Athlon 64 Memory: Rewriting the Rules
by Wesley Fink on October 1, 2004 12:45 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Geil PC3200 Ultra X
Geil PC3200 Ultra X reached the highest memory speeds that we have reached with a new DDR400 2-2-2 memory in Geil PC3200 Ultra X: High Speed & Record Bandwidth. After reaching DDR561 on the Intel platform, we were very interested in finding where the Ultra X could go on the A64 Socket 939.Geil produces an extensive line of memory from value-priced memory to some of the fastest enthusiast memory that you can find the market. Geil produces both standard and enthusiast DDR, DDR2, and so-DIMMs.
Ultra X is a new line for Geil, basically a high-performance extension to the Ultra series of DDR. The current Ultra line extends from Ultra PC3200 all the way to an Ultra Platinum DDR550. The Ultra X 3200 modules are available in individual 256MB and 512MB DIMMs, as well as in matched pairs as a 512MB kit (2x256) and 1GB kit (2x512). Test DIMMs were a pair of Geil PC3200 Ultra X in a 1GB kit (2x512MB modules).
The Ultra X DIMMs use platinum-colored heat-spreaders that have a copper core for heat dissipation.
As seen in the 2-2-2 roundup, most DDR400 2-2-2 memory uses Samsung TCCD memory chips. Since our earlier review of the Geil Ultra X, we have determined that Geil uses Samsung TCCD memory chips in the Ultra X memory. The blanks are labeled as Geil chips with a speed rating of 3.5ns. Geil describes the chips as hand-selected for performance from 5ns chips.
Geil PC3200 Ultra X Specifications
| Geil PC3200 Ultra X Memory Specifications | |
| Number of DIMMs & Banks | 2 DS |
| DIMM Size Total Memory |
512 Mb 1 GB |
| Rated Timings | 2-2-2-5 at DDR400 |
| SPD (Auto) Timings | 2.5-2-2-5 |
| Rated Voltage | 2.55V - 2.95V |
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Bugler - Friday, October 1, 2004 - link
I ordered from Newegg today. I did not see a place on their site for just a 512mb stick. I ordered the 1gb kit.http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
Bugler - Friday, October 1, 2004 - link
saechaka - Friday, October 1, 2004 - link
hey bugler where are you ordering your ocz platinum rev. 2 from? is there any way to find a place where you can order 1 512mb stick only?darkwaffle - Friday, October 1, 2004 - link
I'm curious, for a socket754 user, is there really any reason why we couldn't (generally) follow these results? I realize that some of the overclocks may not be able to be achieved, but is it safe to say that the modules that perform highly on s939 will also perform highly also on s754 (In comparison to the other modules)?Wesley Fink - Friday, October 1, 2004 - link
#32 -Corsair and Kingston DDR400 2-2-2 were both included in our recent 2-2-2 roundup. Frankly we did test both Kingston and Corsair in the early going for these tests and both did quite poorly on the Athlon 64 test bed compared to other recent TCCD modules.
However, the Kingston and Corsair were early TCCD dimms and we are confident more recent dimms from these two major manufacturers would perform more like the OCZ, Geil, and G. Skill. Unfortunately we didn't have those more recent dimms to test, and we felt reporting what we had found would have been very unfair to Corsair and Kingston, who both produce excellent memory products.
ImJacksAmygdala - Friday, October 1, 2004 - link
I'm sure OCZ and Geil are great memory for A64, but all I got out of that article was buy OCZ memory, buy Geil Memory, o ya and buy a top of the line OCZ power supply....What about Corsair and Kingston? How do they compete?
This site is smothered with advertisement. Why make it so obvious in the articles? Thanks for the article though...
einsig - Friday, October 1, 2004 - link
And re: the robust +12v rails. They are most crucial for A64 overlocking. I have an Enermax with 31A on two +12v rails and it makes the world of difference.einsig - Friday, October 1, 2004 - link
One thing that really needs to be stated is that Clawhammer cores automatically set a command rate of 2T at speeds from DDR400 and up. you need to use A64 Tweaker to make the change (can be loaded at startup). I have a Clawhammer 3400+ that has been run on an ASUS K8V Deluxe and MSI K8N Neo Platinum. I was running XMS 2x512 3200LL Corsair, but it didn't want to OC even on the K8N (nothing OCs on the K8V because of the chipset). I now run Crucial ballistix PC4000 and it is incredible, however (as the article states) the command rate of 1T is really ideal. They should just tell people how to set that if they have a Clawhammer.Shinei - Friday, October 1, 2004 - link
What's really exciting is that the two DDR600 overclockers are board-limited before they top out in speed (K8N Neo2s go to 300MHz on the RAM). I'd like to see what the RAM could do on a more extreme overclocking board, since it seems like these new RAM chips are capable of pushing on to DDR667 or even higher...With that said, I agree that the prices for this stuff is getting ridonculous. Cheaper RAM means more sales and increased usage of that 8 exobyte storage capacity the Athlon 64 has. ;)
Bugler - Friday, October 1, 2004 - link
Thank you AnandTech. I have been waiting for greater clarification since you last recommended OCZ 3700 enhanced bandwidth ram and none could be found. I was balancing between that and ballistix. After today's review, I ordered OCZ Plat, rev 2 for the system I am putting together.Now if we could get some reviews and testing of the newer 90 speed AMD processors, hint, hint...
I appreciate this site very much.