Ballistix 1066 Advanced timings in P35 DS3L & DS3R

[Tweaker_08]

I own 3 PCs. Two GA-P35-DS3L.rev2 One GA-P35-DS3R.rev1. I run Crucail Ballistix RAM in all of them. The 2 DDR2 800 kits work fine but I have a 2(2x1)Gig kit that refuses to work in all 3 motherboards. I have RMAed the first pair and now I'm fighting the second pair. Can somebody please tell me what the advanced timings should be. I have chatted with Crucial tech support and they don't know. The timing defaults are the same for the DDR2 800 and DDR2 1066. Common sense tells me that the 1066 should be higher.

BL12864AA1065 DDR2 PC2- 8500 2.2V 5-5-5-15


Performance Enhance = [Standard]

CAS Latency Time________________ 5
Dram RAS# to CAS# Delay_________ 5
Dram RAS# Precharge Delay_______5
Precharge Delay (tRAS)__________ 15


ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)_________ 3
Rank Write to READ Delay________ 3
Write to Precharge Delay_________ 6
Refresh to ACT Delay______________ 42
Read to Precharge Delay__________ 3
Static tRead Value_______________ 7
Static tRead Phase Adjust________ 0 Auto

DDR2 OverVoltage Control__ [+0.4V]
FSB OverVoltage Control___ [+0.1V]
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control [+0.1V]


I have tried raising the FSB OverVoltage Control and (G)MCH OverVoltage Control and it doesn't help.

[BongWizard]

Re: Ballistix 1066 Advanced timings in P35 DS3L & DS3R

your gonna want to start with the timings really loose and tighten them up one at a time... try this, starting loose of course

ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)_________ 3-6
Rank Write to READ Delay________ 4-7
Write to Precharge Delay_________ 3-8
Refresh to ACT Delay______________ 45-58
Read to Precharge Delay__________ 3-6
Static tRead Value_______________ 7-11
Static tRead Phase Adjust________ 0 Auto

also, dont overvolt the FSB too much, +0.1 on the NB should help a bit though... just try those loose end timings and see if you can get stable on them before you tighten up

[Tweaker_08]

Re: Ballistix 1066 Advanced timings in P35 DS3L & DS3R

Thanks BongWizard,

I won't raise the FSB anymore then it is. My DDR2 800 kits work fine when the FSB and (G)MCH OverVoltage Controls are on normal. After I get the timings right I'll set them back to normal.

I have adjusted the Static tRead Value to 8 and it has been folding for the past 5hrs so thats a good sign.

I would still like to know what the Advanced Timings should be. Crucial just says 5-5-5-15 with 2.2V. They should tell us exactly what the advanced timings are.

[DavidDavisLeeSomething]

Re: Ballistix 1066 Advanced timings in P35 DS3L & DS3R

You might want to consider RMAing the rest of those Crucial Ballistix as well. They do not get along with Giga-boards very well.

If you're lucky, you'll get about 2~3 years of service out of them if you don't overclock your system at all. That and the occasional BSOD's that increase in occurences the more the system is used.

You might have better luck than I had. I was running 4x1Gb's sticks and those needed alot more than the spec 2.0v and were kinda hot running. My chassis temp was hovering at 50c+ when at idle with all my 5 case fans at top speeds. When I switched over to Mushkin my chassic temp dropped to 38~40c with my fans on Low.

[Tweaker_08]

Re: Ballistix 1066 Advanced timings in P35 DS3L & DS3R

I have 3 [email protected] and overclocked 8800GTs but I never OC the RAM. My case and CPU temps are all low thanks to Scythe, Silverstone, Thermalright, Zerotherm and Zalman. I use Kubuntu64 so no BSOD for me!

All 3 of my kits are 2x1Gig Sticks and rated at 2.2V. I have owned the Ballistix 800 kits for over a year & they're great. They have ran folding@home 24/7 most of the time. I owned the Ballistix 1066 kit for a couple of months (24/7) before it died. With the exception of the replacement kit I'm fighting now they have all ran fine at 2.1V.

