=<em>F-A-S-T</em>= DDR Memory: 2-2-2 Roars on the Scene
by Wesley Fink on August 5, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Since the demise of Winbond BH5 memory chips, 2-2-2 memory has essentially been dead at DDR400. Corsair and others have produced DDR400 2-2-3 and 2-3-3 parts based on Winbond CH5 and other memory chips; however, 2-2-2 all but vanished as supplies of Winbond BH5 and BH6 disappeared. Other manufacturers such as OCZ took a different route with innovative products like Extended Bandwidth memory, which is extremely fast, but does not depend on the lowest CAS timings for best performance.
When Corsair 3200XL appeared on the market in June, it was the first time since the death of BH5 that we had seen a memory with 2-2-2 timings at DDR400. More than that, this new memory also proved to reach DDR500 performance levels - something that Winbond BH5 could never do. We certainly took notice of the new memory based on Samsung chips, and it looks like every other memory maker also took notice. Since the Corsair introduction, most major memory manufacturers have announced their own DDR400 2-2-2 memory.
Today, we will compare five new DDR400 2-2-2 memories. There is also a 6th DDR400 2-2-2 memory, from Samsung themselves. However, since we had only received 256MB modules from Samsung, and all other modules were 512MB, the Samsung was not included in the roundup. Including the 256MB Samsung in the roundup would not have been a fair comparison, since we know that 2 single-sided modules do perform slower than 2 double-sided modules on the Intel platform. For more information on the performance of the Samsung memory, please check our review, The Return of 2-2-2: Corsair 3200XL & Samsung PC4000.
As you will see, though, not all the new DDR400 2-2-2 memory performs the same, even though most are based on the same Samsung chips. In fact, not all of the new memory is even based on the Samsung chips, as there is another exciting new DDR400 2-2-2 memory chip now available. The new DDR400 modules all performed at 2-2-2 timings as promised, but beyond that base performance, some memory went further than others in the roundup, exhibiting unusually high bandwidth. Other memories allowed faster timings across the bandwidth, even performing with complete stability at an astounding 2.5-2-2-5 at DDR500.
Which were the standouts, and which were bunched in the pack? Let's take a closer look at the new DDR400 2-2-2 memory to find some answers.
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leguman - Thursday, August 12, 2004 - link
I got 3 Ballistix 512 MB PC3200 dimms.I have a chaintech VNF-250 board (socket 754), and according to Anandtech's test, it is the only mobo to be able to run 3 DIMMS flawlessly at the most aggressive timings.
At 2.8V, 2-2-2 timings, max stable frequencies :
- one does 223 Mhz
- one does 218 Mhz
- one does 212 Mhz. This one is not even stable at 200 Mhz @ 2.6V and is not stable at 220 Mhz even with 2.9V !!!
I'm not very happy with these resuls as only 1 dimm is stable at 220 Mhz :(
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - link
#35 - Yes it is the same memory. Most SPD are programmed to work on the widest possible range of systems. The best timings for Intel are 2-2-2-5, while the best timings for AMD are 2-2-2-10. OCZ picked a number in the middle for tRAS at 2-2-2-8, but you can easily set 2-2-2-5 on Intel or 2-2-2-10 on AMD.Resh - Monday, August 9, 2004 - link
Just looked at the OCZ site and they now have PC3200 Platinum Rev 2 at 2-2-2-8!Is this the same stuff?
http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/OCZ_E...
tomati - Monday, August 9, 2004 - link
Astonished crucial ,Didn't you make a mistake with the crucial reference module ?
Is that really the pc 3200 you have tested ?, because I have seen on their european web site a pc 4000 ballistix module [url]http://www.crucial.com/eu/store/MPartspecs.Asp?mtb...[/url],then I wonder what's better choice pc 3200 or pc 4000?,
So on thank for these kind of article ,
kind regards ,
tomati
Zebo - Friday, August 6, 2004 - link
I don't understand these memory reviews or peoples comments. Never have.Obviously bandwidth is king (look at the benchmarks) and it's cheaper to get than LL.Get some super cheap hynix found on A-data or even value ram crank to 275 or 550DDR and it devistates these expensive modules.
3Suns - Friday, August 6, 2004 - link
Why do people equate 2-2-2-5 ratings with "2-2-2" ratings? Wouldn't real 2-2-2 memory run at CAS 2 for every single fetch? Isn't that vastly different from 2-2-2-5 which takes 5 cycles every 4th fetch?eva2000 - Friday, August 6, 2004 - link
would love to see Buffalo's PC3700 Micron 46v32m8 5B-C memory included in a part 2 review as well..opuntia - Friday, August 6, 2004 - link
I don't think the review mentions this, but the OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev.2 is from OCZ's "Enhanced Latency Series" (1 of 5 different series) memory chips.I'm going to built my own PC and I just started looking at various sites like anandtech in order to gain some insight (which I have), but I get real confused sometimes when reviewed products are not named exactly like they would be on the manufacturers website, and when the review doesn't post a manufacturer's model/part number.
Anyway, thanks for the great website. Now I just need to learn what exactly is latency and why 2-2-2 is so good.
pookie69 - Friday, August 6, 2004 - link
A REALLY GOOD article.>>> much food for thought.
I still cannot get over just how well these new PC3200 modules o/c! Why bother with any higher grades of mmeory at all?!
Thanks Mister Wesley Fink for bringing yet another great comprehensive review our way. Your efforts, as always, are greatly appreciated!!! And your timing always seems to be spot on!! LOL. :)
CrimsonDeath - Friday, August 6, 2004 - link
Hmm, no stock on crucial Ballistix in their european site. Darn good memory.