Mushkin & Adata: 2 for the Fast-Timings Lane
by Wesley Fink on September 1, 2003 11:18 PM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Mushkin PC 3500 Level II
Mushkin has built an enviable reputation for dependability as a memory supplier. However, they have not been a particularly active player in the recent increases in DDR memory speeds. Mushkin PC3500 Level II 2-2-2 is the fastest memory currently available from Mushkin. We have been told that this is about to change since Mushkin will soon be introducing DDR500 memory based on a unique design.
Click image to view a larger picture.
Mushkin uses Winbond BH5 chips in PC3500 Level II. BH5 is an almost legendary memory chip that has recently been discontinued, but Mushkin assures us they have sufficient stock to continue manufacture of Level II modules for many months. It was the chip used in many of the very best low-latency modules in recent months, and replacement chips have not been able to achieve the same aggressive timings at DDR400 we have seen in the past.
There were surprises on two fronts with PC3500 Level II. First, with an advertised rating of 2-2-2 at DDR433, we wondered why the SPD was programmed at 2-4-4-8. Mushkin explained that this was done for maximum compatibility. Since we have also seen the same type of SPD programming on competing memory modules, we will accept this explanation. However, this Mushkin is not a memory that can be used with SPD timings for best performance. You must set manual SPD timings to get the most from this memory.
Second, we found the 2-2-2 rating at DDR433 a bit optimistic on the Intel 875 test platform. Mushkin explained that 2-2-2 at 433 was based on a single module in the nForce2 platforms, and we can confirm that 2-2-2 is a valid rating on the nForce 2 platform at DDR433. In fact, 2-2-2 is a fair rating in Dual-Channel mode on the nForce2 Ultra 400. In Dual-Channel mode on 875/865 motherboards, we find that 2-2-3 is the true speed rating. Mushkin has indicated they will be making changes to their web descriptions to describe better the performance of the PC3500 Level II.
Despite these concerns, Mushkin does achieve the fastest memory timings we have seen from current memory at DDR400 to DDR433. In its performance range, Mushkin PC3500 Level II is one of the fastest memories you can put in your machine.
| Mushkin PC3500 Level II (DDR433) — 2 x 512MB DS Dimms Intel 875P Performance |
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| Memory Speed, Voltage, Timings | Quake3 fps |
UT2003 Flyby fps |
UT2003 Botmatch fps |
Sandra UNBuffered | Sandra Standard Buffered |
Super PI 2M places (time in sec) |
| 400@2.55V 2-2-2-6 |
328.3 | 198.34 | 70.25 | INT 3091 FLT 3145 |
INT 4942 FLT 4901 |
126s |
| 433@2.65V 2-2-3-6 |
335.5 | 202.63 | 72.68 | INT 3042 FLT 3097 |
INT 5111 FLT 5118 |
122s |
| 458@2.85V 2.5-2-3-7 |
350.6 | 211.91 | 77.0 | INT 3159 FLT 3154 |
INT 5405 FLT 5424 |
115s |
| Mushkin PC3500 Level II (DDR433) — 2 x 512MB DS Dimms AMD nForce2 Ultra 400 Performance |
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| Memory Speed, Voltage, Timings | Quake3 fps |
UT2003 Flyby fps |
UT2003 Botmatch fps |
Sandra UNBuffered | Sandra Standard Buffered |
Super PI 2M places (time in sec) |
| 333@2.55V 2-2-2-4 |
297.87 | 203.99 | 74.83 | INT 1260 FLT 1363 |
INT 2572 FLT 2437 |
120s |
| 400@2.55V 2-2-2-4 |
353.03 | 238.18 | 89.55 | INT 1475 FLT 1589 |
INT 3073 FLT 2905 |
101s |
| 433@2.65V 2-2-2-5 |
379.5 | 252.31 | 96.51 | INT 1593 FLT 1714 |
INT 3315 FLT 3136 |
94s |
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Wesley Fink - Tuesday, September 2, 2003 - link
MUSHKIN PC3500 LEVEL II AT FSB1000, 5:4 (DDR400, 2-2-2-5)We ran 1000FSB (500) at 5:4 with Mushkin PC3500 Level II at CAS 2-2-2-5. The testbed and ALL hardware and settings were the same as this review except for FSB/Ratio. Results are:
Sandra UNBuffered - 2964/2959 or avg. 2962
Sandra Buffered (Standard) ? 5470/5468 or avg. 5469
Quake 3 ? 393.7fps
UT2003 ? Flyby: 241.84
Botmatch: 87.66
SuperPI (2M places) ? 105s
Write these numbers down and compare them to DDR400 on page 8&9 and DDR500 in Part 2 Page 14 (500FSB/DDR500) charts. You will see that 5:4 2-2-2-5 is very close to the performance of the DDR500.
Anonymous User - Tuesday, September 2, 2003 - link
Oops... I have to take my last comment back. :(I have read through the whole article, and I dont see 250 FSB 1:1 3-4-4-8 vs 5:4 2-2-2-5 (200fsb vs. 250fsb ram speed) If they arent both tested together at the same CPU speed and FSB, only with the mem speed and timings change, its not perfect... But still a good review anyhow. :D
Retrospooty
Anonymous User - Tuesday, September 2, 2003 - link
Awesome review Wes,You took user feedback from the last review and tested your ram in a way NO OTHER REVIEWER HAS DONE SO FAR !!!! The right way.
Well done my friend, well done.
Retrospooty
Anonymous User - Tuesday, September 2, 2003 - link
Black is cool!the mushkin PC3500 Level II is the perfect combination with a IC7 Max3.
Anonymous User - Tuesday, September 2, 2003 - link
Given your propensity (and abuse by others) for OCZ, why did'nt you include OCZ platinum 3500 which is their ultra low latency RAM in this test. I have 2x256Mb OCZ platinum PC3200 (PC3500 wasnt and still isn't available in Australia when I built my system) in an ABIT IC7-G with 2.6C CPU. I get 2-2-2-5 to 190Mhz, 2-2-3-5 to 218 MHz and up to 230MHz on looser settings. I am moderately satisfied with this but I was offered CORSAIR XMS 3200 at time of purchase and, given your comments about Rev 1.1, I perhaps regret the path I took!wicktron - Tuesday, September 2, 2003 - link
I think you need to change the titles of the graphs on this page: http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.html?i=185...to DDR400 rather than DDR500.
wicktron - Tuesday, September 2, 2003 - link
Great review Wes.