OCZ 3700 GOLD: Building High-Performance Memory
by Wesley Fink on August 7, 2003 8:34 PM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Retail Performance
Both the Samsung stock DIMMs and the Lasered DIMMs were assembled from unbinned chips – chips pulled prior to sorting by performance. The final step is sorting the lasered chips and selecting the best-performing chips for the best-performing memory. Chips that do not meet the highest performance levels are used in lower-speed products.The chips are also only one component in the final performance of the product. The PCB on which the chips are mounted is very important to performance. Six-layer boards are generally lower in noise and the quality of the PCB can significantly impact the performance of the memory DIMM. The programming of the SPD is also very important in determining the final performance of the memory module.
Using the best lasered chips, we finally get to the performance of the completed Retail OCZ 3700 GOLD. In this case, we looked at Maximum Speed at SPD timings, Maximum Speed at CAS2, which is faster than rated SPD CAS of 2.5, and performance at Specifications of DDR466, 2.5-7-3-3.
| OCZ3700 GOLD DS 256Mb Performance Intel 875 Chipset, Dual-Channel, Maximum Overclock |
|||
| DDR Memory Speed | Memory Timings | Memory Voltage (vDIMM) |
UNBuffered Sandra 2003 Memory Test (MB/Second) |
| 466 | Specification 2.5-7-3-3 |
2.65V | 3079 INT 3146 FLT |
| 480 | 2.0-7-3-3 | 2.7V | 3175 INT 3216 FLT |
| 510 | Maximum SPD 2.5-7-3-3 |
2.8V | 3403 INT 3471 FLT |
Speed-sorting of chips yields a retail product that now reaches to a speed of DDR510 at stock SPD timings with a voltage increase to 2.8V. We also see that speed-binning is producing even faster CAS 2.0 settings, up to DDR480. Probably the most significant performance improvement from speed-binning is the memory-bandwidth, as measured by the UNBuffered Sandra 2003 Memory Test.
DDR510 is the highest stable setting that we could achieve at SPD timings, but the memory will reach even higher speeds at more relaxed timings. OCZ 3700 GOLD is one of the many included in our evaluation of high-speed DDR500/DDR466 memory modules. Look for the results in 'Searching for the Memory Holy Grail — Part 2'. Our performance comparison of the fastest memory from Corsair, Kingston, Geil, Adata, and OCZ will be published soon.
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MS - Saturday, August 9, 2003 - link
That was my point, unless you test exactly the same samples before and after, there is no significance at all.There is also no difference between laser-blasting off the top layer and mechanically grinding it down. I went to the point of where the die itself was shining through the remains of the top layer, you can't go thinner than that and the process is much more precise than laser blasting and guess .... there was not a single MHz that was gained.
The methodology used here in this review is based on blind faith that all chips were random samples out of the same pot but they weren't. Neither random nor from the same batch and that's why the conclusions fall, at least in my opinion on their face.
There is another reason for the blasting but that one I can't talk about.
http://www.lostcircuits.com/memory/sanded/transpar...
You can see the leadframe with the 66 TSOP legs, and the bondwires that run from there through the package to the bond-pads on the die in the center.
I went to the point of removing the top layer completely and even got myself some Open-top chips at some time in the past to try all those things and ... guess what again... :)
Anonymous User - Saturday, August 9, 2003 - link
come on, you dont really believe this laser BS do you? you either dont know $hit about memory or you wanna help ocs in some way because you guys personally like them.you think those memory sticks you got proove anything? they just gave you a stick that clocks lower saying this is what its before me lasered it and a better clocking stick and say this one is after we sent this stick to space where some ocz bacterias change the molecular structure of the memory chips, and you believe it?
COME OOOON!
wixt0r - Saturday, August 9, 2003 - link
#25: Give me a break. Wesley Fink (AKA Prometheus) is an excellent hardware reviewer who has put in more time and effort into the community than you will ever do in your lifetime. His reviews and opinions are unbiased, just, and straightforward. The fact that he was hired by Anandtech only proves his worth to the hardware enthusiast community.And fact is, OCZ has indeed changed. Evan wouldn't be saying so if he didn't believe it... Maybe you should bash on him while you're at it, he seems to be defending OCZ here, also.
And the OCZ representitive on ABXZone and Xtremesystems (Ryan Peterson) is very helpful. He's kind, courteous, and always willing to lend a hand. He helped me RMA my 3700 Gold that wouldn't do DDR500 when they aren't even rated for it. That's customer service and satisfaction right there. I doubt he'd ever come to AT because nobody in the forums accepts self-promoters regardless of company, let alone OCZ, where people such as yourself would flame and bash even if comments and posts were helpful and informative.
Anonymous User - Saturday, August 9, 2003 - link
The point about OCZ infesting AT was in regards to them buying praise over on ABX, and now they have an ABX "writer" here pimping this stuff barely 2 weeks after his arrival.A sad day for objective reviewing.And OCZ has NOT changed. Reputable companies don't remark parts with their own fake timings. The only thing they've done is install some shills on the noob-centric forums to cater to the people who have no clue what they're doing. I'd like to see them try it on AT Forums, the destruction would be quick and hilarious. That little fact alone should tell you who OCZ's target market is-idiots.
Anonymous User - Saturday, August 9, 2003 - link
#18, my board is an MSI Neo2 LS. Not sure which revision, but I have the latest bios. Got OCZ b/c a review somwhere stated that Corsair, which I usually buy, didn't work well. As it turns out that was not the low latency version. I like the board a lot outside of the memory issue. Heck, the copper jacket on the memory is pretty cool too.Evan Lieb - Saturday, August 9, 2003 - link
#20, our experiences with the modules OCZ sent us have already been confirmed by users who have bought those same modules retail from online stores such as Newegg, Googlegear, etc. We certainly take that information into account, don't worry. :)#22, OCZ has changed for the better. Perhaps you should try out some of their modules?
Anonymous User - Saturday, August 9, 2003 - link
I hope all of those who thing OCZ has suddenly repented of its entire history will come back here and elsewhere and tell everyone they can about their experiences. I think we'll be seeing lots of surprised and disappointed people.If they really wanted to change, they'd get a new name, and have no relationship with the old criminals.
Anonymous User - Saturday, August 9, 2003 - link
Where is this memory currently in stock? I'm willing to pay quite a lot for it, in fact.Anonymous User - Saturday, August 9, 2003 - link
Anandtech should purchase and test this sort of product from various retail locations to get a good feel for what the enduser will receive. It's all too easy for OCZ to send AT a statistical outlier but cash in on the good reputation it builds for their entire product line. In fact, I'm still skeptical. Memory chips don't even get that hot - I didn't think they were as sensitive to temperature as CPUs. Or at least that was the opinion shared by several knowledgeable engineers on the forums here a year or two ago when those RAM sinks started to get in vogue.Anonymous User - Saturday, August 9, 2003 - link
#14 this is the first OCZ review ive ever seen on AT. Where is the other garbage that is infecting the website?