PMI DDR533: A New Name in High-Performance Memory
by Wesley Fink on March 25, 2004 9:16 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Performance Test Configuration
The Memory testbed for evaluating PMI4200 Gold is the same used in our earlier reviews of DDR500 and other High-Speed 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 test conditions were as close as possible to those used in our earlier memory reviews.
| INTEL 875P Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz (800MHz FSB) |
| RAM: | 2 x 512MB PMI4200 Gold (DDR533 DS) 4 x 256MB Samsung PC3700 (DDR466 SS) 2 x 512MB Kingmax DDR500 Hardcore Series (DS) 2 x 512MB Kingmax DDR466 Hardcore Series (DS) 2 x 512MB Corsair XMS4400v1.1 TwinX (DS) 2 x 512MB OCZ PC4400 DC Kit (DS) 2 x 512MB OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 2 (DS) 2 x 512MB OCZ 4200EL(DS) 2 x 512MB Mushkin PC4000 High Performance (DS) 2 x 512MB Corsair TwinX4000 PRO (DS) 2 x 512MB Mushkin Level II PC3500 (DS) 2 x 256MB Adata DDR450 (SS) 2 x 512MB Adata PC4000 (DS) 2 x 512MB Corsair PC4000 (DS) 2 x 512MB Geil PC4000 (DS) 4 x 256MB Kingston PC4000 (SS) 2 x 256MB Kingston PC4000 (SS) 2 x 512MB OCZ PC4000 (DS) 4 x 256MB OCZ PC3700 GOLD (DS) |
| Hard Drives | 2 Western Digital Raptor Serial ATA 36.7GB 10,000 rpm drives in an Intel ICH5R RAID configuration |
| PCI/AGP Speed | Fixed at 33/66 |
| Bus Master Drivers: | 875P Intel INF Update v5.00.1012, SATA RAID drivers installed, but IAA not installed |
| Video Card(s): | ATI 9800 PRO 128MB, 128MB aperture, 1024x768x32 |
| Video Drivers: | ATI Catalyst 4.1 |
| Power Supply: | Vantec Stealth 470Watt Aluminum |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP1 |
| Motherboards: | Asus P4C800-E (875) with 1015 Release BIOS |
Since PMI rates the memory at DDR533, this memory is clearly aimed at the Intel user. Therefore, we only tested performance on our Intel test bed. We did verify that the PMI DIMMs would run on an Athlon 64 platform and had no problem running 2 DIMMs on the Athlon 64 platform at DDR400. However, we did have to lower CAS to 2.5 from 2.0 for best stability on the A64 platform. While this DDR533 memory will certainly run on A64, it is not a memory that we would choose for an Athlon 64 platform. DDR400 to DDR500 with faster memory timings would be a better choice for an Athlon 64 system.
Test Settings
The following settings were tested with PMI DDR533:1. 800FSB/DDR400 - the highest stock speed supported on 875/865 and K8T800/nF3/SiS755 motherboards.
2. 1000FSB/DDR500 - the maximum speed that many current Intel 865/875 boards can achieve.
3. 1066FSB/DDR533 - the specified rating of the DDR533 memory modules.
4. Highest Stable Overclock - the highest settings we could achieve with this memory and other memory that we have tested.
These are the same general settings used in benchmarking other memory in the above list of memory tests. DDR400, DDR500, and Highest Memory Speed have been used for all benchmarking. DDR533 has only been tested in the past for modules with this speed rating.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
13 Comments
View All Comments
KillaKilla - Saturday, March 27, 2004 - link
[q]Why is my dinghy smaller after I go swimming? Why cant I buy pork boullion? Why cant I buy toast in the store?[/q]I too would like to know! Damnit, wes, Stop witholding information from the public!
bldkc - Friday, March 26, 2004 - link
color, color, color. Did I mention that I'm a sociopathic liar?bldkc - Friday, March 26, 2004 - link
You may have told us before about the inability of the software to change the color, but I missed it. Thank you for doing so again. I am aware of the stratospheric bandwidth usage at Anand, and that is because you guys rock. Thanks for the excellent articles, and keep up the good work Wesley. I won't mention the colors again.Visual - Friday, March 26, 2004 - link
The graphs really could use some colour coding though.Wesley Fink - Thursday, March 25, 2004 - link
TrogdorJW -The flash charts are much smaller than JPEG would be but I don't have any numbers to share. Email Jason Clark, who does our IT reviews, and I'm sure he can give you some idea of the bandwidth savings.
TrogdorJW - Thursday, March 25, 2004 - link
Damn, Wesley... this is the first I've heard of this, and after looking back at the charts, I am only now discovering that you use Flash files for the graphs. Cool! I'm guessing that there's a Java application that is used to generate the graphs from some spreadsheet? Or are all the graphs generated in real time? Meaning, if there were an error in a graph, like a misplaced decimal or something, could you simply update the spreadsheet, or do you have to run the Java Graph utility as well? Either way, that's pretty friggin' cool. But then, I'm a programmer geek and like seeing such uses of technology.If you don't mind answering, how large are the generated graph files? I would guess that in JPEG format they would be on the order of 30-50K each. What sort of savings do you get out of this?
Anyway, back to the memory being tested here. After the results not too long ago showing that low latency DDR400 timings with a 5:4 ratio on a P4 resulted in similar performance to 1:1 ration and higher timings, I really don't see much need for these "faster" DIMMs right now. My Mushkin can run 2-3-2-6 at PC3200, which is pretty close to the top. Seems like I can just run the system bus faster while keeping the memory bus at 400 MHz (200 MHz, actually) and still get similar performance. Or is that only the case with P4 systems?
RuStYwAvE - Thursday, March 25, 2004 - link
Probably PMI and OCZ go through the same manfacture like Dell or Alienware Laptops aren't really design by them. They just buy laptops from Clevo or Compro and retag their names on them. Creative Labs and PNY video card are retaged MSI cards. The only thing I see PMI copying is the packaging, if the price is lower then OCZ I would buy PMI.RuStYwAvE - Thursday, March 25, 2004 - link
kamper - Thursday, March 25, 2004 - link
They're never going to make it. Not with a name like Pmi and a logo with nice rounded letters and a halo(?) around the 'i'. With all the big companies as close as they are at the top why would you buy this when you could have cool looking names like "HyperX" or "OCZ" on your memory?Ok, I'm just kidding. It's weird how there's suddenly so much memory that is so close right around the top. I bet pricing plays the biggest factor in their success.
Pumpkinierre - Thursday, March 25, 2004 - link
Go on wesley, now that you're off the beaten track, get hold of some of that 2-3-3-6 Xtreme DDR PC3700+ (http://www.xtremeddr.com/products/x_pc3700+.shtml) and tell me if it is any good.