AnandTech: Mushkin XP2 PC2-5300 DDR2 – Xtreme Performance Memory

Mushkin XP2 PC2-5300 DDR2: Stock Memory Performance

The Intel platform does not really allow for easily testing different memory speeds at the same CPU speed. Instead, most top motherboards provide a wide range of memory ratios that match available DDR2 memory. Therefore, we first tested all of the stock ratios at the fastest stable timings that we could achieve at the given ratio.

Mushkin XP2 PC2-5300 (Stock Memory Ratios) - 2x1GB Double-Bank
CPU Ratio at 3.47 GHz	Memory Speed	Best Memory Timings (Voltage)	Far Cry fps	Sandra Unbuffered	Sandra Standard Buffered	Super PI Mod 1.4 2M places (time in sec)	Half Life 2 Lost Coast fps
(4:3)	400 DDR2	3-3-2-6 1T 2.1V	60.68	INT 2777 FLT 2810	INT 5500 FLT 5520	87.8	71.8
(1:1)	533 DDR2	3-3-3-10 1T 2.1V	62.07	INT 3402 FLT 3417	INT 6448 FLT 6451	85.7	73.2
(4:5)	667 DDR2	3-3-3-10 1T 2.1V	62.86	INT 3976 FLT 4010	INT 6562 FLT 6496	84.8	75.2
(2:3)	800 DDR2	4-4-4-12 1T 2.2V	62.57	INT 4134 FLT 4135	INT 6705 FLT 6710	84.5	76.9
Highest Mem Speed (2:3) (Overclocked)	1021 DDR2	5-5-5-15 1T 2.3V	71.85	INT 4933 FLT 4999	INT 8424 FLT 8448	71.7	84.9

The Mushkin DDR2 5300 would not operate at DDR2 1066, so the highest stock ratio supported was DDR2 800. We then overclocked the DDR2 800 ratio (2:3) to the highest memory speed that we could support with stability. This turned out to be 1021 DDR2.

There are other possible approaches to overclocking DDR2 memory on the Intel platform. Probably the most logical, given that the memory controller resides on the Intel chipset rather than the processor, is to look at overclocking at a 1:1 ratio. For our test setup, that means a DDR2 533 base setting. You can see results of that approach on pages 10-12.

To put memory performance in perspective, screenshots of default memory performance provide a baseline for performance in SiSoft Sandra Professional 2005, Everest Ultimate Edition 2006, and memory scores at default settings from Futuremark's PCMark05.

Below is a screen capture showing the default SPD timings. Note the SPD memory timings are as listed previously in the Elpida datasheet, at 5-5-5-12. Mushkin rates the memory at 3-3-3 timings, but you will have to set these tighter timings manually in BIOS.

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The next two images are the default screen captures from SiSoft Sandra Professional 2005, both buffered and unbuffered renditions of performance at default settings in BIOS.

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Here is how performance was depicted through the Everest Ultimate 2006 Edition benchmarks.

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Finally, for comparative purposes later in this review, here are the results on the PCMark05 memory suite of tests.

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