Test Results

To test overclocked stability, we used the Aquamark 3, which pushes systems with its DX9 routines. To be considered stable for test purposes, Aquamark3, Gun Metal 2, our Quake3 benchmark, UT2003 Demo, and Super PI had to complete without incident. Any of these 5, and in particular Super PI and Gun Metal, will crash a less-than stable memory configuration.

OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 2 - 2 x 512Mb Double-Bank
Speed Memory Timings
& Voltage
Quake3
fps
Sandra UNBuffered Sandra Standard
Buffered
Super PI 2M places
(time in sec)
400DDR
800FSB
2-2-3-5
2.65V
328.1 INT 2881
FLT 2914
INT 4867
FLT 4856
128
433DDR
866FSB
2-2-3-6
2.65V
355.3 INT 3073
FLT 3108
INT 5258
FLT5255
118
466DDR
933FSB
2.5-3-3-6
2.65V
379.7 INT 3292
FLT 3310
INT 5670
FLT 563
111
500DDR
1000FSB
2.5-3-3-7
2.75V
402.6 INT 3447
FLT 3439
INT 5951
FLT 5992
104
520DDR
1040FSB
3-3-4-8
2.85V
406.5 INT 3393
FLT 3433
INT 6129
FLT 6132
101

The latest revision of OCZ PC3700 Gold performed better than its rated 2.5-3-3-7 specification. In fact, at DDR400, it allowed some of the fastest timings of 2-2-3-5 that we have seen with any high-speed memory. Most high-end DDR400 memory modules can do no better than 2-2-3-6 at DDR400, so this is really remarkable performance at DDR400 for a memory rated at DDR466. The only memory modules we have tested that are faster at 2-2-2-5 timings are the Corsair 3200LL 1.1, Mushkin 3500 Level II, and OCZ 3500 Platinum Ltd. All 3 of these modules are based on Winbond BH5 chips, which have been discontinued. Among the newest memory chips, 2-2-3-6 is about the best timings that you will see. So, the ability of the DDR466-rated 3700 Gold Rev. 2 to run at these aggressive DDR400 timings is outstanding.

The DDR500 performance at the DDR466 rated timings at 2.5-3-3-7 is also noteworthy. In fact, we were able to run up to DDR510 at these same 2.5-3-3-7 timings on the latest Revision B of the DFI 875 LanParty. The new DFI also seems to do a bit better with this memory on the top end, since we reached a stable DDR528 with the DFI 875 LanParty Rev. B.

Performance Test Configuration Performance Comparisons
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  • Leo V - Thursday, January 1, 2004 - link

    And I just received my 3700 Gold rev2, thanks for a happy New Year :-D
  • Pumpkinierre - Thursday, January 1, 2004 - link

    Thanks again wesley for keeping us up to date on the memory front. It does seem though as if this is more of the same. My 2.6c goes up to 246Mhz on default voltage (1.525V) and scrapes 260 even with a .2V boost. At present I run it at 2.8GHz(216) with 1:1 tight memory settings(OCZ platinum 3200) and agressive PAT. I find this gives me almost the same performance as running at 3.2GHz (246)at mem.5:4 with the same tight memory settings (3dmark03 6200 vs 6300). Graphics board memory is under 3ns and two sticks of fast memory costs as much as a good 256Mb video card.So by now DDR500 CAS 2 DDRAM should be out there and is what i'm waiting for as the first upgrade to my rig.

    Also what about 1GBt modules, the i875 has 4 DIMMS and handles up to 4Gb. CORSAIR have been the only ones to announce DDR500 capable 1GBt modules but at CAS3 settings. It would also be good to see how a RAM maxed i875 board performs in particular in the unbuffered tests.

    Even though I'm quite happy with your intel based testing, it would be nice to see how the a64s(even the A-XP) and the FX51 fare in your tests particularly with different memory timings. The FX51 beats the P4 in many memory bandwidth tests but I'd like to see if this occurs in the unbuffered Sandra and Memtest-86 tests.

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