=<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: OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2
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.| OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 (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 |
330.3 | INT 2907 FLT 2937 |
INT 4514 FLT 4512 |
129 | 70.7 |
| 433DDR 866FSB |
2-2-2-5 2.65V |
358.9 | INT 3194 FLT 3201 |
INT 4925 FLT 4826 |
119 | 76.9 |
| 466DDR 933FSB |
2-3-3-5 2.65V |
374.3 | INT 3213 FLT 3206 |
INT 5183 FLT 5205 |
113 | 80.7 |
| 500DDR 1000FSB |
2.5-3-3-5 2.65V |
400.0 | INT 3358 FLT 3364 |
INT 5597 FLT 5590 |
106 | 86.8 |
| 533DDR 1066FSB |
2.5-3-3-5 2.75V |
421.8 | INT 3594 FLT 3628 |
INT 5925 FLT 5905 |
99 | 91.4 |
| 557DDR 1114FSB |
3-3-4-6 2.85V |
434.6 | INT 3726 FLT 3665 |
INT 6169 FLT 6157 |
95 | 95.1 |
OCZ was very excited when we were recently talking about the performance of their DDR400 2-2-2 memory. Engineers there were explaining that they had found an effective method to screen the Samsung chips for even faster memory speeds. We were also told that the most recent shipments of Samsung TCCD chips were also yielding a higher percentage of chips with high memory speed performance than they had seen in earlier shipments. Based on our results, OCZ must be on to something because the PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 zoomed past DDR500, zoomed past DDR533, zoomed past DDR550, and achieved a stable top speed of DDR557.
We were certainly impressed that every memory in this roundup made it to DDR500, which is a 25% overclock to the DDR400 rated speed. But what can you say about a DDR400 that delivers a 40% overclock? OCZ has done an outstanding job with their DDR400 2-2-2, a memory that spans the range from DDR400 to DDR550. Nothing else here comes close to the range demonstrated by OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2.
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Anemone - Thursday, August 5, 2004 - link
Would love to see OCZ do further expansion on the EL or EB area of DDR2. I'm sure it's at lower limits (the timings of DDR2 stink really), but if anyone could push them as low as possible I'd expect OCZ to do it.Anemone - Thursday, August 5, 2004 - link
Yeah OCZ seems to have their stuff where it counts.I'll note this highlights an issue that's caught my eye, and that is in the furor over the AMD64 chips, its less visible just sometimes how much "special stuff", ie choice memory modules, it takes to keep the AMD platforms running at top speed. On the Intel side of the fence you can plug just about anything in and get some speed, but in many cases that's still a guessing game for the AMD stuff. Given how that plays out a year or two down the line when you want to buy just an upgrade part or two, I'm kind of a fan of the "just buy the latest Superbytes mem module XXX and plug and go" kind of usefulness, which I see 'more' on the Intel side of things, and I do mean 'more' not 'only'.
Also want to mention that lately tending to see more enthusiasts aiming for as much as 2gb of memory, and when you get there, the AMD controllers seem to not fly as much as with lower amounts, losing as much as 10% of their performance.
Blah, no easy choices here imo.
ceefka - Thursday, August 5, 2004 - link
Great review. For those of us who want to build a 939, we'd love to see the next article. We apparently have a lot of RAM to choose from.Now on the theoretical side: How would the best DDR2 perform? What would the differences be? Can these results justify AMD's choice to ignore DDR2?
Bozo Galora - Thursday, August 5, 2004 - link
Another very timely review.You are now answering questions for me in advance - lol.
Color changes for reviewed items better, but as a nitpick, it might be cool to continue colors to the names of mem also, not just the bar??? Dark green needs to be a lighter color - like pink. 2 greens not friendly.
Anyway thanx fella.
cnq - Thursday, August 5, 2004 - link
Wesley,Can you comment on the 2.5-2-2 timings past DDR500 of the Crucial? It seems slightly fishy, considering that you used their PC3200, which is lower-binned than their PC4000...and even the 4000 is only rated at 2.5-3-3 at DDR500.
Is it possible that Crucial sent you a cherry-picked sample for review?
Anyone else out there own a set of the Ballistix care to comment?
JustAnAverageGuy - Thursday, August 5, 2004 - link
catchy title=F-A-S-T=
A bit unprofessional maybe, but catchy :)
shady06 - Thursday, August 5, 2004 - link
OCZ = smokin