OCZ 3500EB: The Importance of Balanced Memory Timings
by Wesley Fink on April 7, 2004 12:04 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Performance Test Configuration
The Memory testbed for evaluating OCZ 3500EB is the same used in our earlier reviews of DDR400 and faster Memory.Mushkin PC3200 2-2-2 Special: Last of a Legend
PMI DDR533: A New Name in High-Performance 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 OCZ 3500EB (DS) 2 x 512MB Mushkin 2-2-2 Special (DS) 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 470 Watt Aluminum |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP1 |
| Motherboards: | Asus P4C800-E (875) with 1015 Release BIOS |
We only tested the OCZ EB memory in our Intel testbed, but OCZ tests for 2.5-2-3 compatibility on nVidia nForce2/nF3, VIA K8T800, Intel 865/875, and SiS 655TX chipsets. While we have found the fastest performance on Intel 865/875 to be achieved at Cycle Time or tRAS of 5, we have found that the best performance on nForce family chipsets is often achieved with a tRAS of 8 or even as high as 11. In brief testing with nForce3 and nForce2 boards, we found that the best performance with OCZ3500EB was achieved at 2.5-2-3-9 settings, where the discontinued BH5 is usually best on nF2/nF3 at tRAS of 10 or 11.
Test Settings
We ran our standard suite of memory performance benchmarks. The following settings were tested with OCZ 3500EB:- 800FSB/DDR400 - the highest stock speed supported on 875/865 and K8T800/nF3/SiS755 motherboards.
- 866FSB/DDR433 - the rated speed of OCZ 3500EB.
- 933FSB/DDR466 - a common rating and overclock for high-speed memory.
- 1000FSB/DDR500 - a standard speed rating that we have used in testing the highest speed memory available.
- Highest Stable Overclock - the highest settings we could achieve with this memory and other memory that we have tested.
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13 Comments
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Pumpkinierre - Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - link
Yeah well I have had OCZ platinum 3200 o'clocked to 3500 (2-2-3-7) for 9months now and noticed it slowly degrading. I used to pass Memtest86 at 220MHz with Game Accelerator (GAT) F1 (Abit IC7-G) but now I have to switch off the GAT at 216MHz to successfully run Memtest86. At F1, DDR Voltage is 2.7V otherwise 2.6V. I notice the mem. modules are quite warm (even hot) so maybe I need extra cooling as the DIMMS are out of the normal air circulation at the top of the case. And its been a hot summer.It seems crazy that memory modules that are at least 12 months old (BH5/BH6) are still the best performers in the 400 to 433MHz range and even higher (original OCZ3700 gold) given the very fast ascent from 266 to 400 at low latencies. Lets hope these Hynix DDR550 modules cut the mustard.
I cant run F1 higher than CAS2 at present (and Street Racer not at all) although others in posts say they do. So finally Wesley, will the EB technology modules run F1 or Street Racer at 466-500Mhz.
johnsonx - Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - link
It might have been interesting to set CAS latency on the other modules to 2.5 to see how much this 'EB' helps vs. non-EB ram at identical timings.This article also simply seems to show (again) that OCZ memory, of any sort, is just plain good. Recall the article on the FX-53, wherein the 2.4Ghz chip with OCZ ram performed more than 200Mhz better than the 2.2Ghz FX-51 with Mushkin RAM... this even though the Mushkin had better timings.
Were I shopping for high performance RAM, my shopping would begin and end with OCZ... it'd just be a matter of choosing which OCZ modules.
Cybercat - Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - link
Well....this is new....and impressive.