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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theOracle - Saturday, March 5, 2005 - link
sorry, of odes = or does!intirely = entirely
Any ideas when this RAM is available\where from?
theOracle - Saturday, March 5, 2005 - link
Some of the figures show over 10% performance increase (the actual game benchmarks, not just memory benches) - is this performance intirely attributable to the RAM of odes the motherboard\gfx come into play at all?Previously high-end RAM with tight timings has shown an improvement of a couple of fps - say max 2% overall, yet this is showing figures of 10% improvement - which like I say is like going from a 3500+ to a 4000+ - and I'm pretty certain that the DFI board, this ram and a 3500+ would be cheaper than a 4000+, generic ram and a cheaper mobo.
Wesley - can I suggest a follow up, with this RAM on other boards and a direct comparison of RAM on the same setup, because I think the benchmarks you have shown certainly warrant this being done. You cant blame me for being sceptical when the figures are so unbelievably awesome!
Wesley Fink - Saturday, March 5, 2005 - link
#34 - The other RAM did NOT perform identically, it is just that there was much smaller variation in the results than we saw with the leap in VX performance.Perhaps it will be easier to swallow if I point out that the OCZ 3200 Platinum R2, PQI 3200 Turbo, G. Skill TCCD, Geil PC3200 Ultra X, and Corsair TwinX1024-4400C25 are all based on the same Samsung TCCD memory chips. The Crucial Ballistix is based on Micron chips, and the OCZ 3700 Gold R3 is based on Hynix DT-D5 chips. Until VX, all recent memory has had to compete with Samsung TCCD, which quickly became the performance standard for current memory. If we had results from older BH5 chips you would likely have seen BH5 perform between Samsung TCCD and OCZ VX.
Rand - Saturday, March 5, 2005 - link
I find some of these results rather difficult to believe, not so much the results of the OCZ DRAM but I'm confused as to how the other DRAM in this test managed to perform identically in every test on the MSI K8N Neo2 that was used in your last DRAM review and the DFI motherboard utilized in this review.It would seem rather unlikely that every piece of DRAM would perform exactly the same in every test on two different motherboards.
Forsa - Saturday, March 5, 2005 - link
I have the 3200vx and they perform very similarly(i think they are the same ram but just different auto settings lol) I will post screenie and stuff on forums when i can run some concrete bench marks.Live - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
These are winbond chips that can also be found in twinmos. Dont know if this is mentiond in the article as I did not read all :)Check out this link for info on speeds and which ones to get:
http://www.akiba-pc.com/article.php?45.0
slashbinslashbash - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
Wesley: I'm confused by your answers to #15/#17. Did you actually test all 8 types of RAM on the DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR with nVidia 71.80 drivers, or did you take the benchmark results for the other 7 sticks of RAM from the previous review of the Corsair 4400C25, which used an MSI nF3 motherboard and the 61.77 drivers? (All the numbers seem to be the same, which I find hard to believe with a new motherboard, chipset, and video drivers. I would expect at least a couple of variations of 0.1 fps or something.)Jeff7181 - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
Awesome... I always wondered about Tras and the Athlon-64... this answers my question! :)Slaimus - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
These are Winbond chips. The BH/CH-5/6 chips were their own branded chips, while these are unlabelled OEM chips that are sold for relabelling. The supply of the labelled Winbond chips are gone, but there are still plenty of these unlabelled chips.This really gives you an idea of the cartel nature of the memory industry. Small memory makers like Winbond, despite having a superior product, cannot really stay alive in this market of giants.
ozzimark - Friday, March 4, 2005 - link
thanks for the info wes. if it's not too much trouble, how about a test with the VX on the neo2 with a ddr booster? you say that it's just a better performing ram chip, i'd like to believe you, but it really is difficult to swallow.and.. the fact that this ram is so much faster really is piquing my interest, and shows that even if you don't have extreme voltage, this ram may be nice to have for the higher performance at the same speed/timings.
if it doesn't take too much time, i, and i'm sure a few other people, would be very apprecitative of some benches of vx on the neo2. thanks wes.