1GB DIMMs: FAST 2GB DDR Kits from Corsair, Gigaram, and OCZ
by Wesley Fink on October 11, 2005 2:55 PM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Performance Test Configuration
The three 2GB kits were tested with the DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR Athlon 64 Socket 939 motherboard. Other components remain the same as used in the memory setup found in Athlon 64 Memory: Rewriting the Rules.
The A64 test bed includes components that have been proven in Socket 939 Athlon 64 benchmarking, such as the Socket 939 4000+, the OCZ Power Stream 520 Power Supply, and the NVIDIA 6800 Ultra video card. We also used an AMD FX57 set to a 12X multiplier for tests that required a Revision E type memory controller. The FX57 was adjusted to run at 2.4GHz, the same speed as the Clawhammer 4000+.
All other basic test conditions attempted to mirror those used in our earlier Athlon 64 memory reviews.
In past benchmarking, we have found performance of the nForce4 and nForce3 chipsets to be virtually identical, and we have found AGP and PCIe performance to be virtually the same in the benchmarks that we use for memory testing. Therefore, you can also generally compare these results to TCCD benchmarks in recent memory reviews.
With nForce3 motherboards, the fastest performance on AMD Athlon 64 was at a Cycle Time or tRAS of 10. However, the nForce4 behaves a bit differently with memory. We ran a complete set of Memtest86 benchmarks with only tRAS varied to determine the best tRAS setting for these memories, and found the best bandwidth at tRAS settings ranging from 5 to 8. Therefore, a tRAS setting of 7 was used for testing.
Test Settings
All AMD Athlon 64 processors are unlocked downward, and the FX CPUs are unlocked up and down. This feature allows a different approach to memory testing, which truly measures performance differences in memory speed alone. All tests were run with CPU speed as close to the specified 2.4GHz of the 4000+/FX53 as possible, with CPU speed/Memory Speed increased at lower multipliers to achieve 2.4 GHz. This approach allows the true measurement of the impact of higher memory speed and timings on performance, since CPU speed is fixed, thus removing CPU speed as a factor in memory performance.
The following settings were tested with the Mushkin Redline XP4000 on the DFI nF4 test bed:
The three 2GB kits were tested with the DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR Athlon 64 Socket 939 motherboard. Other components remain the same as used in the memory setup found in Athlon 64 Memory: Rewriting the Rules.
The A64 test bed includes components that have been proven in Socket 939 Athlon 64 benchmarking, such as the Socket 939 4000+, the OCZ Power Stream 520 Power Supply, and the NVIDIA 6800 Ultra video card. We also used an AMD FX57 set to a 12X multiplier for tests that required a Revision E type memory controller. The FX57 was adjusted to run at 2.4GHz, the same speed as the Clawhammer 4000+.
All other basic test conditions attempted to mirror those used in our earlier Athlon 64 memory reviews.
| AMD nForce4 Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | AMD FX57 Athlon 64 at 12X Ratio (2.4GHz) AMD 4000+ (FX53) Athlon 64 (2.4GHz) (2.4GHz, Socket 939, 1 MB cache, Dual Channel, 1000HT) |
| RAM: | Corsair CMX1024-3500XL PRO (DS) 2X1024MB Gigaram 2GB Dual Channel PC-4200 (DS) 2X1024MB OCZ PC4000 1024MB EB Platinum (DS) 2X1024MB Mushkin Redline XP4000 (DS) 2X512MB Kingston KVR400X64C25/512 (DS) 2X512MB Kingston KVR400X64C3AK2/1G (DS) 2X512MB Mushkin PC3200 EM (DS) 2X512MB OCZ PC3200 Value Series (VX) (DS) 2X512MB OCZ PC3200 Gold (BH5) (DS) 2X512MB OCZ PC3200 Premier (DS) 2X512MB Transcend JM366D643A-50 (DS) 2X512MB Patriot PC3200+XLBT (DS) 2X512MB OCZ EL PC4000 VX Gold (DS) 2X512MB Corsair TwinX1024-4400C25 (DS) 2X512MB Crucial Ballistix (DS) 2X512MB OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev 2 (DS) 2X512MB |
| Hard Drives: | Seagate 120GB SATA 7200RPM 8MB Cache |
| PCI/AGP Speed: | Fixed at 33/66 |
| Bus Master Drivers: | NVIDIA nForce Platform Driver 6.66 |
| Video Card(s): | NVIDIA 6800 Ultra 256MB PCIe, 256MB aperture, 1024x768x32 |
| Video Drivers: | NVIDIA Forceware 78.01Release |
| Power Supply: | OCZ Power Stream 520W |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| Motherboard: | DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR |
| BIOS: | 7/04/2005 |
In past benchmarking, we have found performance of the nForce4 and nForce3 chipsets to be virtually identical, and we have found AGP and PCIe performance to be virtually the same in the benchmarks that we use for memory testing. Therefore, you can also generally compare these results to TCCD benchmarks in recent memory reviews.
