Mushkin & Adata: 2 for the Fast-Timings Lane
by Wesley Fink on September 1, 2003 11:18 PM EST- Posted in
- Memory
The Candidates
With what we now know about 875/875 memory configurations, the ideal test with greatest performance would be 4 Double-Bank modules. To be fair in our memory comparison, we therefore asked memory vendors, at the very minimum, to supply 2 DS dimms or 4 SS modules of their fastest memory for evaluation. Mushkin supplied our requested 2 x 512MB of Double-Bank PC3500 Level II. Adata supplied just 2 SS 256MB dimms, so please keep this in mind when comparing performance. 2 SS dimms on the Intel 875 platform tests will perform slightly worse than 2 DS dimms. 4 Single-Bank dimms on the 875 are required to equal performance of 2 Double-Bank dimms.
| Memory Specifications | ||
| Adata DDR450 | Mushkin PC3500 Level II | |
| Number of Dimms & Banks | 2 SS | 2 DS |
| Dimm Size Total Memory |
256 MB 512 MB |
512 MB 1 GB |
| Rated Speed | DDR450 | DDR433 |
| Rated Timings | 2.5-4-4-8 | 2-2-2-? |
| SPD Timings | 2.5-4-4-8 | 2.5-4-4-8 |
| Rated Voltage | ? | 2.75V |
In the Intel test, with each set of memory, we tested at the following settings:
1. 800FSB/DDR400 — the highest stock speed supported on 875/865 motherboards.
2. Rated Memory Speed — the specified rating of the memory modules we were testing.
3. Highest Stable Overclock — the highest settings we could achieve with the memory being tested.
These are essentially the same memory tests performed on the 7 sets of memory in “Searching for the Memory Holy Grail — Part 2”.
In the added AMD test, with each set of memory, we tested the following settings:
1. 333FSB/DDR333 — the highest stock speed officially supported by the Barton 2500+ CPU.
2. 400FSB/DDR400 — the highest stock speed officially supported by the nForce 2 Ultra 400 chipset and AMD Athlon processors.
3. Rated Memory Speed — the specified rating of the memory modules we were testing. We made attempts to reach the rated speed of the memory modules being tested.
To test overclocked stability on both the Intel and AMD testbeds, 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 4, and in particular Super PI and Gun Metal, will crash a less-than stable memory configuration.
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17 Comments
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Anonymous User - Monday, September 8, 2003 - link
Wes, thanks for the great review!! It answered all of my questions and now I can make my purchase of the Mushkin 3500 Level II with confidence.Cheers,
Wiley
Anonymous User - Sunday, September 7, 2003 - link
Hrmm sorry for interrupting but i am running 2 pieces of pc3200 2-2-2 before i swtich to 3500 level 2.those are good rams.
there is nothing like it in the market.
Anonymous User - Sunday, September 7, 2003 - link
Hey Wes, what do you think of the Mushkin PC3200 Level 2 Black? I'm seriously contemplating buying 2x512mb of that stuff.Anonymous User - Saturday, September 6, 2003 - link
Wow! I clicked Post Comment only once folks! Honest!Anonymous User - Saturday, September 6, 2003 - link
Great article! I don't OC much at all and I love the Mushkin PC3500 Lvl II Black. As you can see from the system information below I run 4x512mb modules of it and love it!My benchmark numbers are:
6136 3Dmark03s
3129 Sandra Unbuffered Int
3184 Sandra Unbuffered Float
5002 Sandra Buffered Int
5006 Sandra Buffered Float
System:
P4 3Ghz/800Mhz FSB (OC'd to 3.12Ghz/832Mhz), Gigabyte 8KNXP Motherboard w/DPS2 REMOVED (F6 Bios), 4x512mb Mushkin PC3500 Level II Black RAM (2-2-2-5@DDR416), ATI 9800 Pro 256mb (OC'd to 414/356), SB Audigy 2 Platinum, 2x WD Raptor 10kRPM SATA150 Game Drives in RAID0 off of ICH5R, IBM Deskstar GXP180 System Drive, 2x Samsung DVD/CDRW, Mitsumi Floppy, Lian-Li PC65 Window Case w/Alien Head & Blue Cold Cathode Light, Enermax 550W v1.2 PSU, Thermalright SLK-900U HSF w/AS3 and Antec 92mm Fan, 4x Sunon 39cfm 80mm Fans (2 Front Intake, 1 Rear & 1 TopExhaust), 1 PCI Slot Exhaust Fan, Vantec Fan Controller, Sony F520 21" CRT & Samsung 191T LCD Monitors, WinXP Pro SP1 w/No Paging File, DirectX 9.0b, ATI Catalyst 3.7 & Stock SB2 Drivers
Anonymous User - Saturday, September 6, 2003 - link
Great article! I don't OC much at all and I love the Mushkin PC3500 Lvl II Black. As you can see from the system information below I run 4x512mb modules of it and love it!My benchmark numbers are:
