=<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
Test Results: Crucial Ballistix PC3200
To be considered stable for test purposes, Quake3 benchmark, UT2003 Demo, Super PI, Aquamark 3, and Comanche 4 had to complete without incident. Any of these, and in particular Super PI, will crash a less-than stable memory configuration. We have included results for RCW-ET using the Radar benchmark.| Crucial PC3200 Ballistix (DDR400) - 2 x 512Mb Double-Bank | ||||||
| Speed | Memory Timings & Voltage | Quake3 fps | Sandra UNBuffered | Sandra Standard Buffered | Super PI 2M places (time in sec) |
Wolfenstein - Radar - Enemy Territory fps |
| 400DDR 800FSB |
2-2-2-5 2.5V |
329.6 | INT 2906 FLT 2919 |
INT 4511 FLT 4511 |
129 | 70.5 |
| 433DDR 866FSB |
2-2-2-5 2.65V |
358.7 | INT 3167 FLT 3193 |
INT 4923 FLT 4917 |
119 | 76.7 |
| 466DDR 933FSB |
2.5-2-2-5 2.65V |
384.3 | INT 3287 FLT 3332 |
INT 5237 FLT 5251 |
111 | 82.4 |
| 500DDR 1000FSB |
2.5-2-2-5 2.65V |
410.2 | INT 3481 FLT 3557 |
INT 5623 FLT 5638 |
104 | 88.4 |
| 514DDR 1028FSB |
2.5-2-2-5 2.85V |
419.3 | INT 3600 FLT 3638 |
INT 5752 FLT 5779 |
100 | 90.7 |
It wasn't even a year ago that we considered 3-4-4 timings to be pretty good at DDR500, so what can we say about Crucial's Ballistix that does DDR500 at 2.5-2-2-5? The only word that comes to mind is "astounding"! Crucial is the only memory in the DDR400 2-2-2 roundup using Micron chips, and the performance across the effective range of DDR400 to DDR514 is incredible. Even the highest speed of 514 is achieved at 2.5-2-2-5 timings. What's more, nothing even came close to the 2-2-2 headroom of the Crucial Ballistix, as 2-2-2 timings were possible all the way to DDR460!
It is very interesting that the Micron chips do not really respond well to higher timings, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Seeing how these Micron chips perform, we understand why OCZ EB, based on the same family Micron chips, performs so well. We have seen reports of some variability in the performance of the Ballistix memory, and overclocking results are never guaranteed. However, our results with another pair of Ballistix DIMMs were very similar.
It looks like Crucial has a winner with their new Ballistix PC3200. What's more, Ballistix 3200 is also one of the more reasonable DDR400 memories in the roundup, which spells value in capital letters.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
47 Comments
View All Comments
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.