Final Words
The best DDR2 memory in the market is able to run at DDR2-800 3-3-3 timings and DDR2-1066 at 4-3-4. Performance at these settings is the best we have seen for DDR2, and they remain the standard against which other DDR2 memory is measured. It is also worth repeating that all of the best DDR2 memory we have tested has been built with Micron D9 memory chips, which have set the pace for high-end DDR2 memory performance.
What a pleasant surprise then to find G.Skill DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 memory, with a mid-range price, built with Micron D9 memory chips. In fairness it is not exactly the same chip, since these Micron D9, designated D9GMH, are binned for lower performance than the very best, which are designated D9GKX. Still, we are dealing with the same excellent base memory chip, which have come through different sorts.
This same chip, binned to a lower speed and timings, does manage to reach the same performance level as the best at DDR2-800, but it requires much higher voltage to reach the 3-3-3 timings. However, if you are willing to compromise a bit, you can achieve the rated DDR2-800 at 4-4-4 timings with a very average 1.9V memory voltage. The G.Skill also became one of the few DDR2-800 kits tested at AnandTech that actually reached DDR2-1067. That memory speed required all our board could deliver at 2.35V to 2.4V and the timings still could not match the best D9 we have tested - 5-5-5 with G.Skill compared to 4-3-4 with the best D9-based DIMMs. However, this mid-priced memory acquitted itself very well, delivering more than we expected in our memory test suite.
The G.Skill DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 is not a ringer as you still get more with the very best money can buy - at DDR2-1067 and beyond. In other words you get what you pay for in this case. However, if DDR2-800 is as high as you will go, or DDR2-1067 at slower timings is still fine, then the G.Skill does deliver great value. It can be driven to the exact same memory speeds and timings as the best you can buy up to DDR2-800, although it will require more voltage to get there. If you don't want to use, or don't have that higher voltage available, then the G.Skill still perform\s at rated timings at a very respectable and always available 1.9V at DDR2-800.
We asked in the beginning if the G.Skill mid-priced DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 delivered value. Since you can reach all the same timings up to DDR2-800 if you have the voltage to supply, then it certainly can perform just as well as top-line to DDR2-800. The F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ can also reach to DDR2-1067, with the performance improvements that can bring, although it does require slower timings than the best DDR2 tested at AnandTech. Finally, for those budget buyers who are using motherboards that can not supply voltages above 2.0V to 2.1V, the G.Skill will run at DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 at a very modest 1.9V. Overall, the G.Skill DDR2-800 gives excellent value, matching or coming close to the best we have tested to DDR2-800 with excellent overclocking beyond. There are certainly better performing DDR2 kits available, including some from G.Skill themselves, but for the money you will pay you definitely receive excellent value with this G.Skill 2GB DDR2-800 kit.
The best DDR2 memory in the market is able to run at DDR2-800 3-3-3 timings and DDR2-1066 at 4-3-4. Performance at these settings is the best we have seen for DDR2, and they remain the standard against which other DDR2 memory is measured. It is also worth repeating that all of the best DDR2 memory we have tested has been built with Micron D9 memory chips, which have set the pace for high-end DDR2 memory performance.
What a pleasant surprise then to find G.Skill DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 memory, with a mid-range price, built with Micron D9 memory chips. In fairness it is not exactly the same chip, since these Micron D9, designated D9GMH, are binned for lower performance than the very best, which are designated D9GKX. Still, we are dealing with the same excellent base memory chip, which have come through different sorts.
This same chip, binned to a lower speed and timings, does manage to reach the same performance level as the best at DDR2-800, but it requires much higher voltage to reach the 3-3-3 timings. However, if you are willing to compromise a bit, you can achieve the rated DDR2-800 at 4-4-4 timings with a very average 1.9V memory voltage. The G.Skill also became one of the few DDR2-800 kits tested at AnandTech that actually reached DDR2-1067. That memory speed required all our board could deliver at 2.35V to 2.4V and the timings still could not match the best D9 we have tested - 5-5-5 with G.Skill compared to 4-3-4 with the best D9-based DIMMs. However, this mid-priced memory acquitted itself very well, delivering more than we expected in our memory test suite.
The G.Skill DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 is not a ringer as you still get more with the very best money can buy - at DDR2-1067 and beyond. In other words you get what you pay for in this case. However, if DDR2-800 is as high as you will go, or DDR2-1067 at slower timings is still fine, then the G.Skill does deliver great value. It can be driven to the exact same memory speeds and timings as the best you can buy up to DDR2-800, although it will require more voltage to get there. If you don't want to use, or don't have that higher voltage available, then the G.Skill still perform\s at rated timings at a very respectable and always available 1.9V at DDR2-800.
