Kingmax Hardcore Memory: Tiny BGA Reaches For Top Speed

Performance Test Configuration

The Memory testbed for evaluating the Kingmax Hardcore Memory is the same used in our earlier reviews of DDR500 and other High-Speed Memory.

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All test conditions were as close as possible to those used in our earlier memory reviews.

INTEL 875P Performance Test Configuration
Processor(s):	Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz (800MHz FSB)
RAM:	2 x 512MB Kingmax DDR500 Hardcore Series (DS) 2 x 512MB Kingmax DDR466 Hardcore Series (DS) 2 x 512MB Corsair XMS4400v1.1 TwinX (DS) 2 x 512MB OCZ PC4400 DC Kit (DS) 2 x 512MB OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 2 (DS) 2 x 512MB OCZ 4200EL(DS) 2 x 512MB Mushkin PC4000 High Performance (DS) 2 x 512MB Corsair TwinX4000 PRO (DS) 2 x 512MB Mushkin Level II PC3500 (DS) 2 x 256MB Adata DDR450 (SS) 2 x 512MB Adata PC4000 (DS) 2 x 512MB Corsair PC4000 (DS) 2 x 512MB Geil PC4000 (DS) 4 x 256MB Kingston PC4000 (SS) 2 x 256MB Kingston PC4000 (SS) 2 x 512MB OCZ PC4000 (DS) 4 x 256MB OCZ PC3700 GOLD (DS)
Hard Drives	2 Western Digital Raptor Serial ATA 36.7GB 10,000 rpm drives in an Intel ICH5R RAID configuration
PCI/AGP Speed	Fixed at 33/66
Bus Master Drivers:	875P Intel INF Update v5.00.1012, SATA RAID drivers installed, but IAA not installed
Video Card(s):	ATI 9800 PRO 128MB, 128MB aperture, 1024x768x32
Video Drivers:	ATI Catalyst 4.1
Power Supply:	Vantec Stealth 470 Watt Aluminum
Operating System(s):	Windows XP Professional SP1
Motherboards:	Asus P4C800-E (875) with 1015 Release BIOS

Since memory rated at DDR500 is generally targeted at the Intel 875/865 enthusiast, we only tested on our Intel test bed. Kingmax claims compatibility with AMD chipsets as well, including the Athlon 64.

Test Settings

The following settings were tested with Kingmax DDR500 and DDR466:

1. 800FSB/DDR400 - the highest stock speed supported on 875/865 and K8T800/nF3/SiS755 motherboards.
2. 866FSB/DDR433 - a common speed achievable with low-latency DDR400 modules.
3. 933FSB/DDR466 - the specified rating of the DDR466 memory modules.
4. 1000FSB/DDR500 - the specified rating of the test DDR500 modules and the maximum speed that many current Intel 865/875 boards can achieve.
5. Highest Stable Overclock - the highest settings that we could achieve with this memory and other memory we have tested.

These are the same general settings used in benchmarking other memory in the above list of memory tests. DDR400, DDR500, and Highest Memory Speed have been used for all benchmarking. DDR433 and DDR466 have only been tested in the past for modules with those speed ratings.