Overclocking 9 Value-Priced DDR2-800 Kits
Test Setup
Designed specifically to get the greatest features and best performance for its price, the following mid-budget system formed the basis for this "bang for the buck" memory comparison.
| System Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo E6300(Conroe 65 nm, 1.86 GHz, 2 MB L2 Cache) |
| Motherboard | Asus P5B Deluxe WiFi/AP Edition, BIOS 0910 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD150 GB, 10,000 RPM, 16 MB Cache, SATA 150 |
| Networking | Dual Gigabit (Onboard, Disabled) |
| Graphics Cards | Foxconn 7900GS, P/N : FV-N79SM2D2nVidia GeForce 7900GS - 256 MB |
| Power Supply | OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI - 700W |
| System Software & Drivers | |
| OS | Windows XP Professional 5.10.2600, Service Pack 2 |
| DirectX Version | 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) |
| Platform Driver | Intel INF 8.1.0.1010 |
| Graphics Driver | nVidia Forceware 91.47 |
| Benchmarks and Settings | |
| PCMark05 Pro | Version : 1.1.0Memory TestsWindows Media Player 10.00.00.3646Windows Media Encoder 9.00.00.2980 |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2005 | Version 2005.7.10.60Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |
Dropping the CPU multiplier to 6x and using a 2:1 DRAM :CPU bus clock ratio permitted ultra-high memory clock rates at speeds that would have otherwise rendered this system a smoking pile of rubbish. The performance impact will be felt equally at all speeds, making the bandwidth numbers not comparable to other articles, but perfectly proportional with respect to each other.
This Automatic Configuration Data chart shows SPD values detected by CPU-Z version 1.38, as well as those detected by the Asus P5B Deluxe WiFi/AP edition motherboard.
| Automatic Configuration Data (MHz : tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Detected | SPD Timings | Boot Voltage | EPP |
| A-DATA Extreme 800+ AD2800EU | 400 : 5-5-5-18 | 400 : 4-4-4-12400 : 4-4-4-11 | 1.80 V (CAS 5)2.00 V (CAS 4) | Yes |
| Buffalo Select PC2-6400 D2U800C-K2G | 400 : 5-5-5-18 | 400 : 5-5-5-18266 : 4-4-4-12200 : 3-3-3-9 | 1.80 V | No |
| Buffalo FireStix 6400 FSX800D2C-K2G | 400 : 4-5-5-18 | 400 : 4-5-5-18400 : 4-5-5-18266 : 3-4-4-12 | 1.80 V (CAS 5)2.10 V (CAS 4) | No |
| Crucial Ballistix 6400 BL2KIT12864AA804 | 400 : 5-5-5-18 | 500 : 5-5-5-15400 : 4-4-4-14 | 1.80 V (CAS 5)2.10 V (CAS 4) | Yes |
| Mushkin Standard Value SP6400 996529 | 400 : 5-5-5-18 | 400 : 5-5-5-18266 : 4-4-4-12 | 1.80 V | No |
| OCZ Gold GX XTCRevision 2 PC2-6400OCZ2G800R22GK | 400 : 5-5-5-15 | 400 : 5-5-5-15333 : 4-5-5-13270 : 3-4-4-10 | 1.95 V | No |
| Patriot Extreme Perf.PDC22G6400LLK | 400 : 5-5-5-16 | 500 : 5-5-5-15400 : 4-4-4-12 | 1.80 V (CAS 5)2.20 V (CAS 4) | Yes |
| Wintec AMPO3AMD2800-2G2K-R | 400 : 5-5-5-16 | 400 : 5-5-5-16266 : 4-4-4-11200 : 3-3-3-8 | 1.80 V | No |
| Wintec AMPX C53AXT6400C5-2048K | 400 : 5-5-5-16 | 400 : 5-5-5-16266 : 4-4-4-11200 : 3-3-3-8 | 1.80 V | No |
| Wintec AMPX C43AXT6400C4-2048K | 333 : 5-5-5-15 | 333 : 5-5-5-15266 : 4-4-4-12200 : 3-3-3-9 | 1.90 V | No |
Nine memory kits defaulted to 5-5-5 timings for easy booting, settings which further assured the maximum clock speed during these tests. Manually dropping the Buffalo FireStix to 5-5-5-18 kept this competition fair, but any attempt to loosen OCZ Gold GX XTC Revision 2 or Wintec AMPX C5 tRAS to 18 cycles resulted in a boot failure. The later used default SPD timings of 5-5-5-15 and 5-5-5-16, respectively.
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