Conroe Buying Guide: Feeding the Monster
by Gary Key & Wesley Fink on July 19, 2006 6:20 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Value DDR2
Not everyone is prepared to pay $450 for the very best DDR2. Without comparing performance of lower-priced DDR2 it is also not possible to recommend whether high-performance DDR2 represents a good value for you. Looking at what was available in the market, we compiled a list of modules that appeared to be a representative cross-section of the 2GB kit value segment. With prices ranging from around $120 to $180 for a 2GB kit, these DDR2 modules are less than half the price of our high-performance selections.
The real question, of course, is where you can take these low-cost DDR DIMMs. We ran all the DIMMs at the highest DDR2 speeds and the fastest memory timings we could achieve on a standard Core 2 Duo test platform. The results were truly surprising.
A-Data Vitesta DDR2-5300
A-Data is one of the largest memory application suppliers in the world and their Vitesta DDR2-533 kit performed extremely well in our testing from both a timing and voltage aspect. The quality of the heat spreaders and memory PCB is excellent..
Corsair Value Select DDR2-667
Corsair was able to provide us their ValueSelect 2GB kit. Although Corsair is mainly known for their XMS series of high performance memories they also provide a very good price to performance offering in their ValueSelect series. While the modules do not include any heat spreaders, we did not notice any thermal issues during our testing that required the use of higher voltages to reach our reported numbers.
Kingston Value Ram DDR2-667
Kingston also provided their Value memory series that performed well during testing with timings that basically matched that of the higher rated DDR2-667 modules, although voltages had to be increased above the group average. We did not notice any thermal issues with the memory due to the lack of heat spreaders or the increased voltages. Also note that this is the only 2GB Value kit that used Infineon chips instead of Elpida chips, which likely accounts for some of the slight differences.
Not everyone is prepared to pay $450 for the very best DDR2. Without comparing performance of lower-priced DDR2 it is also not possible to recommend whether high-performance DDR2 represents a good value for you. Looking at what was available in the market, we compiled a list of modules that appeared to be a representative cross-section of the 2GB kit value segment. With prices ranging from around $120 to $180 for a 2GB kit, these DDR2 modules are less than half the price of our high-performance selections.
| Value DDR2 Specifications | |||||
| Manufacturer | Description (Memory Chips) |
Rated Speed |
Rated Timings |
Rated Voltage |
Cost (2x1GB) |
| AData Vitesta |
ELJKD1A16K (Elpida) |
DDR2-533 | 4-4-4-12 | 1.8V | $147 |
| Corsair Value Select |
VS2GBKIT667D2 (Elpida) |
DDR2-667 | 4-4-4-12 | 1.8V | $148 |
| Kingston Value Ram |
KVR667D2N5K2 (Elipida) |
DDR2-667 | 5-5-5-15 | 1.8V | $159 |
| Mushkin eXtreme |
991512 (Infineon) |
DDR2-667 | 3-3-3-10 | 2.1V | $170 |
| Patriot Extreme Series |
PDC22G5300LLK (Elpida) |
DDR2-667 | 4-4-4-12 | 1.8V | $157 |
| PQI Turbo |
PQI25400-2GDB (Elipida) |
DDR2-667 | 4-4-4-12 | 2.0V | $117 |
| Wintec AMPX |
3AXD2675-1G2S-R (Elpida) |
DDR2-675 | 4-4-4-10 | 1.8V | $144 |
The real question, of course, is where you can take these low-cost DDR DIMMs. We ran all the DIMMs at the highest DDR2 speeds and the fastest memory timings we could achieve on a standard Core 2 Duo test platform. The results were truly surprising.
