Value DDR2-800 from Super Talent: Where Can You Go?
by Wesley Fink on November 29, 2006 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Stock Memory Performance
Most Intel Socket T (Socket 775) motherboards provide a wide range of memory ratios that match available DDR2 memory. End-users can select the memory ratio that matches their DDR2 memory speed. Our memory testing begins with the same approach. We first test all of the stock ratios at the fastest stable timings we can achieve at the given ratio. With these ratios, CPU speed remains the same at 2.93GHz in our memory test bed, and memory speed is varied by selecting different ratios.
DDR2 memory is then pushed from the highest stock ratio that could be achieved in testing - in this case 889 (3:5) - to the highest FSB speed at the stock multiplier. We could not reach DDR2-1067 with this value Super Talent DDR2-800, so we settled for the intermediate ratio of 889. The system was then pushed to DDR-1000, which was the highest stable speed reached that ran our complete test suite. We were able to boot at speeds much higher than 1000, and we could actually navigate the boot screen up to DDR2-1050, but the system was not stable in Windows and could not complete our test suite, even at the highest 2.4V supported by the ASUS board. Other systems may achieve higher test results with more voltage.
At DDR2-800 the memory completed our benchmarks at 4-4-4-11 timings at just 1.95V. This is significantly faster than the rated 5-5-4-12 timings. Most boards can easily supply 1.95V, but if your board has a fixed memory voltage you may need to use slower timings for complete stability with this memory. DDR2-667 similarly required 2.10V to achieve 3-3-3-9 timings. If you can't supply 2.1V you will likely need 4-4-3-9 or slower timings at stock 1.8V.
Many buyers of value DDR2-800 memory will not have a motherboard that can supply voltages like the highest 2.30V required in our testing at DDR2-1000. If your top available voltage is less than 2.3V you will not be able to achieve DDR2-1000 performance with this memory. Top results at stock voltage will likely be in the DDR2-900 range at the rated 5-5-4-12 timings
The performance results found in our testing give most every buyer some choices when using this value Super Talent DDR2-800 in their system. If their board is voltage limited, the memory is still usable at slightly slower timings. If the board supplies a very wide voltage range, then you can likely squeeze better timings from this memory with higher voltage. With air cooling, however, the best you can expect to achieve is around DDR2-1000.
Most Intel Socket T (Socket 775) motherboards provide a wide range of memory ratios that match available DDR2 memory. End-users can select the memory ratio that matches their DDR2 memory speed. Our memory testing begins with the same approach. We first test all of the stock ratios at the fastest stable timings we can achieve at the given ratio. With these ratios, CPU speed remains the same at 2.93GHz in our memory test bed, and memory speed is varied by selecting different ratios.
DDR2 memory is then pushed from the highest stock ratio that could be achieved in testing - in this case 889 (3:5) - to the highest FSB speed at the stock multiplier. We could not reach DDR2-1067 with this value Super Talent DDR2-800, so we settled for the intermediate ratio of 889. The system was then pushed to DDR-1000, which was the highest stable speed reached that ran our complete test suite. We were able to boot at speeds much higher than 1000, and we could actually navigate the boot screen up to DDR2-1050, but the system was not stable in Windows and could not complete our test suite, even at the highest 2.4V supported by the ASUS board. Other systems may achieve higher test results with more voltage.
Click to enlarge.
At DDR2-800 the memory completed our benchmarks at 4-4-4-11 timings at just 1.95V. This is significantly faster than the rated 5-5-4-12 timings. Most boards can easily supply 1.95V, but if your board has a fixed memory voltage you may need to use slower timings for complete stability with this memory. DDR2-667 similarly required 2.10V to achieve 3-3-3-9 timings. If you can't supply 2.1V you will likely need 4-4-3-9 or slower timings at stock 1.8V.
