Memory Test Configuration
The comparison of AM2 and Core 2 Duo Memory Performance used the exact same components wherever possible. Memory, Hard Drive, Video Card, HSF, and Video Drivers were the same on both test platforms.
The motherboards used for benchmarking differed by necessity, but they are both top-line boards from Asus - the P5W-DH Deluxe for Core 2 Duo and the M2N32-SLI Deluxe for AM2. The latest motherboard drivers from Intel (P5W-DH) and nVidia (M2N32-SLI) were used for testing. The hard drive configurations for each test platform only differed in the drivers required for the test motherboard.
Our Corsair CM2x1024-6400C3 modules were set to the following memory timings on each platform; DDR2-400 - 3-2-2-5, DDR2-533 - 3-2-2-6, DDR2-667 - 3-2-3-7, DDR2-800 - 3-3-3-9, DDR2-1067 - 4-3-4-11, and DDR2-1112 - 5-4-5-14.
The comparison of AM2 and Core 2 Duo Memory Performance used the exact same components wherever possible. Memory, Hard Drive, Video Card, HSF, and Video Drivers were the same on both test platforms.
The motherboards used for benchmarking differed by necessity, but they are both top-line boards from Asus - the P5W-DH Deluxe for Core 2 Duo and the M2N32-SLI Deluxe for AM2. The latest motherboard drivers from Intel (P5W-DH) and nVidia (M2N32-SLI) were used for testing. The hard drive configurations for each test platform only differed in the drivers required for the test motherboard.
Our Corsair CM2x1024-6400C3 modules were set to the following memory timings on each platform; DDR2-400 - 3-2-2-5, DDR2-533 - 3-2-2-6, DDR2-667 - 3-2-3-7, DDR2-800 - 3-3-3-9, DDR2-1067 - 4-3-4-11, and DDR2-1112 - 5-4-5-14.
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zsdersw - Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - link
I care about people making blatantly false claims.Wesley Fink - Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - link
We used the SAME memory timings on both processors if they were available. For the DDR2-1067 and DDR2-800 they were exactly the same on both processors in all tests, which is why they were used for our 2.93GHz comparison. At DDR2-667 and below, the Core 2 Duo could support timings like 3-2-2, where AM2 only supports 3-3-3. This article was to evaluate memory performance, so we did everything possible to keep all variables the same.Memory timings were DDR2-400 - 3-2-2-5; 533 - 3-2-2-6; 667 - 3-2-3-7; 800 - 3-3-3-9; 1067 - 4-3-4-11; DDR2-1112 - 5-4-5-14.
duploxxx - Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - link
well those cas settings were to be expected when you saw the memory performance chart.you just killed the performance after ddr2 800 cas4 is ok but the minor step you have from ddr 1067 to ddr 1112 and again 1 cas higher is the end of good performance. so the memory of the fx to get to 2.9 was? that explains probably the lower performance vs the linear performance increase in the memory.....
Bingo13 - Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - link
The timings utilized by AnandTech were about the best you will see with current DDR2 memory. They did not kill the performance, the memory capability is what limited the testing. Tell me, where can you buy DDR2 that will do 3-3-3-9 at 1067. This review was more than fair in the settings it utilized for the tests and it took $450 memory to do it.
duploxxx - Thursday, July 27, 2006 - link
yes i know but you don't get my point...we know fx34 will be 3.0 so its stupid to try and get an fx at 2,93.
run an fx at 3.0 (multiplier change) with the nice cas3-3-3 like you did and the performance will be way better. now you killed the performance (speedbump cpu and memory) by dropping the cas to 4
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - link
DDR2-800 was 3-3-3-9 2.2V. The FX at 2.93GHz was running DDR2-1067 at 4-3-4-11 2.2V.Gary Key - Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - link
We had a slight change in pages after the article went live. Page seven now represents stock memory performance on each platform with page eight now showing the overclocked FX62 (11x266, 2.93GHz) compared to the X6800 (11x266, 2.93GHz). A comparison that is quite revealing based upon numerous comments about what the expected results of running a high memory strap and low latency settings on the AM2 platform would even out the performance differences between the two platforms.Wesley Fink - Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - link
We were moving pages around as it posted. The page references should now be correct. The page that AMD fans will likely hate is now page 8.