Searching for the Memory Holy Grail - Part 2
by Wesley Fink on August 26, 2003 11:11 PM EST- Posted in
- Memory
The Candidates
With what we know now about 875/875 memory configurations, the ideal test of the fastest memory available would be four double-bank modules. However, not all memory manufacturers had DS DDR500 modules available. Therefore, to be fair in our memory comparison, we asked memory vendors, at the very minimum, to supply 2 DS DIMMs or 4 SS modules of their fastest memory for evaluation. Over several weeks, we received PC4000/DDR500 samples from Corsair, Geil, Kingston, OCZ and Adata. OCZ 3700 Gold was also included in the roundup, since it is known to perform at DDR500.
| DDR500 Memory Specifications | ||||||
| Adata PC4000 | Corsair XMS 4000 | Geil Platinum 4000 | Kingston HyperX 4000 | OCZ 4000 Copper | OCZ 3700 Gold | |
| Number of DIMMs & Banks | 2 DS | 2 DS | 2 DS | 4 SS | 2 DS | 2 DS |
| DIMM Size Total Memory | 512 MB 1 GB |
512 MB 1 GB |
512 MB 1 GB |
256 MB 1 GB |
512 MB 1 GB |
256 MB 512 MB |
| Rated Timings | 3-4-4-8 | 3-4-4-8 | 2.5-4-4-7 | 3-4-4-8 | 3-4-4-7 | 2.5-3-3-7 @DDR466 |
| Rated Voltage | ? | 2.75V | 2.6-2.95V | 2.65V | 2.7V | 2.65V @DDR466 |
With each set of DDR500 memory, we tested at the following settings:
1. 800FSB/DDR400 – the highest stock speed supported on 875/865 motherboards.To test overclocked stability, we used a run of the very demanding Gun Metal 2 — Benchmark 2, which pushes systems with its demanding DX9 routines. To be considered stable for test purposes, Gun Metal, our Quake3 benchmark, UT2003 Demo, and Super PI had to complete without incident. Any of these four, and in particular Super PI and Gun Metal, will crash a less-than stable memory configuration.
2. 1000FSB/DDR500 – the specified rating of the memory modules that we were testing.
3. Highest Stable Overclock – the highest settings that we could achieve with the memory being tested.
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Anonymous User - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
#37Point well taken, But remember depending which bencmarks you use ,The diference you see could be less than you expect for example look at buffered vs unbuffered sandra scores.
Half the motherboards I have played with wont run 5/4 above 280 anyway.
Anonymous User - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
Let the ignorance run wiiiilllldddd!!!!For sponsored links, I also see it at the bottom of tomshardware and the bottom of extremetech.com. I figure a company is selling those spots on multiple review sites so whoever wants a spot can grab it and have a text link on those sites.
I see big banners for corsair and googlegear on the front page of anand, which I assume would cost at least 10x more than a text link, so why didn't corsair win? They obviously pay more for advertising! Gee Kingston has full color banners too. Why didn't they win? Maybe because their modules didn't test as high, oooh, what a thought, the ram that performs the best wins, i can't believe it!!!! /sarcasm
Anonymous User - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
What this (and most other) article fails to mention is that you get better performance a high FSB with a 5:4 ram divider at low latency...In other words,
275FSB at 5:4 2-2-2-5 is WAY faster than
275FSB at 1:1 2.5-4-4-7
If you have ram taht can run at 2-2-2, test it for yourself.
In short, last years low latency PC3200 and 3500 2-2-2-6 ram is faster and cheaper than todays PC4000 with rediculously horrid timings like 3-4-4-8
Radelon - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
The simple fact in the matter is anybody can take the same sets of ram from all different brands and will see approximately the same results. In all my tests, OCZ is the leader, sometimes less than others but fact is, it's still on top. I've done these tests on 4 different canterwood/springdale motherboards and OCZ has always come out the best for me. "Don't knock it until you try it" That seems to be the statement of the year. The people that do knock it before they try it, are only hurting themselves and the others they influence.Anonymous User - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
I've been in the hardware website business before. People don't know that they will get more hardware from a company if the give them their props. The posters who bitch about OCZ have a valid claim.You have to look at the whole picture and not just what they are doing today. I'm sorry to say that OCZ, even if they have "good" products still wouldn't be a choice by me or even recommending it.
I've heard some bad rumors with OCZ and other websites it's not even funny. 3DGameMan I heard used to give raging reviews because of getting more hardware. Overclockers something used to be in the same ballpark.
It's hard to judge reviews these days. To recommend a brand over another brand just because of the results you received is flat out ignorant at best. So many variables play into account. Corsair and Mushkin will always get my money. Even if it's more money. Their products have been around for awhile and have proven to be noteworthy.
GeIL is another company that raises an eyebrow. The owner of GeIL is the owner of an online store. All he does is buy and overclock memory and then sells it at a premium. It helps to do research on these companies.
Anonymous User - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
What about Mushkin? They didn't even get entered into the test, and it used to be that Anand was always touting them, right?Hmmmmmmmmm. Anand should explain what happened to wipe Mushkin from his list totally...
AgaBooga - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
I found the link, here it is:http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=...
Look down the page for Anand's post, kind of long, but it explains it! :)
I hope someone appreciates that link, hehe, it actually took about 15 minutes to find, not that long, but its not the most fun thing to do, but I had to since its for AT...
Anonymous User - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
Sadly, it is clear that people still don't trust OCZ, and will go as far as to say that a positive review automatically means the web site in question (Anandtech in this case) has sold out. What's illogical about this argument is that Mushkin, Corsair, and Crucial ALL advertise on Anandtech as well, and have been advertising on Anandtech for MUCH longer than OCZ. Hopefully anyone who has read all these comments now realizes that their argument is completely invalidated by this fact. Not only that, but the writer of this particular Anandtech article even says that he has no affiliation with any of the ads that get displayed in a review, and another Anandtech editor says that OCZ isn’t even a direct advertiser. If people would learn the facts we would haven’t so many ignorant comments such as #11, #15, #16/#17, and #23.Secondly, you'd have to be blind not to see that OCZ memory is clearly one of the best solutions out there today. Anandtech is NOT the only web site that has found OCZ memory to be of the highest quality. Please search Google if you are not aware of this fact. Any review in the last 9 months will prove my point.
AgaBooga - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
Hey guys, go through and look through some old posts in the archive section that Anand Lal Shimpi has talked in. One of them discussed advertising. It may be outdated, but atleast its something to look at, and if this is mentioned already, sorry, I haven't read through all the responses yet.Anyway, Anand clearly stated that the advertising portion is done by another group of people and that they do not talk directly with him or any of the article writers... hope that helps, I'll try searching around for the link...
pastorjay - Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - link
I am appalled that anyone would think that Wesley would do anything to compromise the integrity of his reviews. I have read many, many reviews at many other sites, and they have come to a similiar conclusion. OCZ has got several good products on their hands at the moment. THey are doing a spectacular job of producing quality products NOW. THey also happen to have the best Customer support in the industry, whether it would be Ryan or Sean or Bo... whoever I have dealt with, they have all been a terrific help in solving problems, and making sure I am happy. Now, I am no OCZ fanboy. I will use what i feel is the best on the market at the time... and to me... OCZ is it right now.