Searching for the Memory Holy Grail - Part 2
by Wesley Fink on August 26, 2003 11:11 PM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Final Words
All of the modules that we tested performed very well at DDR500. If you plan to only run your new DDR500 at rated speed, then any of the memory we tested will meet your needs: Adata PC4000, Corsair XMS4000, Geil Platinum 4000, Kingston HyperX 4000, OCZ 4000, and OCZ 3700 Gold. Keep in mind that your CPU must be capable of running at a raw 250FSB or 1000FSB to run your memory at DDR500. The higher-speed Pentium 4 CPUs — the 2.8C, 3.0C, or 3.2C — cannot usually reach this bus speed and you will likely be running your memory at less than DDR500 speed. Many 2.4C and 2.6C CPUs that we have tested can run at DDR500. The new DDR500 memory is an excellent match for these processors.
Among the DDR500 group, the very different behavior of 2 Single-Bank Kingston HyperX 4000 compared to 4 Single-Bank would recommend that you buy four single-sided modules for best performance and overclocking if you choose single-bank modules for DDR500.
At DDR500 and DDR400, the fastest memory performance was found with OCZ 3700 Gold, because the memory supports faster timings than other memory tested here. The OCZ 3700 Gold ran at very fast 2-2-3-6 timings at DDR400, but still overclocked to DDR528 at 2.5-3-4-7 timings at 2.85V. For faster P4s, the OCZ is an excellent choice that will give you the headroom for the best overclock possible with your CPU, while still providing faster timings for the DDR400 range. Kingston and Adata also performed well with fast timings at DDR400, and would also be good choices for a higher-speed Pentium 4. The Adata PC4000 is selling at very low prices compared to the premium brands that we tested here; and while it is not the best overclocker, it certainly does perform to DDR500 and beyond. Adata is, however, difficult to find in the US.
The modules using Hynix memory were the best performers at the very highest speeds. Corsair, OCZ and Geil were all at the top of the performance charts from DDR500 to the highest overclock that they could achieve. But the top two here — OCZ 4000 and Geil Platinum 4000 — reached significantly higher overclocks than Corsair and turned in the highest performance numbers in our round-up.
You will find variation in performance of memory modules, and thus, we cannot guarantee that your memory purchase will achieve the same performance levels as stated in this review. However, we are truly astounded by the ability of OCZ 4000 Copper to perform at DDR 552, the fastest memory that we have tested thus far. If your CPU can handle a raw 275 bus speed (and a few can), then OCZ 4000 will provide synchronous memory performance at levels that we could only imagine a short time ago.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
77 Comments
View All Comments
Anonymous User - Thursday, August 28, 2003 - link
I am tired of setting the memory timing and bench mark all the time. Is there a program there which can tell me what kind of results I would get? Say if I can increase my CPU by 5 MHz but have to set back my memory timing a bit, which way should I go?oldfart - Thursday, August 28, 2003 - link
Here are some reviews comparing tight timings Vs loose:http://www.hardtecs4u.com/reviews/2003/ddr400_roun... (need language translator)
http://www.octools.com/index.cgi?caller=articles/c...
http://www.3dxtreme.org/Corsair_xms3700_twinx_p1.s...
Anonymous User - Thursday, August 28, 2003 - link
I think this was an extremely helpful and thorough review. There was one comparison, though, that I would find most helpful and haven't found anywhere. I'm currently debating the importance of running synchronously, and thus found the section "Does memory speed really matter in the real world" extremely interesting. However, I would have greatly preferred one additional test -- running 1066FSB at 3:2 and 5:4 with memory with tight timings (2-2-2-5), since my real debate is whether to buy PC3200 or PC3500 with tight timings and run at 5:4 or 3:2, or PC4000 with loose timings and run at 1:1. While I expect that the synchronous memory would result in better performance, I'd really like to know how much better, since PC4000 memory is expensive!Thanks,
Steve
Dennis Travis - Thursday, August 28, 2003 - link
Great Review Wes. Keep Em coming. I am not "PAID" to say this either. I wanted to. I am getting nothing for it either. Just the satisfaction of telling Wes I loved his review.Anonymous User - Thursday, August 28, 2003 - link
Great review Wesley. Nah I'm not paid to say this, I just enjoyed the review!Anonymous User - Thursday, August 28, 2003 - link
I have tested Kingston HyperX RAM at 1:1 3-4-4-8 @ DDR500, and 5:4 2-2-2-5 @ DDR400 at the same FSBs on a P4P800, with MAM Enabled and Turbo performance mode in both cases. While the 1:1 gets about 3-5% better Sandra bandwidth scores (buffered and unbuffered), SuperPI completes about 1.5% sooner at the 5:4 settings.So real-world performance may be slightly better at 5:4, but you won't win any Sandra bragging rights with it.
--MeowChow
Anonymous User - Thursday, August 28, 2003 - link
oldfart - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
Wow, looks I'm not the only guy who wants to see250 FSB
1:1 3-4-4-8
5:4 2-2-2-6
type of testing. I've seen several reviews that show the lower latency ram @ 5:4 to be faster.
Part 3??
Anonymous User - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
Hey Wesley,Thanks for all the good info...
Any chance you could test Various FSB's
5:4 2-2-2-5 vs the same FSB at 1:1 2.5-4-4-7
It would be great to show the readers how the new PC4000 REALLY compares to older slower low latency RAM, Mushkin PC3500 level2 would be perfect for that.
Now that would be a seriously good Anandtech caliber review. :D
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
#32 and #40 -Mushkin did not have a product in our hands when the review was done. In fact I completed a review of Mushkin PC3500 Level II just a couple of days ago, and compared it's performance to ALL the memory in this review at DDR400. I also tested Adata DDR450, which did not meet our requirement of running at DDR500, but DID perform well at DDR400.
The reviews should be up here shortly. The Mushkin did VERY well at DDR400 to DDR450. Mushkin is also about to release DDR500 - but they did not have a product ready in time for our review. We WILL be testing it as soon as it is available if time allows.