Performance Comparisons
Performance of the six 2GB memory kits was compared to the three 2GB kits tested in Part 1 of the 2GB roundup. Results are also generally comparable to earlier results on the nForce3 and nForce4 testbed using the AGP and PCIe versions of the NVIDIA 6800 video card. While we retested the first three 2GB kits in the revised test bed using the NVIDIA 7800GTX and the latest platform and video drivers, the results are not radically different from those in the old test bed, as long as you don't make too much of small percentage difference in memory performance. However, we have only reported results on the newest revised test bed to prevent any confusion about the influence of video card and drivers on the final results.
More results are available in recent DDR memory reviews at:
1GB DIMMs: FAST 2GB DDR Kits from Corsair, Gigaram, and OCZ
Mushkin Redline XP4000: Winbond with Voltage Be Damned
Value RAM Roundup: Computing On a Budget
Patriot DDR400 2-2-2/DDR533 3-4-4: Performance AND Value
OCZ VX Revisited: DDR Updates on DFI nForce4
OCZ VX Memory + DFI nForce4 = DDR533 at 2-2-2
Corsair 4400C25: Taking Samsung TCCD to New Heights
PQI & G. Skill: New Choices in 2-2-2 Memory
Athlon 64 Memory: Rewriting the Rules
OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3: DDR500 Value for Athlon 64 & Intel 478
Geil PC3200 Ultra X: High Speed & Record Bandwidth
= F-A-S-T= DDR Memory: 2-2-2 Roars on the Scene
Buffalo FireStix: Red Hot Name for a New High-End Memory
New DDR Highs: Shikatronics, OCZ, and the Fastest Memory Yet
The Return of 2-2-2: Corsair 3200XL & Samsung PC4000
OCZ 3700EB: Making Hay with Athlon 64
OCZ 3500EB: The Importance of Balanced Memory Timings
Mushkin PC3200 2-2-2 Special: Last of a Legend
PMI DDR533: A New Name in High-Performance Memory
Samsung PC3700: DDR466 Memory for the Masses
Kingmax Hardcore Memory: Tiny BGA Reaches For Top Speed
New Memory Highs: Corsair and OCZ Introduce DDR550
OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 2: The Universal Soldier
OCZ 4200EL: Tops in Memory Performance
Mushkin PC4000 High Performance: DDR500 PLUS
Corsair TwinX1024-4000 PRO: Improving DDR500 Performance
Mushkin & Adata: 2 for the Fast-Timings Lane
Searching for the Memory Holy Grail – Part 2
All nine of the 2GB DDR kits were compared at 200x12 (2.4Ghz, DDR400), 218x11 (2.4Ghz, DDR438), 240x10 (2.4Ghz, DDR480), 266x9 (2.4Ghz, DDR533) and the Highest Memory Performance Settings that we could reach. With a constant CPU speed, memory comparisons (except for top performance) show the true impact of faster speed and slower memory timings on memory performance.
Performance results for the fastest 2x512MB (1GB) kit that we have tested are included for reference at Highest Performance only. Including our standard OCZ 3200 Platinum R2, based on TCCD chips, allows you to compare performance at the top to the best 2x512MB kit that we have tested. For more comparisons to 1GB kits, please refer to earlier memory reviews linked above.
Keep in mind that Highest Performance is not comparing memory at the same multipliers. The factor of the overclocking abilities of the 400+ used for benchmarking comes in to play. For instance, a memory that reaches its highest overclock at a somewhat low clock frequency can actually have that clock frequency fall in the processor OC capabilities where it can run at a higher multiplier. The definition of Highest Performance is the highest clock frequency and multiplier that we could run with the tested memory and the standard 4000+ CPU. For a true "apples to apples" comparison, you need to look at comparisons at the same speed and multiplier.
Results of the retest of the first three 2GB kits are in green, the six new 2GB kits are in dark blue, and the Reference 1GB OCZ 3200 Platinum R2 results are in gold.