With nForce3 motherboards, the fastest performance on AMD Athlon 64 was at a Cycle Time or tRAS of 10. However, the nForce4 behaves a bit differently with memory. We ran a complete set of Memtest86 benchmarks with only tRAS varied to determine the best tRAS setting for these memories, and found the best bandwidth at tRAS settings ranging from 5 to 8. Therefore, a tRAS setting of 7 was used for testing.
Test Settings
All AMD Athlon 64 processors are unlocked downward, and the FX CPUs are unlocked up and down. This feature allows a different approach to memory testing, which truly measures performance differences in memory speed alone. All tests were run with CPU speed as close to the specified 2.4GHz of the 4000+/FX53 as possible, with CPU speed/Memory Speed increased at lower multipliers to achieve 2.4 GHz. This approach allows the true measurement of the impact of higher memory speed and timings on performance, since CPU speed is fixed, thus removing CPU speed as a factor in memory performance.
The following settings were tested with the Mushkin Redline XP4000 on the DFI nF4 test bed:
- 2.4GHz-12x200/DDR400 - the highest stock memory speed supported on nF3-4/SiS755-FX/ATI Radeon Xpress 200/VIA 939 motherboards
- 2.4GHz-11x218/DDR436 - a ratio near the standard DDR433 speed
- 2.4GHz-10x240/DDR480 - a ratio near the standard rating of DDR466
- 2.4GHz -9x267/DDR533 - a memory speed achieved by only a few top memories on the Athlon 64
- Highest Memory Performance - the highest memory bandwidth and game performance that we could achieve with the memory being tested. This is rarely the highest memory speed that we could achieve. It is normally a lower speed with 1T Command Rate and tighter memory timings.
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Slaimus - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
Does 4 single sided 512MB sticks behave the same as 2 double sided 1GB sticks?eastvillager - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
Why would you buy these when the 2-3-2-5 sticks are readily available?Wesley Fink - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
If you read the review you will see that ALL THREE of the 1GB dimms ran at 2-3-2 at DDR400 to DDR440 or so. They will all run 2-3-2-5, but we have shown in previous tests the the nForce 4 is fastest running a tRAS of 6 or 7. We ran 2-3-2-7 because it is faster than 2-3-2-5 on the nForce4. Try it for yourslef with memtest86 and differnet tRAS.Sunrise089 - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
Possible minor typos aside, this article is a great change of pace from some of the recent technical write-ups here on Anandtech(cough:R520:cough). The quality of writing as well as the attempt to put the parts in perspective and give the big picture is much appreciated. With so many sites out there, I can go anywhere for simple RAM benchmarks, but for me it is much harder to find informed discussions about why the part being reviewed is a good idea/choice or not. I really felt this side of the story was lacking in the X1800 reviews and am glad to see it here.Houdani - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
Page 3:I think you meant DDR550.
Page 4:
In your table of memory, you list the 3 new sticks as 2x512. I think you meant 2x1024.
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
Corrected. Thanks for bringing these to us. It's funny that they looked just fine at 3AM :-)Doormat - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
Whether its worth it or not to invest heavily (these pieces arent cheap) in DDR1 tech if you've already got a pair of fast running 2x512MB sticks. You'll just have to buy DDR2 sticks in a year if you want the fastest stuff (an A64 M2-socket based chip).emilyek - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
Lame. Why not a big review on the many available 2 and 2.5 cas DDR 400 sticks? The Geil, Patriot, OCZ, Gskill, and Corsair already top out at about 1k FSB when loosed up, and the timings on these RAMS sucks anyway.DrMrLordX - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
They've said it before, and I'll say it again: you just can't add every available DIMM variety to RAM tests. There's too much on the market, and many of the budget RAM types have wildly variable quality and performance.RockSolid - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
The RamGuy link on Page 5 is incorrect.