Super Pi
To look at pure number crunching, Super Pi 1.5 was run in all memory test configurations. Super Pi is a very simple program as it merely calculates the value of Pi to a designated number of decimal positions. In this case we chose 2 Million places.
As predicted in the unbuffered memory tests, Super Pi is fastest on the DDR2 low latency platforms, with P35 at 800 3-3-3 and 1066 4-4-3 the fastest in the overlap speeds. The P65 running the same memory is close behind. Lower Latency DDR3 now has Kingston at almost the same level in Super Pi as the P965 in overlap speeds. DDR3-1333 and DDR3-1500+ exclusively belong to DDR3.
It is interesting that the Kingston DDR3-1375 nearly closes the gap with the fastest 3-3-3 DDR2 memory available. This early introduction of lower latency DDR3 clearly demonstrates you will not have to give up a thing with DDR3 in the overlap speeds and you will gain higher speeds as well. The only current roadblock to DDR3 is the high price of admission. When that drops to near parity with DDR2 the logical choice will be DDR3.
Overclocking
The highest overclock that could be reached with stability with Kingston DDR3-1375 was 1520 at 8-8-8-22 timings at 1.8V. While we managed to boot at speeds as high as 1552, the performance was not stable enough to consistently run our test suite. While voltages as high as 1.9V worked for a while with added memory fans, it did not remain stable. The highest stable voltage that worked long term with air cooling is 1.8V.
There is more to the overclocking performance of the Kingston than just the 1520 number, however. The memory is rated at 7-7-7-timings, which is fast for a memory rated at DDR3-1375. This memory managed to reach 1500 memory speed at 7-7-7-20 timings at 1.8V. While it did reach 20MHz higher with slower 8-8-8 timings, it simply is not worth the slower timings for the small gain in speed. For best performance consider the Kingston a 7-7-7 memory to 1500 speed and ignore the higher timings
It is a significant advantage with the P35 chipset motherboards that every Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processor we tested on the P35 boards ran at 1333 speeds at the stock multiplier without the need to increase voltage. This is a significant, free, and pain-free overclock provided courtesy of the new 1333 bus speed option. This little side effect will make the P35 with DDR2 a favorite overclocker's board with current Intel Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors. A $189 E6420 can perform even better than an E6700 just by selecting a 1333 bus on P35 and leaving everything else at default. A $500 Q6600 can outperform the QX6700 with just a bus speed change.
To look at pure number crunching, Super Pi 1.5 was run in all memory test configurations. Super Pi is a very simple program as it merely calculates the value of Pi to a designated number of decimal positions. In this case we chose 2 Million places.
| SuperPi 1.5 - 2.66GHz Results in Seconds - Lower is Better |
||||
| Memory | 800 | 1066 | 1333 | 1520 (380x7) |
| Kingston DDR3-1333 KHX11000D3LLK2 |
46.27 5-4-3-10 1.75V |
45.42 6-5-5-12 1.7V |
45.22 7-7-6-15 1.7V |
45.31 8-8-8-22 1.8V |
| Corsair DDR3-1066 CM3X1024-1066C7 |
46.89 6-6-6-15 1.5V |
45.93 7-7-7-20 1.5V |
45.77 9-9-9-25 1.5V |
- |
| DDR2 - P35 Corsair Dominator |
45.78 3-3-3-9 2.25V |
45.20 4-4-3-11 2.3V |
- | - |
| DDR2 - P965 (10x266) Corsair Dominator |
46.05 3-3-3-9 2.25V |
45.39 4-4-3-11 2.3V |
- | - |
As predicted in the unbuffered memory tests, Super Pi is fastest on the DDR2 low latency platforms, with P35 at 800 3-3-3 and 1066 4-4-3 the fastest in the overlap speeds. The P65 running the same memory is close behind. Lower Latency DDR3 now has Kingston at almost the same level in Super Pi as the P965 in overlap speeds. DDR3-1333 and DDR3-1500+ exclusively belong to DDR3.
It is interesting that the Kingston DDR3-1375 nearly closes the gap with the fastest 3-3-3 DDR2 memory available. This early introduction of lower latency DDR3 clearly demonstrates you will not have to give up a thing with DDR3 in the overlap speeds and you will gain higher speeds as well. The only current roadblock to DDR3 is the high price of admission. When that drops to near parity with DDR2 the logical choice will be DDR3.
Overclocking
| Overclocked Memory Performance | ||||
| Benchmark Applications- | 7x380 - 2.66GHz DDR3-1520 8-8-8-22 |
8x380 - 3.04GHz DDR3-1520 8-8-8-22 |
8x375 - 3.00GHz DDR3-1500 7-7-7-15 |
|
| Sandra (Buffered) Memory Bandwidth: Higher is Better |
7329 | 7462 | 7506 | |
| Sandra (UnBuffered) Memory Bandwidth: Higher is Better |
5172 | 5263 | 5390 | |
| Super Pi 1.5: Time in Seconds - Lower is Better |
45.31 | 40.40 | 40.70 | |
| Far Cry: Frames Per Second - Higher is Better |
107.46 | 117.82 | 118.60 | |
| Quake 4 - id Demo: Frames Per Second - Higher is Better |
116.0 | 123.5 | 124.2 | |
| Half Life 2 - Lost Coast: Frames Per Second - Higher is Better |
109.5 | 111.5 | 112.1 | |
The highest overclock that could be reached with stability with Kingston DDR3-1375 was 1520 at 8-8-8-22 timings at 1.8V. While we managed to boot at speeds as high as 1552, the performance was not stable enough to consistently run our test suite. While voltages as high as 1.9V worked for a while with added memory fans, it did not remain stable. The highest stable voltage that worked long term with air cooling is 1.8V.
