OCZ VX Memory + DFI nForce4 = DDR533 at 2-2-2
by Wesley Fink on March 4, 2005 6:45 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Test Results: OCZ EL PC4000 VX Gold
To be considered stable for test purposes, Quake3 benchmark, UT2003 Demo, Super PI, Aquamark 3, and Comanche 4 had to complete without incident. Any of these, especially Super PI, will crash a less-than stable memory configuration.| OCZ EL PC4000 VX Gold (DDR500) - 2x512Mb Double-Bank | |||||||
| CPU Ratio at 2.4GHz | Memory Speed | Memory Timings & Voltage |
Quake3 fps |
Sandra UNBuffered | Sandra Standard Buffered |
Super PI 2M places (time in sec) |
Wolfenstein - Radar - Enemy Territory fps |
| 12x200 | 400 DDR (Stock V) |
2-3-2-6 2.6V 1T (Stock V) |
567.4 | INT 2856 FLT 2998 |
INT 6130 FLT 6082 |
81 | 119.3 |
| 12x200 | 400 DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.0V 1T |
572.6 | INT 2920 FLT 3065 |
INT 6150 FLT 6098 |
80 | 120.3 |
| 11x218 | 436 DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.1V 1T |
580.6 | INT 3077 FLT 3253 |
INT 6538 FLT 6467 |
80 | 121.4 |
| 10x240 | 480 DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.2V 1T |
600.5 | INT 3234 FLT 3404 |
INT 6804 FLT 6727 |
78 | 123.4 |
| 9x267 | 533 DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.5V 1T |
601.5 | INT 3477 FLT 3679 |
INT 7143 FLT 7056 |
77 | 124.9 |
| 9x269 (2.42GHz) |
Highest 1T Mem Speed 538 DDR |
2-2-2-6 3.6V 1T |
602.3 | INT 3477 FLT 3683 |
INT 7169 FLT 7106 |
77 | 125.2 |
| 10x250 (2.5Ghz) |
Rated Speed 500 DDR |
2-2-2-6 3.2V 1T |
612.2 | INT 3364 FLT 3557 |
INT 7093 FLT 7009 |
75 | 128.4 |
| 10x267 (2.67GHz) |
Highest CPU/MEM Performance | 2-2-2-6 3.5V 1T |
645.0 | INT 3470 FLT 3629 |
INT 7554 FLT 7461 |
71 | 135.8 |
The top row of Performance results at 2.6V is included as a performance baseline. While VX cannot achieve 2-2-2 timings at stock voltage at DDR400, it can easily be coaxed into 2-2-2 performance at DDR400 with more voltage. With these modules, we reached an extremely stable DDR400 2-2-2-6 at 3.0V. We then maintained 2-2-2-6 timings all the way to DDR538, which required 3.6V for complete stability. The voltage requirements from 3.0 to 3.6 volts were very linear to Memory Speed.
The important results here are rows 1 to 6, where CPU speed is kept at 2.4GHZ and only the Memory Speed is varied. The performance differences that you see in that range are a result of Memory Speed only. In the case of VX, where memory timings also remain constant, the true impact of just memory speed can be seen. It is not a huge difference in real-world benchmarks, but the increase is real nonetheless.
However, speed from 400 to 533 is not the only thing that is important with OCZ VX. Please take a look at VX performance in our later performance comparisons. Look at each of these speeds, comparing VX to the best AMD TCCD and other memory that we have tested, and you will see something very interesting. VX is faster at every speed than competing memory that we have tested. This means that all 2-2-2 is not created equal, as VX is faster at every speed than the competition at 2-2-2.