From what I have gathered the 1066 kits and Gigabyte are the problem. I wish they would tell us what the advanced timings should be. I will remember to research the mobo and RAM thoroughly when it comes time to upgrade.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Ballistix 1066 Advanced timings in P35 DS3L & DS3R

Crucial DIE Often, so best to check each stick at stock to see if they are still alive.

And yes they DO NOT Work very good at all in GA-P35 boards

1066 kits and GB are fine, you just need compatible ram. I have tested 8GB at 1066 even in a few GA boards, works fine

As for advanced 2x1 1066 timings for a P35, this would be the optimal range >>>

PCI Express Frequency (Mhz)_______ [100]

Performance Enhance = [Standard]

CAS Latency Time________________ 5
Dram RAS# to CAS# Delay_________5
Dram RAS# Precharge Delay_______5
Precharge Delay (tRAS)__________ 12/15

ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD)_________ 3-4
Rank Write to READ Delay________ 3-6 (Benchmark 9-11, sometimes this is best)
Write to Precharge Delay_________ 3-6
Refresh to ACT Delay______________ 38-40 (42-46)
Read to Precharge Delay__________ 3-5
Static tRead Value_______________ 7-10
Static tRead Phase Adjust________ [Auto] << Always leave on Auto

System Voltage Control____ [Manual]
DDR2 OverVoltage Control__ [+0.300V] 
PCI-E OverVoltage Control_ [+0.1V] 
FSB OverVoltage Control___ [+0.1V] 
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control [+0.1V]

[Tweaker_08]

Re: Ballistix 1066 Advanced timings in P35 DS3L & DS3R

Lsdmeasap,

I'm going to play with the timings before I check each stick at stock to see if they are still alive. I overclock the proc & video card but never the RAM. I know the proc & video card OCs are stable because I can use the DDR2 800 modules and they all run great. The DDR2 1066 runs fine @800 too but it won't run @1066. I noticed the timings aren't changing when I raise the frequency so thats why I think it the advanced timings.

Things have been going good for the past 15hrs or so. I will have to try to lower each setting when I have time to babysit my PC.

Do you know if Crucial has posted the "Official" Advanced timings for Ballistix modules or why they don't?

I have talked to the online live support, telephone and now email tech support and none of them know anything. They keep sending me in circles and repeating 5-5-5-15 2.2v. They don't seem to know anything about these advanced timings.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Ballistix 1066 Advanced timings in P35 DS3L & DS3R

The ram dies Undervolted, less then stock speeds, anything or nothing can kill them. So best to check now before hours of headaches only to find out hours/days later

It will run 1066, you have to manually set it all yourself though. What I posted above work fine at 1066 with crucial I have tested them myself with Some ballistix and some LanFest ones @ 1150

Now, official... I dont think they do have a forum or anything. *EDIT* nope just looked around for about 10 minutes.

Ya, now how does that make you feel about the company? They MAKE ram and act like they do not know about timings? Sounds like someone I would not buy my ram from for sure, and don't.

But I can see why they will not answer you, it takes many hours for them to test just one board with their ram, and they make many different sticks and there is tons of boards that all will differ in what advanced timings are offered and what will run best on what setting. Even to of the same chipset boards from different companies or the same company and different model will run with different optimal advanced settings.

Now a REAL Company will tell you these things, and help/encourage you overclock and give you full sets of advanced timings per your board>>>

http://forums.mushkin.com/phpbb2/

[Tweaker_08]

Re: Ballistix 1066 Advanced timings in P35 DS3L & DS3R

My system seems to be running stable now @1066. I'm still adjusting the timings one by one.

I won't mess with Crucial's forum. Their tech support was enough for me. If I have to RMA them again I will sell the replacements.

Like I said before... I will remember to research the mobo and RAM thoroughly when it comes time to upgrade. All companies stubble from time to time. I will keep Mushkin in mind too.

Thanks for the help Lsdmeasap.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Ballistix 1066 Advanced timings in P35 DS3L & DS3R

There isnt a Official Crucial Forum that I know of.

Anytime, hope you get going more stable. I have just contacted Crucial to see if they can send me some samples of the newer sticks going out these days, for testing on my end.

The last ones I tested were the older models, so it could be some issues with their newer models. Hopefully they will offer to ship me a few sticks for testing