Many buyers of value DDR2-800 memory will not have a motherboard that can supply voltages like the highest 2.30V required in our testing at DDR2-1000. If your top available voltage is less than 2.3V you will not be able to achieve DDR2-1000 performance with this memory. Top results at stock voltage will likely be in the DDR2-900 range at the rated 5-5-4-12 timings
The performance results found in our testing give most every buyer some choices when using this value Super Talent DDR2-800 in their system. If their board is voltage limited, the memory is still usable at slightly slower timings. If the board supplies a very wide voltage range, then you can likely squeeze better timings from this memory with higher voltage. With air cooling, however, the best you can expect to achieve is around DDR2-1000.
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Wesley Fink - Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - link
Super Talent has advised:"This kit is on sale at ewiz for $241.02. You could point readers to
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=T800UX2GC5">http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=T800UX2GC5&quo...
The kits will also appear at other resellers in the near future.
Frumious1 - Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - link
Try searching for "T800UX2GC5" and you should find it.http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=T800UX2GC5">eWiz
Not in stock anywhere else that I see right now, but Newegg has the T800UX2GC4 at $280 with a $20 mailin rebate, so I bet they'll get the C5 as well, and hopefully closer to $200. In the mean time, try http://froogle.google.com/froogle?hl=en&q=T800...">using a search engine like Froogle/
Postoasted - Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - link
Shouldn't we be suspicious of reviews where the test sample is provided by the product maker?Frumious1 - Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - link
Yes, and we should stop reading hardware websites because that's where all their hardware comes from. We should only pay attention to Newegg.com reviews, because all of those people really purchased the products they're reviewing! (/sarcasm)I've rarely (if ever) been able to match AnandTech performance results with the same RAM chips they use, but then I rarely have the same CPU and motherboard that they've got either. If they push everything to the same limit, you can at least figure the relative differences are there. Truthfully, I don't think more than a small fraction of people that worry about having the biggest epenis need more than DDR2-800 memory. That will get you just about everywhere you need to go with overclocking (except perhaps with the E6300/E6400 on extreme overclocks), so unless you care about the extra 3% potential performance there's not much reason to buy $500 RAM kits.
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - link
Product on AnandTech is not a one-shot deal. If memory or motherboard manufacturers supply hand-picked hardware and users can't duplicate what we find the RMAs go through the roof. This is very expensive for the manufacturer. They quickly learn it is in their best interest to supply a sample with typical performance. The supply issue becomes self-policing.As Editors and enthusiasts we are also not idiots. We do buy samples on a regular basis and compare them to what we find with manufacturer samples. If results are out of line we scream loudly - to the manufacturer and in these pages. Accepting samples from manufacturers for review gets you information MUCH faster, but a review at AT is a privilege - not an obligation. Manufacturers who abuse the "typical sample" rule get moved down in queues or out of our review cycle.
The performance of the Super Talent is nothing spectacular; it is good performance from a fairly rated DDR2-800 memory. There is nothing in our results to raise any concerns. The point of the review was that value DDR2 is almost as good in performance as the best DDR2, and if you are on a tight budget you can save money with value DDR2, within reason, and get more performance by putting the difference in a video card upgrade or a CPU upgrade.
We have asked Super Talent to provide info on where this memory can be purchased. We will pass that along as soon as we receive an answer.
lopri - Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - link
What if the manufacturers are big, I mean HUGE, or if they command a monopoly/duo-poly status in the market? Namely, Intel, AMD, NV, ASUS, et al. Do they consider it an honor to be reviewed @AT? I remember Anand's E6600/E6700/X6800 all hitting ~4.0GHz when they debuted. Retail samples still can't achieve such clocks even months after the initial review, let alone at that time they were merely achieving 3.30~3.60GHz. But it'd be hard to ignore Intel's new products, I'd assume?Wesley Fink - Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - link
There is variation in overclocking among Core 2 Duo samples, but almost all of our retail chips - those we bought - will do in the 3.6GHz to 4.0GHz range. My last retail E6800 does 3.6+ at stock voltage and right at 4GHz on good air cooling. The retail runs 2100 FSB while the Intle sample will not do 1MHz over 1800 FSB.Intel supplied the pre-launch chips, but we have bought everything since. There is definitely variation, but our retail purchases do not vary significantly from the Intel supplied chips, except in maximum FSB which we commented on in the nVidia 680i launch review.
Hippiekiller - Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - link
Poop comes from butts teehee