| OCZ EL PC4000 VX Gold (DDR500) 2x512Mb Double-Bank |
||||
| CPU Ratio at 2.4GHz | Memory Speed | Memory Timings & Voltage |
Everest 1.51 READ |
Everest 1.51 WRITE |
| 12x200 | 400 DDR (Stock V) |
2-3-2-6 2.6V 1T (Stock V) |
5941 | 2639 |
| 12x200 | 400 DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.0V 1T |
5996 | 2661 |
| 11x218 | 436 DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.1V 1T |
6338 | 2756 |
| 10x240 | 480 DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.2V 1T |
6977 | 2894 |
| 9x267 | 533 DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.5V 1T |
7455 | 3043 |
| 9x269 (2.42GHz) |
Highest 1T Mem Speed 538 DDR |
2-2-2-6 3.6V 1T |
7466 | 3055 |
| 10x250 (2.5GHz) |
Rated Speed 500 DDR |
2-2-2-6 3.2V 1T |
7236 | 3018 |
| 10x267 (2.67GHz) |
Highest CPU/MEM Performance | 2-2-2-6 3.5V 1T |
7603 | 3160 |
We have looked at Aida 32 results in the past, and found them very useful in examining read/write performance and memory latency. Aida 32 is now available as Everest Home Edition and can be downloaded for free from www.lavalys.com. It is very interesting to look at the real impact of memory speed on write performance compared to memory read performance. As we raise the memory speed from 200 to 267 (DDR400 to DDR533), keeping the CPU speed constant, memory Read increases over 25% while memory Write over the same range shows just a 14% increase. That means that while all operations benefit from memory speed increases, operations more dependent on memory Read will benefit much more from memory speed boosts than those that are memory Write dependent.
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ozzimark - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
oh wait, i forgot this is also on a different motherboard.. are the nf4 pci-e boards really that much faster?Wesley Fink - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
#12 - The memory ran quite cool at 3.0V, and was even cool to about 3.2V. Above that, however, it started to get quite warm and I did mount a fan over the dimms at speeds above DDR500 to get higher stable overclocks. The VX ran fine at higher speeds, stable and no crashes, but the extra cooling gave a few FSB more in overclocking.#13 - The Value Ram roundup is in the works and will hopefully publish next week while I am out of the US.
ozzimark - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
umm, i have a problem with the video card benchmarks..go back to the 61.77 drivers you used for the rest of the benchmarks, vx at 2-3-2 shouldn't be that much faster than other ram at 2-2-2 at the same mhz.
Wesley Fink - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
#10 - I don't know how the wording got turned around, but the sentence has been corrected. It now reads:"As we raise the memory speed from 200 to 267 (DDR400 to DDR533), keeping the CPU speed constant, memory Read increases over 25% while memory Write over the same range shows just a 14% increase. That means that while all operations benefit from memory speed increases, operations more dependent on memory Read will benefit much more from memory speed boosts than those that are memory Write dependent."
eetnoyer - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
Nice review, and great memory. But for those of us who aren't willing to piss away that much money for memory, are you still planning on the value memory round-up that was promised last summer?elrolio - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
my question is:how were the temps runnin that stuff at 3.6v? was it super hot? were case temps drastically higher? did you need active fan cooling over the ram? open test bed? was it all good in the hood?
thanks, just wondering...
AnnihilatorX - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
This ram rocks solid oO255 USD according to haelduksf
That's a bargain.
Again I am not in US and sometimes I just get depressed when I cannot find a single computer equipment as cheap as US in UK and HK.
slashbinslashbash - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
Typo on Page 4 (last sentence):"That means that while all operations benefit from memory speed increases, operations more dependent on memory write will benefit much more from memory speed boosts than those that are memory write dependent."
Should be
"That means that while all operations benefit from memory speed increases, operations more dependent on memory write will benefit much more from memory speed boosts than those that are memory read dependent."
I'm just wondering, though..... can there possibly be a (real-life, practical) application that writes to memory more than it reads from memory? I mean, what's the point of writing to memory, if the stored values are never accessed? Seems like a pretty inefficient program to me :)
Good article, I agree this is one of the few non-boring RAM reviews I've ever seen :)
Tiamat - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
Wow, the huge performance delta is incredible! Just WOWQuiksel - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
normally, I hate reading memory reviews. Looking at the charts, I don't ever get excited about advances in the stuff, simply because you never see all that much of an improvement on the current king of performance.However, I must admit I was enjoying the article much more than I have ever have before. I guess when you see 10's of fps better, and there is such a marked improvement in performance over the competition, you can't help but want some of that action. ;)
now, if we can just see that kind of performance for the sub-$100 market ;)