A-Data Vitesta DDR2-5300
A-Data is one of the largest memory application suppliers in the world and their Vitesta DDR2-533 kit performed extremely well in our testing from both a timing and voltage aspect. The quality of the heat spreaders and memory PCB is excellent..
| AData Vitesta - DDR2-533 - 2x1GB Model # ELJKD1A16K |
||
| CPU Ratio | Memory Speed |
Best Memory Timings (Voltage) |
| (4:3) | 400 DDR2 | 3-2-2-5 1.8V |
| (1:1) | 533 DDR2 | 3-2-2-8 1.9V |
| (4:5) | 667 DDR2 | 3-3-2-8 2.1V |
| (2:3) | 800 DDR2 | 4-3-3-8 2.1V |
Corsair Value Select DDR2-667
Corsair was able to provide us their ValueSelect 2GB kit. Although Corsair is mainly known for their XMS series of high performance memories they also provide a very good price to performance offering in their ValueSelect series. While the modules do not include any heat spreaders, we did not notice any thermal issues during our testing that required the use of higher voltages to reach our reported numbers.
| Corsair Value Select - DDR2-533 - 2x1GB Model # VS2GBKIT667D2 |
||
| CPU Ratio | Memory Speed |
Best Memory Timings (Voltage) |
| (4:3) | 400 DDR2 | 3-2-2-5 1.9V |
| (1:1) | 533 DDR2 | 3-2-2-7 2.1V |
| (4:5) | 667 DDR2 | 3-3-3-8 2.1V |
| (2:3) | 800 DDR2 | 4-3-3-8 2.2V |
Kingston Value Ram DDR2-667
Kingston also provided their Value memory series that performed well during testing with timings that basically matched that of the higher rated DDR2-667 modules, although voltages had to be increased above the group average. We did not notice any thermal issues with the memory due to the lack of heat spreaders or the increased voltages. Also note that this is the only 2GB Value kit that used Infineon chips instead of Elpida chips, which likely accounts for some of the slight differences.
| Kingston - DDR2-533 - 2x1GB Model # 3AXD2675-1G2S-R |
||
| CPU Ratio | Memory Speed |
Best Memory Timings (Voltage) |
| (4:3) | 400 DDR2 | 3-2-2-5 1.8V |
| (1:1) | 533 DDR2 | 3-2-2-7 2.2V |
| (4:5) | 667 DDR2 | 3-3-3-8 2.2V |
| (2:3) | 800 DDR2 | 4-3-3-9 2.1V |
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mongoosesRawesome - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Im curious, can you go into some detail as to how you determine each memory's stable speeds at the various timings you reported?Did you test any of the value ram up to 1067 or would they not work at all?
shabby - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Too bad you guys didnt test the asrock conroexfire, its basically similar to the one you tested now but with a 16x pcie slot and only ddr2 support.Gary Key - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
We have more boards coming, the flood gates are getting ready to open from the motherboard suppliers over the course of the next four weeks. Although the press embargo release was moved up to last week, the motherboard suppliers were still targeting 7/27 for hardware releases into the market. We will review and post articles on Conroe capable boards as soon as we receive them. We still have some very good AM2 boards to review also. ;-)
jones377 - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Can you guys run a few benchmarks with DDR1 on this board? It doesn't have to be the full suite, just some to get an idea of DDR1 performance with Conroe. Thanks!Gary Key - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
We are testing another DDR1 board shortly and will have those results up in the near future. Bios version 1.3 on this board improved DDR1 performance and we are expecting another bios spin shortly.
jones377 - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
What board is that? Another ASROCK? They have quite a few Conroe compatible ones based on VIA, ATI and the i865G chipsets.
Gary Key - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Yes, we will be testing the ASRock 775i65G, there might also be a i865 board coming from PC Chips. We should see some additional value based boards in the near future from other suppliers based on the 946PL and SIS662 chipsets.yacoub - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Lists chipset as: Chipset Intel 975X + ICH8RI thought it was 965?
yacoub - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
And on the same page:"Despite the similarity of the ASUS 975X and 965 top boards, a closer look at options does tell you 965 is targeted a bit lower than 965. "
JarredWalton - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Fixed - as you can imagine given the length, there will probably be a few more typos than normal. Our heads are all spinning a bit after putting this together. ;)