Memory Scaling on Core i7 - Is DDR3-1066 Really the Best Choice?
by Gary Key on June 24, 2009 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Sometimes Memory Bandwidth Makes a Difference
Thankfully, for the memory makers at least, things aren't always as bleak as the PCMark Vantage results. Out of the forty or so applications we tested (23 reported on) in compiling this article, these are the applications that displayed differences worth mentioning when either increasing memory bandwidth or decreasing latencies.
WinRAR 3.9b3 x64
This benchmark compresses our AT workload consisting of a main folder that contains 954MB of files in 15 subfolders. The result is a file approximately 829MB in size.
WinRAR loves bandwidth and latency improvements. Of all the applications we tested, this one responded best to improved memory performance. Going from DDR3-1066 C7 to DDR3-1866 C7 resulted in a 20% decrease in processing time by just varying memory speeds. Latency improvements within a given memory speed were most noticeable with 1066 C5 being about 6% quicker than 1066 C7 and 1333 C6 around 8% faster than 1333 C9.
Cinema 4D R11 x64
Cinema 4D R11 is one of our favorite programs to create high-end 3D images and animations. We track the time it takes to render a swimming pool layout.
Maxon’s top flight program is bottlenecked at DDR3-1066 speeds and responded well to improved memory bandwidth with a 7% performance increase going from 1066 C7 to 1866 C7.
LightWave 3D 9.6 x64
Another popular 3D rendering program is Lightwave 3D 9.6. In this test we time the rendering of a single frame from an office building animation. The time to render the full scene is approximately four and a half hours.
Newtek’s premier application responded well to improved memory bandwidth with a 6% advantage for DDR3-1866 C7 over DDR3-1066 C7.
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.
While not a true flight simulation or even serious air combat game, it is a lot of fun and looks visually stunning on a 30” monitor with all options turned up. In our case, we set all options to high, enable 2xAA and DX10, and then use FRAPS to time a custom demo sequence. We run three loops of the benchmark and average our scores for the results.
We noticed in several games that decreased latencies and/or increased bandwidth tended to improve minimum frame rates more so than average frame rates. In the case of H.A.W.X., minimum frame rates improved about 14% going from 1066 C7 to 1866 C7, while average frame rates improved 6%.
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sonci - Thursday, June 25, 2009 - link
The title was enough,and yours is too..
goinginstyle - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - link
I have no idea where you have been hiding Gary but it is great to see you back. I look forward to the AMD article and the individual module tests. If they are half as good as this, I will be one happy person. Any chance or comments on Virtualization benches under WIn7 with XP?duploxxx - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - link
very nice article with real world applications, now can you pls do the same with amount of dimms used and finally kill this marketing hype?vailr - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - link
Re:"Current JDEC specifications list 1.50V as the official voltage specification for DDR3 with a move to 1.35V in the near future and eventually to 1.20V."
How does DDR5 (already being used on some video cards) voltages compare with those numbers?
Any predictions on when DDR5 memory modules for main boards might be introduced?
Are lower latency DDR3 modules "in the works"?
Maybe such a thing as:
1333 MHz @4-4-4-12 & 1.20v, for example?
Also: Intel promotes the benefits of using Hafnium when producing their CPU's. Would Hafnium also benefit memory chips?
GourdFreeMan - Thursday, June 25, 2009 - link
The video cards you are thinking of use GDDR, not DDR. You will never find GDDR packaged on DIMMs for motherboard memory slots, but rather only as individual chips for graphics boards and consoles. Though they share some technologies, you would need a different memory controller to make use of it. Typically GDDR5 runs from 1V to 1.4V (the GDDR5 on the stock Radeon HD 4770 runs at 1.263V for example). Hafnium dioxide has already been used by some manufacturers as the dielectric material in DRAM capacitors, and I know NEC, at least, has already used Hafnium in transistor gates for embedded DRAM. As for higher speed and lower latency RAM, that is pretty much always in the works...Zorlac - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - link
I have thought this all along, but was too lazy to prove it. Thanks Anand!!! :)Any idea when we will start seeing 4GB DIMMs for running 3x4GB kits?
Gary Key - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - link
We just finished testing a 12GB 1600 C9 kit from Kingston, but the street price is $1400. I also have a 24GB kit from Corsair, but I will not even mention the cost on that one. We should see affordable (compared to buying 6x2GB) 12GB kits later this year in the 1333 C8 variety without ECC. I do have a 12GB ECC Kingston 1066 C8 kit arriving shortly, retail is about $320, to test in some workstation products.DXRick - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - link
It looks like the sweet spot is 1600 C8 at around $100 for a 6BG kit.vol7ron - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - link
agreed --- those saying 1333 really are saving the buckI would still like to see SuperPi tests, since they are a mathematical approach to memory performance.
Gary Key - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - link
Super Pi results will come in Raja's 2000 shootout. However, most of the Super Pi program runs in cache and when it goes outside of it,it only hits a couple of ranks in short bursts (why bandwidth matters) and as a result a proper loading of the entire memory subsystem is not really tested thoroughly. That said, we will have a complete subsection on Super Pi for the overclocking crowd. :)