Performance of the six 2GB memory kits was compared to the three 2GB kits tested in Part 1 of the 2GB roundup. Results are also generally comparable to earlier results on the nForce3 and nForce4 testbed using the AGP and PCIe versions of the NVIDIA 6800 video card. While we retested the first three 2GB kits in the revised test bed using the NVIDIA 7800GTX and the latest platform and video drivers, the results are not radically different from those in the old test bed, as long as you don't make too much of small percentage difference in memory performance. However, we have only reported results on the newest revised test bed to prevent any confusion about the influence of video card and drivers on the final results.
More results are available in recent DDR memory reviews at:
1GB DIMMs: FAST 2GB DDR Kits from Corsair, Gigaram, and OCZ
Mushkin Redline XP4000: Winbond with Voltage Be Damned
Value RAM Roundup: Computing On a Budget
Patriot DDR400 2-2-2/DDR533 3-4-4: Performance AND Value
OCZ VX Revisited: DDR Updates on DFI nForce4
OCZ VX Memory + DFI nForce4 = DDR533 at 2-2-2
Corsair 4400C25: Taking Samsung TCCD to New Heights
PQI & G. Skill: New Choices in 2-2-2 Memory
Athlon 64 Memory: Rewriting the Rules
OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3: DDR500 Value for Athlon 64 & Intel 478
Geil PC3200 Ultra X: High Speed & Record Bandwidth
= F-A-S-T= DDR Memory: 2-2-2 Roars on the Scene
Buffalo FireStix: Red Hot Name for a New High-End Memory
New DDR Highs: Shikatronics, OCZ, and the Fastest Memory Yet
The Return of 2-2-2: Corsair 3200XL & Samsung PC4000
OCZ 3700EB: Making Hay with Athlon 64
OCZ 3500EB: The Importance of Balanced Memory Timings
Mushkin PC3200 2-2-2 Special: Last of a Legend
PMI DDR533: A New Name in High-Performance Memory
Samsung PC3700: DDR466 Memory for the Masses
Kingmax Hardcore Memory: Tiny BGA Reaches For Top Speed
New Memory Highs: Corsair and OCZ Introduce DDR550
OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 2: The Universal Soldier
OCZ 4200EL: Tops in Memory Performance
Mushkin PC4000 High Performance: DDR500 PLUS
Corsair TwinX1024-4000 PRO: Improving DDR500 Performance
Mushkin & Adata: 2 for the Fast-Timings Lane
Searching for the Memory Holy Grail – Part 2
All nine of the 2GB DDR kits were compared at 200x12 (2.4Ghz, DDR400), 218x11 (2.4Ghz, DDR438), 240x10 (2.4Ghz, DDR480), 266x9 (2.4Ghz, DDR533) and the Highest Memory Performance Settings that we could reach. With a constant CPU speed, memory comparisons (except for top performance) show the true impact of faster speed and slower memory timings on memory performance.
Performance results for the fastest 2x512MB (1GB) kit that we have tested are included for reference at Highest Performance only. Including our standard OCZ 3200 Platinum R2, based on TCCD chips, allows you to compare performance at the top to the best 2x512MB kit that we have tested. For more comparisons to 1GB kits, please refer to earlier memory reviews linked above.
Keep in mind that Highest Performance is not comparing memory at the same multipliers. The factor of the overclocking abilities of the 400+ used for benchmarking comes in to play. For instance, a memory that reaches its highest overclock at a somewhat low clock frequency can actually have that clock frequency fall in the processor OC capabilities where it can run at a higher multiplier. The definition of Highest Performance is the highest clock frequency and multiplier that we could run with the tested memory and the standard 4000+ CPU. For a true "apples to apples" comparison, you need to look at comparisons at the same speed and multiplier.
Results of the retest of the first three 2GB kits are in green, the six new 2GB kits are in dark blue, and the Reference 1GB OCZ 3200 Platinum R2 results are in gold.