6136 3Dmark03s
3129 Sandra Unbuffered Int
3184 Sandra Unbuffered Float
5002 Sandra Buffered Int
5006 Sandra Buffered Float
System:
P4 3Ghz/800Mhz FSB (OC'd to 3.12Ghz/832Mhz), Gigabyte 8KNXP Motherboard w/DPS2 REMOVED (F6 Bios), 4x512mb Mushkin PC3500 Level II Black RAM (2-2-2-5@DDR416), ATI 9800 Pro 256mb (OC'd to 414/356), SB Audigy 2 Platinum, 2x WD Raptor 10kRPM SATA150 Game Drives in RAID0 off of ICH5R, IBM Deskstar GXP180 System Drive, 2x Samsung DVD/CDRW, Mitsumi Floppy, Lian-Li PC65 Window Case w/Alien Head & Blue Cold Cathode Light, Enermax 550W v1.2 PSU, Thermalright SLK-900U HSF w/AS3 and Antec 92mm Fan, 4x Sunon 39cfm 80mm Fans (2 Front Intake, 1 Rear & 1 TopExhaust), 1 PCI Slot Exhaust Fan, Vantec Fan Controller, Sony F520 21" CRT & Samsung 191T LCD Monitors, WinXP Pro SP1 w/No Paging File, DirectX 9.0b, ATI Catalyst 3.7 & Stock SB2 Drivers
Anonymous User - Saturday, September 6, 2003 - link
Great article! I don't OC much at all and I love the Mushkin PC3500 Lvl II Black. As you can see from the system information below I run 4x512mb modules of it and love it!My benchmark numbers are:
6136 3Dmark03s
3129 Sandra Unbuffered Int
3184 Sandra Unbuffered Float
5002 Sandra Buffered Int
5006 Sandra Buffered Float
System:
P4 3Ghz/800Mhz FSB (OC'd to 3.12Ghz/832Mhz), Gigabyte 8KNXP Motherboard w/DPS2 REMOVED (F6 Bios), 4x512mb Mushkin PC3500 Level II Black RAM (2-2-2-5@DDR416), ATI 9800 Pro 256mb (OC'd to 414/356), SB Audigy 2 Platinum, 2x WD Raptor 10kRPM SATA150 Game Drives in RAID0 off of ICH5R, IBM Deskstar GXP180 System Drive, 2x Samsung DVD/CDRW, Mitsumi Floppy, Lian-Li PC65 Window Case w/Alien Head & Blue Cold Cathode Light, Enermax 550W v1.2 PSU, Thermalright SLK-900U HSF w/AS3 and Antec 92mm Fan, 4x Sunon 39cfm 80mm Fans (2 Front Intake, 1 Rear & 1 TopExhaust), 1 PCI Slot Exhaust Fan, Vantec Fan Controller, Sony F520 21" CRT & Samsung 191T LCD Monitors, WinXP Pro SP1 w/No Paging File, DirectX 9.0b, ATI Catalyst 3.7 & Stock SB2 Drivers
Anonymous User - Saturday, September 6, 2003 - link
Great article! I don't OC much at all and I love the Mushkin PC3500 Lvl II Black. As you can see from the system information below I run 4x512mb modules of it and love it!My benchmark numbers are:
6136 3Dmark03s
3129 Sandra Unbuffered Int
3184 Sandra Unbuffered Float
5002 Sandra Buffered Int
5006 Sandra Buffered Float
System:
P4 3Ghz/800Mhz FSB (OC'd to 3.12Ghz/832Mhz), Gigabyte 8KNXP Motherboard w/DPS2 REMOVED (F6 Bios), 4x512mb Mushkin PC3500 Level II Black RAM (2-2-2-5@DDR416), ATI 9800 Pro 256mb (OC'd to 414/356), SB Audigy 2 Platinum, 2x WD Raptor 10kRPM SATA150 Game Drives in RAID0 off of ICH5R, IBM Deskstar GXP180 System Drive, 2x Samsung DVD/CDRW, Mitsumi Floppy, Lian-Li PC65 Window Case w/Alien Head & Blue Cold Cathode Light, Enermax 550W v1.2 PSU, Thermalright SLK-900U HSF w/AS3 and Antec 92mm Fan, 4x Sunon 39cfm 80mm Fans (2 Front Intake, 1 Rear & 1 TopExhaust), 1 PCI Slot Exhaust Fan, Vantec Fan Controller, Sony F520 21" CRT & Samsung 191T LCD Monitors, WinXP Pro SP1 w/No Paging File, DirectX 9.0b, ATI Catalyst 3.7 & Stock SB2 Drivers
Anonymous User - Saturday, September 6, 2003 - link
Great article! I don't OC much at all and I love the Mushkin PC3500 Lvl II Black. As you can see from the system information below I run 4x512mb modules of it and love it!My benchmark numbers are:
6136 3Dmark03s
3129 Sandra Unbuffered Int
3184 Sandra Unbuffered Float
5002 Sandra Buffered Int
5006 Sandra Buffered Float
System:
P4 3Ghz/800Mhz FSB (OC'd to 3.12Ghz/832Mhz), Gigabyte 8KNXP Motherboard w/DPS2 REMOVED (F6 Bios), 4x512mb Mushkin PC3500 Level II Black RAM (2-2-2-5@DDR416), ATI 9800 Pro 256mb (OC'd to 414/356), SB Audigy 2 Platinum, 2x WD Raptor 10kRPM SATA150 Game Drives in RAID0 off of ICH5R, IBM Deskstar GXP180 System Drive, 2x Samsung DVD/CDRW, Mitsumi Floppy, Lian-Li PC65 Window Case w/Alien Head & Blue Cold Cathode Light, Enermax 550W v1.2 PSU, Thermalright SLK-900U HSF w/AS3 and Antec 92mm Fan, 4x Sunon 39cfm 80mm Fans (2 Front Intake, 1 Rear & 1 TopExhaust), 1 PCI Slot Exhaust Fan, Vantec Fan Controller, Sony F520 21" CRT & Samsung 191T LCD Monitors, WinXP Pro SP1 w/No Paging File, DirectX 9.0b, ATI Catalyst 3.7 & Stock SB2 Drivers
retrospooty - Tuesday, September 2, 2003 - link
Cool, Thanks. I take back what I took back , and give it up to you ! :DRetrospooty