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
OCZ PC4000 1024MB EB Platinum Edition
OCZ is a well-known brand of enthusiast products - memory, power supplies, flash memory and more. In the past two years, OCZ was normally at or near the top of roundups and reviews of high-performance memory. After struggling several years ago, OCZ fought back and, today, is regarded as top-quality memory with some of the best Customer Service in the business.
Specifications
OCZ rates their 2GB high-speed kit at DDR500, in-between the spec for Corsair 433 and Gigaram 533.
We also see a low voltage requirement with the OCZ 2 GB kit - very similar to the voltage specified by Corsair for their 2GB kit.
Test Results
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, and in particular Super PI, will crash a less-than stable memory configuration.
OCZ did not reveal to us the manufacturer of the memory chips used in their 500EB 1GB DIMMs. There was also nothing on the DIMMs to help us in identifying the memory manufacturer. However, after running our full benchmarks on the OCZ PC4000 EB Platinum, we would be very surprised if the memory is other than Infineon. Performance from DDR400 to DDR480 is virtually identical to Corsair even down to the low voltage requirement, but performance continues on to DDR550 while still only needing the same very low 2.7V memory voltage.
Like the Corsair, this is a memory that does not need a special board with super high voltages to get the best from the memory. You can get the best from these 1GB with almost any decent motherboard, since we never needed more than 2.7V for stable performance at any speed.
We would really be interested in exactly which Infineon chips are used in this OCZ memory. It is either a slightly different chip than the Corsair, since it goes much higher in overclocking, or OCZ is doing some interesting binning of Infineon chips - something that would also not surprise us.
OCZ is a well-known brand of enthusiast products - memory, power supplies, flash memory and more. In the past two years, OCZ was normally at or near the top of roundups and reviews of high-performance memory. After struggling several years ago, OCZ fought back and, today, is regarded as top-quality memory with some of the best Customer Service in the business.
Specifications
OCZ rates their 2GB high-speed kit at DDR500, in-between the spec for Corsair 433 and Gigaram 533.
| OCZ PC4000 1024MB EB Platinum Memory Specifications | |
| Number of DIMMs & Banks | 2 DS |
| DIMM Size Total Memory |
1GB 2GB |
| Rated Timings | 3-3-2-8 at DDR500 |
| Rated Voltage | 2.6V |
We also see a low voltage requirement with the OCZ 2 GB kit - very similar to the voltage specified by Corsair for their 2GB kit.
Test Results
| OCZ PC4000 1024MB EB Platinum (DDR500) - 2x1GB 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 | 2-3-2-7 2.5V 1T |
545.1 | INT 2657 FLT 2715 |
INT 5970 FLT 5902 |
80 | 120.4 |
| 11x218 | 436DDR | 2-3-2-7 2.7V 1T |
552.4 | INT 2831 FLT 2974 |
INT 6222 FLT 6203 |
80 | 121.5 |
| 10x240 | 480DDR | 2.5-3-2-7 2.6V 1T |
560.5 | INT 2976 FLT 3100 |
INT 6447 FLT 6376 |
79 | 123.1 |
| 9x267 | 533DDR | 2.5-3-2-7 2.7V 1T |
564.7 | INT 3213 FLT 3292 |
INT 6684 FLT 6603 |
78 | 124.0 |
| 9x275 (2.48GHz) |
Highest MEM Speed 550 DDR |
3-3-2-7 2.7V 1T |
581.2 | INT 3351 FLT 3514 |
INT 6869 FLT 6774 |
76 | 127.6 |
OCZ did not reveal to us the manufacturer of the memory chips used in their 500EB 1GB DIMMs. There was also nothing on the DIMMs to help us in identifying the memory manufacturer. However, after running our full benchmarks on the OCZ PC4000 EB Platinum, we would be very surprised if the memory is other than Infineon. Performance from DDR400 to DDR480 is virtually identical to Corsair even down to the low voltage requirement, but performance continues on to DDR550 while still only needing the same very low 2.7V memory voltage.
Like the Corsair, this is a memory that does not need a special board with super high voltages to get the best from the memory. You can get the best from these 1GB with almost any decent motherboard, since we never needed more than 2.7V for stable performance at any speed.
We would really be interested in exactly which Infineon chips are used in this OCZ memory. It is either a slightly different chip than the Corsair, since it goes much higher in overclocking, or OCZ is doing some interesting binning of Infineon chips - something that would also not surprise us.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
40 Comments
View All Comments
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.