Geil PC3200 Ultra X: High Speed & Record Bandwidth
by Wesley Fink on August 20, 2004 12:04 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Geil PC3200 Ultra X
Geil produces an extensive line of memory from value-priced dimms to some of the fastest enthusiast memory you can buy. You will find Geil memory for building a value PC, but you will also find Geil competing at the highest end of the memory market. Geil produces both standard and enthusiast DDR, DDR2, and so-dimms. You can get a better idea of the extensive Geil product line at the Geil website.
Ultra X is a new line for Geil, basically a high-performance extention to the Ultra series of DDR. The current Ultra line extends from Ultra PC3200 all the way to an Ultra Platinum DDR550. The Ultra X 3200 is the first and only Geil memory to be called Ultra X so far. Ultra X modules are available in individual 256MB and 512MB dimms, as well as in matched pairs as a 512MB kit (2x256) and 1GB kit (2x512).
Test dimms were a pair of Geil PC3200 Ultra X in a 1GB kit (2x512MB modules).
Geil uses a unique Plexiglas slide tray for packaging the Ultra X kits. The packaging says premium in every way.
The Ultra X dimms are faced with platinum-colored heat-spreaders that have a copper core for heat dissipation. Geil also uses their trade-mark thermal label that can tell you at a glance the temperature of the dimm.
As you saw in our recent 2-2-2 roundup, current DDR400 2-2-2 memory uses Samsung TCCD memory chips, with the exception of the excellent Crucial Ballistix which is based on Micron chips. Removing the heatspreaders did not help in identifying the chips used in the Geil ultra X. As you can see the blanks are labeled as Geil chips with a speed rating of 3.5ns. Geil describes the chips as hand-selected for performance from 5ns chips.
Geil PC3200 Ultra X Specifications
| Geil PC3200 Ultra X Memory Specifications | |
| Number of DIMMs & Banks | 2 DS |
| DIMM Size Total Memory |
512 MB 1 GB |
| Rated Timings | 2-2-2 at DDR400 |
| SPD (Auto) Timings | 2.5-2-2-5 |
| Rated Voltage | 2.55V - 2.95V |
Geil uses a voltage range of 2.55v to 2.95v as the specified voltage for Ultra X. This certainly will accommodate any individual variation in dimms, and the range is in agreement with the voltages that actually worked for us in memory testing.
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qquizz - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
excellent read thanks Anandtech for the useful infoAvalon - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
Forgot to mention it was tested on an A64 rig. If you've got an AXP rig, lower latency might mean more. I should go test it out...Anyway, great article Wes! It's good to see Geil come out near the top. They make some great memory and are very under-recognized sometimes.
Avalon - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
I forget where I saw it, but I did see latency compared in a Doom 3 article. Low CAS 2 latency benefitted over CAS 2.5 by giving you roughly 2-3% more framerates. Which added up to about 1 frame. Since I can't quite remember where I found it, take this with a large boulder of salt :Pciwell - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
I am wondering the same thing as #5. It would be very interesting to see a comparison between the Value RAMs and these.Anyways, great article.
Visual - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
This isn't really in the goals of this article, but I'm wondering, is the extra-low latency worth it at DDR400?Could you include a slow(Value RAM) memory from Kingston, Corsair or other, running at CAS 2.5 and 3 for comparison?
I really wanna know if the extra $100 or so for a low-latency ram would give me noticeable difference.
pookie69 - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
Mr Fink!!!! Another GREAT READ!!!! I so LOVE these memory articles of yours. SO informative and give much food for thought.Thanks and keep up the gd work! ;)
Wesley Fink - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
#1 - Corrected. We are missing our Web Editor who is taking a well-deserved vacation.#2 - You make an interesting point. I was leaning toward Samsung TCCD chips, particularly based on the poorer overclocks on Athlon 64, but I agree there are some timings at certain speeds that don't really fit. Hynix also exhibits poorer A64 overclocks compared to Intel, so it is a possibility.
Zebo - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
Nice work Wes. To bad we don't know what chips they have...I'm leaning twards hand picked Hynix that can do 2-2-2 @ 200 by the way it mirrors it's brothers at higher bandwidth...in addtion to it's bandwidth.KingofCamelot - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
Just a couple of things you might want to fix, on the bottom of page 2 it has the title "OCZ PC3200 Platinum Revision 2 Specifications" which should be "Geil PC3200 Ultra X Memory Specifications". Also on page 4 at 557DDR speed the Quake3 fps is missing a decimal and is listed as 43486 instead of 434.86 fps. Other than that great review, awesome looking ram man!