Intel P965: Mid-Range Performance Sector Roundup
by Gary Key on October 20, 2006 9:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Memory Stress Testing
Memory Tests - ASUS P5B-E 1.02G
We now take a look at the 1.02G revision motherboard to see if additional memory voltage can improve our timings on the GEIL PC2-6400 modules.
We were able to set our timings to 3-3-3-9 by increasing the memory voltage to 2.20V with our GEIL memory. This also held true for several other DDR2-800 modules that required at least 2.2V for improved memory settings. Although the performance differences are negligible, the additional memory voltage will assist in overclocking and allowing most memory modules to run at tighter timings at like memory speeds.
The 1.02G board allowed us to run four DIMMs at 3-4-3-10 with only 2.2V which matched the Abit board. However, we were able to overclock the board to a very impressive 7x483FSB, DDR2-966 4-4-4-15, with four DIMMs installed; however, this required us to increase our memory voltage to 2.35V. Our maximum overclock at 3-4-3-10 with four DIMMs was 7x410FSB (DDR2-820) at 2.30V which means we were already near our maximum limit at these timings. We were able to reach 7x440FSB (DDR2-880) with our memory set to 4-4-3-10 at 2.3V.
Memory Tests - ASUS P5B-E 1.02G
 |
| Click to enlarge |
We now take a look at the 1.02G revision motherboard to see if additional memory voltage can improve our timings on the GEIL PC2-6400 modules.
| ASUS P5B-E 1.02G Stable DDR2-800 Timings - 2 DIMMs (2/4 slots populated - 1 Dual-Channel Bank) |
|
| Clock Speed: | 800MHz |
| CAS Latency: | 3 |
| RAS to CAS Delay: | 3 |
| RAS Precharge: | 3 |
| RAS Cycle Time: | 9 |
| Voltage: | 2.20V |
We were able to set our timings to 3-3-3-9 by increasing the memory voltage to 2.20V with our GEIL memory. This also held true for several other DDR2-800 modules that required at least 2.2V for improved memory settings. Although the performance differences are negligible, the additional memory voltage will assist in overclocking and allowing most memory modules to run at tighter timings at like memory speeds.
| ASUS P5BE 1.02G Stable DDR2-800 Timings - 4 DIMMs (4/4 slots populated - 1 Dual-Channel Bank) |
|
| Clock Speed: | 800MHz |
| CAS Latency: | 3 |
| RAS to CAS Delay: | 4 |
| RAS Precharge: | 3 |
| RAS Cycle Time: | 10 |
| Voltage: | 2.20V |
The 1.02G board allowed us to run four DIMMs at 3-4-3-10 with only 2.2V which matched the Abit board. However, we were able to overclock the board to a very impressive 7x483FSB, DDR2-966 4-4-4-15, with four DIMMs installed; however, this required us to increase our memory voltage to 2.35V. Our maximum overclock at 3-4-3-10 with four DIMMs was 7x410FSB (DDR2-820) at 2.30V which means we were already near our maximum limit at these timings. We were able to reach 7x440FSB (DDR2-880) with our memory set to 4-4-3-10 at 2.3V.
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JarredWalton - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
Oh, trust me, Gary tested with a LOT of RAM types and manufacturers. However, for the *benchmarks* he settled on one specific set of DIMMs. I think he's trying to put together some information on how the various boards worked with other RAM (see above comment from Gary). Cheers!stmok - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
LOL...I think its more like: "What the hell were the Abit engineers thinking?!"Based on your experiences, do you know if the Analog Devices AD1988A HD Audio Codec works in Linux? I wouldn't mind going for the ASUS P5B-E at the end of the year.
And finally, is the rev 1.02G mobo available now? Or in a few months time?
Gary Key - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
The 1.09 ADI AD1988A drivers worked fine in SUSE 10.1. Realtek has better support at this time but ADI seems to be catching up. Believe it or not, but we booted every board with SUSE 10.1 just to make sure they went to the desktop. We might even do a once in a while look at Linux down the road.
xsilver - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
what is the range of overclocking possible with pc6400 ram?without dividers? with dividers?
Gary Key - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
Good question, depends on the PC2-6400 RAM. We are working on something right now to answer your question with a few different modules.xsilver - Sunday, October 22, 2006 - link
probably something standard like corsair VS or something priced very similar if there is better performance elsewherexsilver - Sunday, October 22, 2006 - link
also I would assume that 1gig vs. 2gig makes no difference but if it does, it would be good to know.Madellga - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
Excellent review Gary. I also look forward for the round 2 and also for a 975/ATI/Nvidia reviews.Please try to mention the Vmch used for the overclocking results, as this says a lot about the motherboads also.
Gary Key - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
I am setting up a overclocking settings table and will try to show some additional results with different memory types that we used in testing. I have no idea when this will be finished. ;-)Ryan Norton - Saturday, October 21, 2006 - link
This article is terrific-- now I just need to read the high-end part and I can finally put together a Core 2 Duo system.Will the DS4 be included in the high-end guide? I don't want a DQ-6 because the copper backplate under the processor socket would prevent installation of a Scythe Ninja heatsink.
Are the AHCI issues going to stay the way they are, with needing to load the drivers from a floppy disk during Windows install, or are there any P965 boards that don't require "an engineering degree and a day off" as you guys said?