OCZ VX Revisited: DDR Updates on DFI nForce4
by Wesley Fink on March 30, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Test Results: OCZ EL PC4000 VX Gold
| 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 | 400DDR (Stock V) |
2-3-2-6 2.6V 1T (Stock V) |
567.4 | INT 2852 FLT 3000 |
INT 6128 FLT 6082 |
81 | 119.2 |
| 12x200 | 400DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.0V 1T |
572.8 | INT 2918 FLT 3070 |
INT 6154 FLT 6100 |
80 | 120.2 |
| 11x218 | 436DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.1V 1T |
580.2 | INT 3075 FLT 3250 |
INT 6538 FLT 6465 |
80 | 121.4 |
| 10x240 | 480DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.2V 1T |
600.1 | INT 3230 FLT 3402 |
INT 6804 FLT 6726 |
78 | 123.5 |
| 9x267 | 533DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.5V 1T |
601.5 | INT 3479 FLT 3670 |
INT 7140 FLT 7054 |
77 | 124.8 |
| 10x250 | Rated Speed 500DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.2V 1T |
612.2 | INT 3364 FLT 3557 |
INT 7093 FLT 7009 |
75 | 128.4 |
| 10x267 (2.67 GHz) |
Highest CPU/Mem Performance | 2-2-2-6 3.5V 1T |
645.0 | INT 3465 FLT 3630 |
INT 7552 FLT 7460 |
71 | 135.7 |
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 be coaxed easily 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 2 to 6, where CPU speed is kept at 2.4GHZ and only the Memory Speed is varied. The performance differences you see in that range are a result of Memory Speed and timings only. In the case of VX, where memory timings also remain constant, the true impact of just memory speed can be clearly 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 all 2-2-2 is not created equal, as VX is faster at every speed than the competition at 2-2-2.
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NotoriousGIB - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
Thanks for the great review & follow-up. I purchased 2GB of this stuff (based off your initial review), well 1GB, but the Egg rocks so hard they sent me 1GB free :) I'm having issues breaking 250FSB.Wesley, I was wondering what DRAM settings & Genie BIOS settings you are using in this comparison. I've tried a bunch of settings posted at DFI Street & Bleeding Edge, but to no avail. I'm also curious as to whether active cooling is being used on the memory. Anything past 3.2V on my OCZ VX RAM gives me errors.
NotoriousGIB - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
ChineseDemocracyGNR - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
#20, he wasn't talking specifically about this article.And he makes a point. AnandTech is lacking reviews for AMD PCI-E boards, so far there's only a 4-boards SLI roundup, an article for the DFI boards and reviews of pre-production Gigabyte boards. That's too little for a site like AnandTech and I have to say I'm a little disapointed.
Scott66 - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
#10 The reason no other boards are reviewed in the article, as it plainly states, is they don't have enough memory voltage. The only way they can be used is with the OCZ voltage adapter. This would not be a comparable test though.L3p3rM355i4h - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
TCCD isn't the holy grail of RAM anymore. Too bad you need a DDR booster or a DFI mobo to take advangtage though.Viper4185 - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
Thanks for the reply guys, i'll check it out now :PSpacecomber - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
When you run MemTest86, you'll notice in the upper left part of the screen that it gives you some information, including memory bandwidth numbers for the cache and the system memory. The system memory number is what AnandTech is looking at to determine if certain memory timing settings are increasing the memory bandwidth or not.Space
bigtoe36 - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
#15 have a look at www.memtest86.org, download either the floppy version or thr cd ISO file and create the memtest disk. Set to boot from it.once running memtest you can press C then 9 for the advanced options, this will allow you to set memory timings from within memtest its self without the need to reboot.
you can also press c 9 then 5 for the advanced A64 memory options and tweak your ram even further.
All this is done before you load the OS so your HDD will not be at risk of data corruption.
Also the latest builds of the DFI bios files have memtest85 incorperated into them in genie bios so you don't have to compile a disk at all, just set enabled and the pc will boot to memtest on its own.
Viper4185 - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
Sorry to be a n00b but are you saying that the memtest86+ program that fits on a floppy can actually tell me the best settings for my setup? If so how? As soon as i boot the computer and run it it just goes through all those 8 tests it does...Wesley Fink - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
Ozzimark -We have been running Everest in our memory tests to start to build a database. We just weren't ready to introduce a new bench in this update.
I did notice a very interesting trend in Everest while testing these memories. The Read values were pretty close at the same speed, but VX had a significantly higher Write score than any other memory tested here. At DDR400 the write scores for TCCD were in the 2100 MB/s range where VX write was 2661. Ballistix scores were closer to VX than TCCD.