Corsair and OCZ: New Standards in Fast DDR2
by Wesley Fink on August 4, 2006 5:50 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Performance Comparison
While Sandra and Super Pi provide useful information on how memory performs, the real test is real-world benchmarks - specifically gaming benchmarks. We use Far Cry, Half Life 2 and Quake 4 for memory testing because they are sensitive to memory changes, making them useful for examining memory performance.
Since the Corsair and OCZ results were so close at all tested speeds, the scale range was reduced to better show the small differences in these two memories. Please keep this in mind when viewing the charts, since a normal zero scale would make performance differences appear much smaller than these expanded scale charts. Values for each memory at each speed are included below each chart for reference.
All three games continue to show improvement in frame rates as memory speed increases, even though timings are looser the faster we go. Keep in mind that these two super memories from OCZ and Corsair are still capable of operating at 4-3-4 timings at DDR2-1067. All three game benchmarks show that performance across all speeds is very close between the Corsair and OCZ. If you were expecting one of these two super memories to pull away from the other, you will not find those results here as both of these memories are outstanding performers.
While Sandra and Super Pi provide useful information on how memory performs, the real test is real-world benchmarks - specifically gaming benchmarks. We use Far Cry, Half Life 2 and Quake 4 for memory testing because they are sensitive to memory changes, making them useful for examining memory performance.
Since the Corsair and OCZ results were so close at all tested speeds, the scale range was reduced to better show the small differences in these two memories. Please keep this in mind when viewing the charts, since a normal zero scale would make performance differences appear much smaller than these expanded scale charts. Values for each memory at each speed are included below each chart for reference.
All three games continue to show improvement in frame rates as memory speed increases, even though timings are looser the faster we go. Keep in mind that these two super memories from OCZ and Corsair are still capable of operating at 4-3-4 timings at DDR2-1067. All three game benchmarks show that performance across all speeds is very close between the Corsair and OCZ. If you were expecting one of these two super memories to pull away from the other, you will not find those results here as both of these memories are outstanding performers.
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epsilonparadox - Friday, August 4, 2006 - link
That also is your opinion. To me an elitist is someone who demands a higher standard that the common folk. An elitist to me in the computer industry is someone who buys items that he/she knows will raise the level of standards among his peers. The items this person purchases doesn't necessarily have to be the most expensive but usually demands a higher premium because of the proven value.yacoub - Friday, August 4, 2006 - link
Alas, labeling one an "elitist" has a distinctly negative connotation to it, and that is not an opinion, that is simply how it is (fact, if you will).So by discussing the term elitist, you further the point that those who seek the best bang for the buck are certainly not elitists in the commonly accepted sense. Not to mention your comment regarding a price premium also goes against the core ideology of the overclocker - ie, those who look for what is most cost-effective and NOT premiumly priced. Generally speaking they are items that (at least initially) are lesser-known and often rather cheap because their real potential is commonly unknown. If anything the nature of the overclocker is the opposite of your elitist, in that they are interested in taking common things and making them into superstars, instead of just buying premium-priced items that supposedly have better performance according to the manufacturer's marketing department.
rjm55 - Friday, August 4, 2006 - link
I want, therefore I have.araczynski - Friday, August 4, 2006 - link
thanks for a good read, i agree that the overclocking scale is looks like its designed by some marketing group, stop using that kind of junk.when shown in real scale those small differences are nothing.
jmke - Friday, August 4, 2006 - link
Would be cool to see the charts start at scale 0, which would show the rather small impact of overclocking/getting higher rated memory modules. With a scale starting close to the min. score, the increase shown in the chart is not quite realistically represented ;)Did you run into weird results with: DDR2 PC4200 low timings vs DDR2 PC5300 medium/high timings ?
Spacecomber - Friday, August 4, 2006 - link
Your comment beat me too it. I also was going to chide Anandtech for producing charts that dont have a scale starting from 0. You should stick to tables, if all you are trying to do is show the number of points difference between one speed to the next.Wesley Fink - Friday, August 4, 2006 - link
Tables are already included as a summary of results for each tested memory. The Corsir table is on page 4 and the OCZ on page 5. The charts are there to show the impact of memory speed scaling on performance, which is not well-illustrated in the table or in our common bar charts. We added a paragraph explaining that scales are reduced to better show the small differences in performance between these two memories.You are both right that charts using zero-based scales will make the differences appear smaller than the reduced scale charts, but we were trying to compare the small differences in the Corsair and OCZ. We do prefer zero-based charts and an explanation was definitely needed.
Googer - Saturday, August 5, 2006 - link
With the performance of these DIMMs being about the same it really comes down to price, warranty, and reliablity as the deciding factors when you are shopping for RAM.