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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Lymphatik - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
Hi I would like to know if u think that thoose dimms could be enough cooled by a 120 mm fan in extraction and a 120 mm fan from a power suplyBecause i would like to put thoose dimm in antec Sonata and as it's a small case i don't know if i will have enough space to put a fan
Lymphatik - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
OCedHrt - Thursday, March 24, 2005 - link
Figured it out, seems like the cpu speed plays a role here. 2.25 ghz maxes out at 6600-6700. 2.34 gets 6900-7000. I wonder if going even higher will set a new bandwidth record.OCedHrt - Tuesday, March 22, 2005 - link
Hmm, I can't seem to duplicate the results here and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I have 2 sticks of pc3200 ocz vx and a dfi ultra (non-sli). I have the ram running at ddr500 at 2-2-6-2 T1 @3.3v and sandra reports a bandwidth of 6000-6100. The weird part is that sandra reports a timing of 2T but if I drop the timing from 1T to 2T in the bios, the results drop to 5700 so I'm pretty sure 1T is enabled. Any ideas?zumbi9in - Saturday, March 19, 2005 - link
I would like you to help me with a MotherBoard/RAM question.I’m about to buy a DFI Lanparty NFORCE 4 Ultra MB with 2 GB of RAM.
This machine will be for audio sampling and recording, and some gaming too J
I’m worried if it can run 2 GB of RAM at DDR400, I don’t know if it will drop the memory speed with this config.
I would like to buy 4x512 KINGSTON PC3200 ULTRA LL 2-2-2-5, but as they are double sided, maybe they will run at DDR333
The 2nd option would be 2x1024 of OCZ memory PC 3200 3-3-3-7 OCZ4001024PF, is its performance good with this latency?
I have searched lots of forums and didn’t find a final word about this issue.
What would be the best performance choice? Do you think it can work?
Thank you very much,
Alexandre Zumbi.
Rand - Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - link
ozzimark - Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - link
#60-iirc, the dfi was tuned for tccd and bh-5/vx.
other stuff that overclocks somewhat does terribly on the dfi, that includes ballistix's micron 5b-g chips.
L3p3rM355i4h - Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - link
hmm...good performance, but also a lot of questions. How well does ballistix do on the mobo?Quanticles - Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - link
For everyone hung up on the on-board memory controller...The motherboard will make a difference for the on-board memory controller, not because of the chipset, but due to the characteristics of the routing. The type of material used, the thickness and width of the copper traces, and how well the traces are matched in length, will all make a huge difference in signal integrity. Even differences in what layers of the board you route to make a difference, and what power plains they're coupled against are. The list goes on...
DFI put a lot more effort into their routing, and it makes a significant difference.
slashbinslashbash - Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - link
#56 - Wow. Thanks for pointing this out. This review is bogus. I hope that you cc'd Mr. Shimpi on that e-mail.