There is more to the overclocking performance of the Kingston than just the 1520 number, however. The memory is rated at 7-7-7-timings, which is fast for a memory rated at DDR3-1375. This memory managed to reach 1500 memory speed at 7-7-7-20 timings at 1.8V. While it did reach 20MHz higher with slower 8-8-8 timings, it simply is not worth the slower timings for the small gain in speed. For best performance consider the Kingston a 7-7-7 memory to 1500 speed and ignore the higher timings
It is a significant advantage with the P35 chipset motherboards that every Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processor we tested on the P35 boards ran at 1333 speeds at the stock multiplier without the need to increase voltage. This is a significant, free, and pain-free overclock provided courtesy of the new 1333 bus speed option. This little side effect will make the P35 with DDR2 a favorite overclocker's board with current Intel Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors. A $189 E6420 can perform even better than an E6700 just by selecting a 1333 bus on P35 and leaving everything else at default. A $500 Q6600 can outperform the QX6700 with just a bus speed change.
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Kozusnik - Thursday, December 6, 2007 - link
Kingstone ram is some of the best ram you can put into your computer by asking me i use it in every computer i build!begsh - Saturday, June 23, 2007 - link
are you really achieved this??i have same modules and they cant get even 1400 at 7-7-7, with mobo asus p5k3 and 0403 bios.
any tips?
Night201 - Friday, May 25, 2007 - link
http://www.memory4less.com/m4l_itemdetail.asp?rid=...">Seems pretty Expensive: ~ $500MadBoris - Saturday, May 26, 2007 - link
P.S. Some of the recent reviews almost seem a bit minimalistic. Hope it's not a trend of things to come. Not to be critical, but I would like to see anandtech provide fresh content, perspectives and methodologies like I've grown accustomed to.Wesley Fink - Monday, May 28, 2007 - link
We would appreciate it if you could share specifics of what would constitute a non-minimalist memory review. What tests and procedures would you add?MadBoris - Saturday, May 26, 2007 - link
You know the more i think about it, the results aren't that tangible. Sure Sandra shows benefits. But if I am running a game at 40 fps, is DDR3 going to give me 41, 42?It won't be noticeable.
Spend less on reliable decent RAM, get a faster CPU or GPU, seriously.
Same with the P35, just not too tangible with speed tests. Mobo's should be about reliability, features sets, testing devices(USB, SATA, RAID) on them and how well they work.
Speed testing with RAM or Mobo's isn't tangible enough. When a new chipset or RAM increases things 15 - 20% then I'll be interested. I'm not really interested in shaving .5 seconds off a compile or an encode.
Wesley Fink - Friday, May 25, 2007 - link
We have updated ALL charts in the review to make it easier to compare performance. Bandwidth Standard, Bandwidth Buffered, Super Pi, and the 3 games now included 1520 (380x7) results in the last column. This means all four rows are now running at 2.66GHz, with just a change in the memory bandwidth. *00, 1066, and 1333 are running 8x333, and 1520 is 7x380 - all 2.66GHz as stated at the top of the chart.We have added an Overclocking Chart to p.5 that includes 7x380 (2.66GHz)- 8-8-8-22, 8x380 (same multiplier as 800/1066/1333 but pushed ot highest OC at 3.04GHz)- 8-8-8-20, and 8x275 (3.0GHz - highest speed at 7-7-7 timings) - 7-7-7-15. so you cna see the impact of timings at the very top overclocks. It should be no surprise that 1500 7-7-7-15 results are the fastest.
With these changes we think we have addressed your suggestions on making the performance charts more useful for readers.
Wesley Fink - Friday, May 25, 2007 - link
For those who requested them, these are the results for the higheest memory speed at slower timings. After further testing, we managed 1520 8-8-8-22 timings at 1.8V.The first result is 7x380, which is the same 2.66GHz run at all other memory speeds, and the second is 8x380, which is the same ratio but the highest OC we could reach from the base memory setting of 1333. The sequence is test, 7x380 (2.66), 8x380 (3,04):
Sandra XI-Standard Buffered - 7329, 7462
Sandra XI-Standard UNBuffered - 5172, 5263
Super Pi 1.5 - 45.31, 40.40
Far Cry River - 107.46, 117.82
Quake 4 - 116.0, 123.5
Half Life 2-Lost Coast - 109.5, 111.5
We will add a chart with these results to the bottom of the overclocking section later today.
Googer - Friday, May 25, 2007 - link
2GB of DDR3 will cost you close to $385!http://www.google.com/products?q=KHX11000D3LLK2&am...">http://www.google.com/products?q=KHX11000D3LLK2&am...
TA152H - Thursday, May 24, 2007 - link
A lot is being made of DDR3 latency and such, and performance, but hasn't anyone considered the impact of voltages? I see these grossly inflated voltages for DDR2 memory, and I can't help but wonder if they would have so much better performance, even clock speed normalized, if they were both run at stock voltages.A lot of places aren't stupid enough to run DDR2 at 2.2 or 2.3 volts, it creates a lot of heat and lowers the lifespan of the device. Sure, the kiddies will, but the business world isn't that crazy about running things out of spec. Now we have the jackasses at Kingston already producing 1.7v DDR3. Why even bother having a spec if no one pays attention to it???? The memory is just out, and they can't stay to spec.
But anyway, it might be interesting to compare memory at spec, which, last I remember, was 1.5v for DDR3 and 1.8v for DDR2. Or even at the same voltage, to see what is intrinsic to DDR3 and DDR2. It might be the voltage difference accounts for a lot of the higher timings, and not the standard. Not that I'm advocating running DDR3 at 1.8v, but for testing, it would be informative. Certainly if these nitwits are running DDR2 at 2.2-2.3v, DDR3 at 1.8v can't be too far behind. Good grief.