We asked in the beginning if the G.Skill mid-priced DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 delivered value. Since you can reach all the same timings up to DDR2-800 if you have the voltage to supply, then it certainly can perform just as well as top-line to DDR2-800. The F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ can also reach to DDR2-1067, with the performance improvements that can bring, although it does require slower timings than the best DDR2 tested at AnandTech. Finally, for those budget buyers who are using motherboards that can not supply voltages above 2.0V to 2.1V, the G.Skill will run at DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 at a very modest 1.9V. Overall, the G.Skill DDR2-800 gives excellent value, matching or coming close to the best we have tested to DDR2-800 with excellent overclocking beyond. There are certainly better performing DDR2 kits available, including some from G.Skill themselves, but for the money you will pay you definitely receive excellent value with this G.Skill 2GB DDR2-800 kit.
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Wesley Fink - Friday, November 3, 2006 - link
Yes, you can use dividers in overclocking. The ratios and underlying frequencies are more complicated than they appear on the surface, but we have shown in numerous memory reviews that the penalty for not running the preferred 1:1 is really pretty small.If cost is a constraint in a build then money put in a video upgrade first will deliver the most improvement in performance, a CPU would be the next place the upgrade yields great value. Higher memory speeds do increase performnace, but the increases are very small compared to a video card upgrade or a CPU upgrade.
Madellga - Saturday, November 4, 2006 - link
How do you run the memory slower?This was an option with the A64, but so far with the 965 chipset the options are to run the the memory faster, not slower.
My sample size is small, but both the Abit AW9D (975) and Gigabyte DS4 (965) don't have ratios to slow down the memory.
Wesley Fink - Saturday, November 4, 2006 - link
The memory may be RATED at DDR2-800, but you can select memory ratios to run the base at DDR2-400, 533, 667, 800, 1066 and sometimes in-between ratios. That allows you to set the memory at DDR2-400, for example, and overclock your CPU to much higher levels. This is how we test memory at different speeds. This feature is also available on almost every 975, 965, and AM2 board we have tested - except the very lowest models.For example, if I set my DDR2-800 to DDR2-533 (1:1 ratio) I can overclock my bus to 1600 (400 FSB) and then be at the specifed speed of DDR2-800. Remember the bus is quad-pumped on Intel - 266 is the base setting for 1067. Memory is DOUBLE dat tate, so DDR2-533 is a base setting of 266 - that is whay it is 1:1. So at a 400 setting bus speed is 1600 and memory is DDR2-800.
Madellga - Sunday, November 5, 2006 - link
Wes, thanks for the explanation. I've always used 1:1, when you mentioned using dividers I thought you meant something under 1:1.The A64 "dividers" were less confusing than Intel's memory straps, despite the fact how the divider was calculated.
vailr - Friday, November 3, 2006 - link
Any thought of running the memory tests under Windows XP x64? Do the Sandra benchmark tests run in the x64 operating system?Gary Key - Friday, November 3, 2006 - link
The Sandra benchmarks will run fine in XP-64. Once VISTA goes is RTM then we will be switching over to this OS. We had thought about doing some XP-64 tests when Conroe launched but decided to wait (and wait and wait and wait as it turns out) for VISTA.vailr - Friday, November 3, 2006 - link
Vista will also be offered in x64 and "x86" versions. Which version will be favored, as far as AT reviews & benchmark tests?Wesley Fink - Friday, November 3, 2006 - link
64-bit Vista is touted as the PRO version, with 32-bit Vista more akin to XP Home. Unless there are strong reasons otherwise the 64-bit version will likely be the standard.MxChris - Friday, November 3, 2006 - link
How is this different from this set: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK that I bought a coule months ago? Looks to have exactly the same rated timings and specs according to newegg.Wesley Fink - Friday, November 3, 2006 - link
According to G. Skill specs, your memory is rated 1.9-2.0V at 4-4-4-12 and it is pictured with a pale blue heatspreader. Our test dimms are rated 2.0-2.1V for the same timings and have black heatspreaders. You will need to ask G. Skill if your dimms use different memory chips since we don't have samples available to check the chips used on your model number.Your G. Skill kit is curently selling for $240 at newegg compared to $299 for the kit we tested, so I suspect they are based on different memory chips. The Micron chips are notoriously expensive - even with slower bins -and we have seen Mosel used in some mid memory of late, as well as the Elpida that is normal for low-mid memory.