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JarredWalton - Monday, January 23, 2006 - link
I don't anticipate DDR1 prices changing much, and once AM2 comes out I expect prices to start climbing as DDR1 productions halts. DDR1 prices seem to have hit bottom about 6 months ago, and they're already starting to rise - at least on the budget parts.Thor86 - Monday, January 23, 2006 - link
Did I miss this in the review? If not, it would help if you told us what memory settings used in the DFI bios for these sticks reviewed.Wesley Fink - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
I used the 7/06 BIOS, which is basically the Bigtoe BIOS. I have found this BIOS to be remarkably compatible with a wide range of memory. All memory settings were left at default except the 4 reported memory timings (CAS to TRAS) and memory voltage in testing all the memory. We did not do any special tweaking, which is another reason we reran tests with the 3 2GB kits tested earlier. You can definitely achieve better bandwidth and higher scores than we did by tweaking memory in the DFI BIOS.keldog7 - Monday, January 23, 2006 - link
I was surprised to find your review stating the Corsair 3500LL could only reach 492 MHz...especially when out of the box, I clocked mine to 500 MHz. This required no special tweaking of the other timings, other than what's listed below. Any careful research on this memory, using the many online reviews of it, show that the RAM runs fine (at slightly relaxed timings), well into 500Mhz territory, and beyond.In my case, I've got it on an A8N32SLI, at 2.7V, running 2.5-3-2-7 1T with a 1:1 divider at 250Mhz. In my case, this has been verfied to be Memtest86+ stable for at least 12 hours (last run was 90 hours...then I had to stop it to actually get some work done!)
I wonder if the motherboard used in your review has biased your overclocking results?
Wesley Fink - Monday, January 23, 2006 - link
According to my review notes, the Corsair 3500LL Pro cloked to almost 260 (DDR520) on Super Pi and Sandra memory tests, but the highest we could do with stability on 3D tests was 246 (DDR492). There is always varaition in memory results.Since you criticize my results as being too low for your memory and another reader criticized my results as being too high for his memory, it is likely my results are typical of the range of results readers might achieve. Some will do better than my results and some will do worse. Overclocking results do vary among memory samples.
wildstaroct - Monday, January 23, 2006 - link
Unless Anandtech got really good batches of Infineon ICs, I don't buy the analysis. There have been numerous reports of 3D instability issues...I've experienced them myself with the Redlines. They are primex2 and memtest stable at fairly high speeds (270) but only 3D stable near spec (250ish).entrecote - Friday, January 27, 2006 - link
Neither do i buy it.I invested in a pair of the mentioned 2GB Mushkin Redline PC4000 memory. I´ve stubbornly been trying to tweak them on my DFI Lanparty + X2 Toledo processor for two months. This Redline kit of mine refuses to surpass 252MHz / DDR504. One module does 256MHz / DDR512, the other one does 252MHz / DDR504 regardless of timings. Trust me, I´ve tried all combinations of different drive strenghts, Trefs and so on. My case is not isolated, I have the same symptoms as the perhaps majority of 2x1GB Redline owners, "3D instability".
My thoughts on the matter is that Mushkin was aware of this bad batch of theirs, possibly due to quality fluctuations of infineon modules. Then they quickly began to separate a few review samples for marketing puposes. I went through the same dissapointment one year ago when buying PC3200 Ballistixs after quickly reading through among other reviews anadtechs infamous "Ballistix cherry pick" DDR roundup.
I put great trust in anandtech, please do me a favor in the future to only review retail samples of memory. Some of these mentioned brands purposefully send special samples to rewievers.
Wesley Fink - Monday, January 23, 2006 - link
We reported what we found, and 3D tests are part of our benchmarking. The OCZ for example was Super Pi and memtest stable to 290, but 3D dropped the stability to 275 (DDR550) which we reported. The Redline went well over 300 on memtest and Super Pi, but 293 (DDR586) was our highest 3D stable.What memory controller revision are you using with the Infineons? Our tests are with a Rev. E, and we have seen lower performance on the older clawhammer memory controllers with the 1GB dimms.
wildstaroct - Monday, January 23, 2006 - link
I have a rev E6 Opteron 170. Perhaps I just got an unlucky set of sticks, but the forums are loaded w/ people with similar issues, particularly around 3D.Duonger - Monday, January 23, 2006 - link
the mushkin parts have been back in stock for over a week now and is available (if not sold out already) on Newegg and on Mushkin`s Site.Wes- the ocz parts u compared. those are 2x512mb kits. why did u include it on this 2gig round up?