Ballistix Performance Memory

[csd]

I originally purchased 4 pairs of Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 just over a year ago and in that time I've had 4 RMAs for faulty modules.

One of the original pairs is double sided and has been faultless the entire time, but every other replacement has failed after a couple of months. The last RMA I requested that the replacement be double sided as all the previous faulty pairs had been single sided, and I thought that might solve the issues I'd been having, but unfortunately this morning yet another pair has failed.

 I admit that Crucial's warranty department has been good with sending replacements, but I'd much rather have reliable RAM in the first place.  As I live in Australia the cost of shipping all of the faulty RAM back to the US has ended up costing twice what it would've to simply by a whole new set of (different branded) RAM and forget about the warranty, so to me it's effectively been useless.

I can't see any point in filling out another RMA, when I'm fairly sure that I'll have the same issue in a few months time, and it will cost me less to simply change brands.

I'm quite disappointed as I'd heard nothing but glowing reports about their products. Has anyone else had this many issues with their Crucial RAM?

[lordgllynn]

The memory could be fine. It seems statisticly improbable that you could have had so many faulty replacements. The issue may not be that the memory is bad, but that the motherboard needs some extra adjustments to get the memory functioning under the specs your system has. Some people have had to increase the voltage slightly to get stable environments. Check your voltages for your memory. After you've checked to make sure your voltage is set correctly, test your memory. MemTest86+ is very easy to use and is free. Check your memory one stick at a time. If you get a stick to pass, use it to test all of your memory slots. Once you've tested and found that all of your memory and slots are passing, then test your memory again in their respective pairs. Reply back with your results.

[csd]

Each time I start having problems (usually regular BSODs) I remove all my memory, and test them one stick at a time with MemTest86+. The original pair always test fine in whichever slot I try.

I have also tried changing the voltages on my motherboard too, and the first couple of times I had issues I also tried the faulty modules in another PC with a different brand motherboard and ran through the tests again, which they failed.

As you say, it's improbably to have such a bad run, but the fact that one pair of Ballistix is still running fine in any of the slots and without requiring any further BIOS tuning indicates to me that it's also unlikely to be the motherboard.

[lordgllynn]

The only other idea I can think of, is that the one kit you have that works is different somehow than the replacements. But, if that isn't the case, then the only option left would be that the memory controller might be unstable with the amount of memory being used. Once again, upping the voltage slightly on the FSB may increase the stability.

[Gabbiani]

There are hundreds of posts around the web with people having the same issues - myself include. Crucial continues to dodge the issues. I'm 2 weeks out on an rma still waiting for them to get stock on the modules now. About ready to bite the bullet and switch to someone else. I won't be buying another crucial product.

[lordgllynn]

It's understandable to be upset. But relatively speaking, the amount of people complaining compared to the amount of satisfied customers is a staggeringly small number. Even by your rough guess, the hundred or so complaints in comparison to the millions of modules sold is probably well within the margin of error most industries accept. I'm not saying that this should lessen your irritation at getting some bad modules. But you should know that Crucial isn't out to get you and that the reason you hear so many bad things is that only people with issues complain. I have purchased more memory than I can possibly count and have a very small return rate. And I, of course, never give kudos to the company when it works as advertised. I am as guilty as anyone for not making the ratings scale more realistic by not giving a good review everytime I purchase products that work as expected. But, if this experience has made you believe that Crucial does not care about you, then you should follow your instincts and move on to another vendor. I'm certain that you will not find many vendors that have the quality rating that Crucial does. Nor will you find as much online support as Crucial gives. Hopefully, your issues will be resolved quickly and to your satisfaction. Good luck with your venture!!

[Gabbiani]

Margin of error for memory is what 1%? 5%? (Ok there probably isn't a posted industry standard) But 5 times in a row? Unlikely. If all brands were playing by the same margin we would see similar amounts of complaints with this issue on other brands.

Everybody had problems when the first Core2 chipsets came out. Memory wouldn't boot at 1.8v etc. Those problems have since been fixed, but I think others never have been.

If Crucial would like to purchase the memory back from me at the original price I paid when the line first became available (hint it wasn't $20/gig) then I will gladly switch brands. Until that happens or I replace the entire system I will continue to hound Crucial evertime I have an issue.