OCZ VX Revisited: DDR Updates on DFI nForce4
by Wesley Fink on March 30, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Test Results: Crucial Ballistix PC3200
Crucial gets a new lease on life on the DFI nForce4 motherboards with memory performance that blows past our previous results with Ballistix on A64.| Crucial PC3200 Ballistix (DDR400) - 2 x 512Mb 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 | 400DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.0V 1T |
547.8 | INT 2922 FLT 3067 |
INT 6112 FLT 6060 |
80 | 115.2 |
| 11x218 | 436DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.1V 1T |
550.2 | INT 3037 FLT 3210 |
INT 6538 FLT 6462 |
80 | 115.6 |
| 10x240 | 480DDR | 2.5-2-2-6 3.2V 1T |
562.3 | INT 3131 FLT 3333 |
INT 6792 FLT 6712 |
79 | 117.0 |
| 9x267 | 533DDR | 2.5-3-3-6 2.8V 1T |
559.8 | INT 3220 FLT 3473 |
INT 7043 FLT 6959 |
79 | 116.9 |
| 10x280 (2.8 GHz) |
Highest CPU/Mem Performance | 2.5-3-3-6 2.9V 1T |
633.7 | INT 3532 FLT 3754 |
INT 7798 FLT 7738 |
71 | 133.8 |
We were able to reach stable memory speeds in the 295 to 300 CPU speed range (DDR590 to DDR600) at slower timings, but the best combination of Memory Speed/CPU Speed/Performance was achieved at 10x280. At 10x280 (2.8GHz) and the still excellent timings of 2.5-3-3-6, Crucial Ballistix turns in performance equivalent to VX at 10x267 2-2-2-6. There is no doubt that the Athlon 64 platform can be a very good match to Crucial Ballistix. When price is considered, Ballistix is still a very attractive choice on the latest nForce4 platforms. It is also interesting that as a memory chip, the Micron chips used in Ballistix are very close in performance to the Winbond chips used in VX at the same timings and speed.
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tkeoki - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
I was curious why new video drivers would make a difference in speed in the tests where the video subsystem is not involved. Anyone?StormGod - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
In soviet Russia memory overvolts you!ozzimark - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
*claps*you're my hero Wesley. thanks for going through and redoing the benches with the dfi. looks like you were right about the VX being faster at the same timings and speed.. though it still doesn't make sense to me. i'll have to do a bit of research into it.
two things i'd like to say about the review though:
first, a recommendation for an additional test. use the memory latency benchmark in everest ( http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1... ). i have found that in my testing, the lower the latency, the better (duh) but if the latency is different for each ram at the same speeds and timings, it would definitly imply that not all ram is equal at equal settings.. which is what we're seeing here.
second: why so much voltage for ballistix at low speeds? i have two sticks of the stuff myself, and have found that it helps tremendously if the drive strength is lowered to level 1 or level 2 on my dfi lanparty nf3-ut. i know the nf4 version is different, but it's something to keep in mind with tweaking.