heatspreaders rock too.

I've read of some guys 1000 on the 800 kit pretty easily, my board is capable of up to 3v on the DDRv, not like I'd need that kind of voltage , this P5Q really liked my old 2x2 G.Skill kit, but I want to see what these are capable of...just tough deciding if the 900's are worth the extra price or not...and it'd be nice to have a little more OC buffer beyond 1000.

 

[erocker]

Sorry to dig up this thread, but I'm reading a little...the G.Skill Pi Black DDR800 2x2GB kit is only 49.99 shipped, where-as the 900 kit is 59.99 + s/h (about 4 bucks)..I need ram that can be capable of 1000-1050. The 800's seem like a great deal, I've worked with them in a couple of other builds, but never pushed them beyond 800 on those builds.

I need a decent set of ram on a budget, but it's also gotta be capable...really pushing over $50 is bad news atm, but I'm relegated to 2x1GB till then, and I'd rather fix that and only use 2 dimms!

Anyone get the Pi-B 900's? Would it be worth +$14 over the 800's on a very limited budet for 1000-1050 max speed?

I bought some of the 800's yesterday, I should have them in on Monday, followed by some overclocking to see where I can take them. I'm taking a guess at the moment but I would think these sticks could do 1066 / 5 5-5-15 no problem. I'll know for sure soon.

 

[Kursah]

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna short change it and go with the 800 kit, I hate tight budgets...that's when things gotta happen lol! Really I suppose I don't need much more than 1000, it's more of a preference, CL4 at 1000 would be a plus! haha, I doubt that'd happen, but again, not required!

Curious to see results tho!

 

[mrw1986]

There is someone on the forum running a set of the G.Skill Pi Blacks and has them doing 1022MHz 5-5-5-15 2.1v. Don't know which ones they are, but I think all the Pi Black chips are the same just flashed to run different stock speeds and timings. Fitseries3 has a set too, but I don't know how his are doing.

I had them running at that setting. This is when I had my QX6850 and an unlocked multi. Now I'm back to my Q6600 and running my FSB at 400mhz, so 800mhz effective memory. They were rock solid though at 1022mhz 5-5-5-15 2.1v

 

[HTC]

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna short change it and go with the 800 kit, I hate tight budgets...that's when things gotta happen lol! Really I suppose I don't need much more than 1000, it's more of a preference, CL4 at 1000 would be a plus! haha, I doubt that'd happen, but again, not required!

Curious to see results tho!

Will these do?

 

[Kursah]

Will these do?

Those results are pretty decent, I actually just got done reading a couple of other reviews, all of them were a little different, but all showed somewhat similar results with the one you linked to being the only one that made DDR1000 speeds at CL4 timings.

The timings aren't really as important to me, aside from speed, atm I'm running 500FSB with e8600 on 9x multi for 4.5ghz, granted I could drop to 450fsb if necessary. I guess I'm just more curious about the 900 kit, but still not enough user info out there on the 900 kit as I'd like to see..could be good or bad I suppose. There's a decent amount on user stuff on google, but I like to see what my fellow TPU'ers have done with their kits. Thanks for the info and suggetsions so far! It seems the 800 it is the way to go atm!

 

[HTC]

Those results are pretty decent, I actually just got done reading a couple of other reviews, all of them were a little different, but all showed somewhat similar results with the one you linked to being the only one that made DDR1000 speeds at CL4 timings.

The timings aren't really as important to me, aside from speed, atm I'm running 500FSB with e8600 on 9x multi for 4.5ghz, granted I could drop to 450fsb if necessary. I guess I'm just more curious about the 900 kit, but still not enough user info out there on the 900 kit as I'd like to see..could be good or bad I suppose. There's a decent amount on user stuff on google, but I like to see what my fellow TPU'ers have done with their kits. Thanks for the info and suggetsions so far! It seems the 800 it is the way to go atm!

You and me both, dude.

Still, on the GSkill page, it doesn't mention any board's compatibility, and that worries me, a bit

Also: be sure to check the link i posted in my previous post of this thread.

 

[sneekypeet]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=194916

That says the 1200's are powerchips, not too sure if they arelesser Powerchips in the lesser MHz sticks or not tho!

 

[Kursah]

I've been reading a few threads about that too, it seems the 1200's and possibly 1000's are powerchips, but the 1000's are $189 at newegg...so I'd assume they're something a little more special at this point than the wayyy cheaper 800 and 900 kits. On my budget the 900 kit is really pushing it, the 800 is prolly what I'll go with. I don't really need 1200 speed, just 1000-1050 or even 1066 tops.

 

[HTC]

I've been reading a few threads about that too, it seems the 1200's and possibly 1000's are powerchips, but the 1000's are $189 at newegg...so I'd assume they're something a little more special at this point than the wayyy cheaper 800 and 900 kits. On my budget the 900 kit is really pushing it, the 800 is prolly what I'll go with. I don't really need 1200 speed, just 1000-1050 or even 1066 tops.

In theory, going by the way the 800 OC in CL4, the 900 should reach 1K in CL4, but that's just theory.

Also, according to this, this RAM's ICs are Qimonda.

 

[PaulieG]

I just sold my Corsair DHX 4GB kit (DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 @ 2.1V). It was a really nice looking kit, but very power hungry on my 680i platform. I was thinking of picking up one of those new G.Skill Pi Black kits on Newegg that do DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 at only 1.8V. Anyone know what IC's these kits use? Anyone have any personal experiences with these? Is 1.8V really a sure thing with these kits?

Also, what are some good 4GB kits in general? Crucial Ballistix Tracers maybe? (I hear those can run at 4-4-4-12 1.8V as well, although it seems to be just random luck as far as reviews are concerned.)

I believe those Pi's are Elpida chips, but this is not confirmed. As far as other sticks. Have you tried Buffalo Firestix? Do they have to be 2x2, or can they be 4x1? I had a 4x1 set that did 900 4-4-4-10 on 1.9v. They are D9's, and you can get them shipped for under $100.

 

[johnspack]

I got my cheap mushkin em2 pc6400 2gig kit to over 1000 stable at 2.1v. Ran at that speed for quite a while. Still have them, still work, but I upgraded my server to 4gig corsair dhx. Now they sit on a shelf looking pretty!
And if you want a fast 4gig ocing 1066 kit, mushkin ascent... yes pricey, you get what you pay for!

 

[Kursah]

True, I could just spend 55 bucks and get the same blue G.Skill DDR1000 kit I had, good kit, had a little OC room, could hit 1100 with some fighting, didn't really like beyond 1066 tho. I have my 2x1 G.Skill HZ 800's, great kit, but I don't want 4x1GB...just preference really. I think I'm gonna order me up the PI Black 800's and hope for a good kit that might hit above 1000. Seems many have hit 1000, not many go beyond that tho...so I'm gonna think on it for a bit...keep the suggetsions coming! Thanks for the results thus far!

 

[PaulieG]

I got my cheap mushkin em2 pc6400 2gig kit to over 1000 stable at 2.1v. Ran at that speed for quite a while. Still have them, still work, but I upgraded my server to 4gig corsair dhx. Now they sit on a shelf looking pretty!
And if you want a fast 4gig ocing 1066 kit, mushkin ascent... yes pricey, you get what you pay for!

This used to be true. Now there are so many sticks out there that are as good, if not better for significantly less cash. My last set of Mushkins were 2 sets of Redline 1000's. I've had several sets of 800's (Firestix, Ballistix) that clocked much higher than these. Come to find out, they were using powerchip IC's in these particular Redlines. Powerchip in Redlines, Bah.

 

[johnspack]

These ascents will do 1155+ at 2.0v..