PQI & G. Skill: New Choices in 2-2-2 Memory
by Wesley Fink on October 9, 2004 11:35 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Intel Memory Comparisons
Performance of the PQI 3200 Turbo and G. Skill TCCD was compared to all of the memory recently tested on the Intel 875 memory test bed in:OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3: DDR500 Value for Athlon 64 & Intel 478
Geil PC3200 Ultra X: High Speed & Record Bandwidth
=F-A-S-T= DDR Memory: 2-2-2 Roars on the Scene
Buffalo FireStix: Red Hot Name for a New High-End Memory
New DDR Highs: Shikatronics, OCZ, and the Fastest Memory Yet
The Return of 2-2-2: Corsair 3200XL & Samsung PC4000
OCZ 3700EB: Making Hay with Athlon 64
OCZ 3500EB: The Importance of Balanced Memory Timings
Mushkin PC3200 2-2-2 Special: Last of a Legend
PMI DDR533: A New Name in High-Performance Memory
Samsung PC3700: DDR466 Memory for the Masses
Kingmax Hardcore Memory: Tiny BGA Reaches For Top Speed
New Memory Highs: Corsair and OCZ Introduce DDR550
OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 2: The Universal Soldier
OCZ 4200EL: Tops in Memory Performance
Mushkin PC4000 High Performance: DDR500 PLUS
Corsair TwinX1024-4000 PRO: Improving DDR500 Performance
Mushkin & Adata: 2 for the Fast-Timings Lane
Searching for the Memory Holy Grail - Part 2
For easier comparison to other DDR400 2-2-2 memory on the Intel platform, we have color-coded memory from =F-A-S-T= DDR Memory: 2-2-2 Roars on the Scene in light green. Memory performance was compared at DDR400, DDR433, DDR466, DDR500, DDR533 (where possible), and the highest stable overclock we could achieve that would run Quake 3, UT2003, and Super PI to 2MM places.
All discontinued products have been removed from benchmark comparisons. Please note that OCZ EB series memory has recently been discontinued, but we have kept the EB results in the memory charts in this review for better comparisons. EB will be removed from future memory test results.
Results are compared for Quake 3, Sandra UNBufferred Memory Test, and Super PI. SiSoft Sandra 2004 reports 2 results for each memory test - an Integer value and a Float value. Results reported in our charts are the result of averaging the INT and FLOAT scores, which are normally close in value. In other words, INT and FLOAT scores were added and divided by 2 for our reported score.
AMD Memory Comparisons
The G. Skill TCCD and PQI 3200 Turbo were included in our recent Athlon 64 Memory Roundup. Results are repeated here to provide a complete picture of the performance of these two Samsung TCCD memories compared to other top memory on the Athlon 64.Memory performance was compared at 200x12 (2.4Ghz, DDR400), 218x11 (2.4Ghz, DDR438), 240x10 (2.4Ghz, DDR480), 267x9 (2.4Ghz, DDR533), the Highest Memory Speed that could be reached, and the Highest Memory Performance Settings that we could reach. With a constant CPU speed, memory comparisons show the true impact of faster speed and slower memory timings on memory performance.
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adamofwales - Thursday, November 11, 2004 - link
I am considering purchasing a matched pair 1024MB total, of the PQI Turbo 2700, 2-2-2-5 timings, (PQI2700-1024DAL) and I was wondering, do you think that it will overclock as well as the 3200 with the same timings? I read somewhere that the PQI 2700 Turbo 2-2-2-5 512x2 will run at 2-3-2-5 at 3200 speeds.What do you think?
Wesley Fink - Saturday, October 16, 2004 - link
#3 - We have NEVER implied you need an FX53 to review memory. We have , however, stated the need for a standardized memory test bed and the FX53 is the CPU we have chosen. The trends over spped would apply to any Athlon CPU since they are all unlocked below the stock speed.Others - We are planning a Value RAM roundup in the near future - after the huge number of new equipment launches for the rest of October. Since every memory vendor now has a Samsung TCCD memory it should be clear that TCCD is now at the top in almost everyone's mind. Samsung TCCD chips are also expensive, which is why we have reviewed alternative brands based on those chips.
MadAd - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
yup, i have to agreeIts difficult to complain at the tremendous quality of memory reviews here at AT but I too believe it would be useful to have a catchup on how the other half of the memory market is shaping up.
If it was a case of 'this months exculsive is next months mainstream is a 6 months time bargain' like gpu/cpu/etc then it wouldnt matter so much, but its not, leaving a gap in the product review landscape.
Infact, what is value ram at all these days? Lower speed binned chips from a recent stepping silicon (like gpu) or seperatly RND'ed low cost engineering or even lower purity processes?
You see, theres an article in the making already :)
CalvinHobbes - Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - link
I'd love to see a comparison of cheaper memory as well. I'm in the market for some new ram and I just want to know if I can spend $170 for 1GB or is it really worth while to spend the $245+ for the 2-2-2 stuff.Zebo - Monday, October 11, 2004 - link
Sup Concillian;):PIt's almost like AT only reviewing FX's and EE's on the processor side.
I really feel AT is doing a diservice to the community by continually pimping this overpriced RAM in every review. Even for overclcokers this holds true, since much budget ram scales the same as the boutique ram when pushed..albeit with mybe a little looser timings and a little slower.
But sure as heck ain't 100% slower to justify boutiques ram 100% price premium. Especially when most users are on fixed budget and thier money is better spent on a better video card, more HD space or something else.
But comming to AT, as a builder, you'd think this overpriced RAM is your only choice since that's all they like present and are getting your budget jammed on the front end for almost nothing in return.:(
Zebo - Monday, October 11, 2004 - link
Would you guys *PLEASE* test some budget ram like crucial 8T to show what a ripoff this boutique stuff is price/performance wise?Concillian - Monday, October 11, 2004 - link
It is very interesting to see the very high performance results of the best memory out there. However, I feel it would be useful to compare this to some of the common forms of value memory.As a consumer about to go spend hard earned dollars on a new motherboard/CPU/RAM, the question I ask myself is:
Is it worth it to spend the bucks on super fast memory, or do I spend about HALF and get decent PC3200 CAS 2.5 value memory from the likes of OCZ, Mushkin, or Corsair and use a memory divider when overclocking an A64.
In reality, the typical memory showcased here on Anandtech is very expensive, roughly twice the price of typical value memory.
When you can get an A64 2800+ and motherboard for around $200, I can't be the only one questioning whether $250-$300 just on a gig of memory to overclock a $200 mobo/CPU combo, when closer to $150 may work almost as well. I can't help but wonder if the extra ~$150 (or a nearly 40% increase in cost of the total package mobo + CPU + 1gig RAM in this case) is really worth the system performance.
Uff - Monday, October 11, 2004 - link
This is the second memory test that claims that you need an FX-53 to test memory speed because it's completely multiplier unlocked. I don't see you going above the multiplier 12 anywhere in these tests, thus you could do the exact same thing with 3400+ (2.4GHz version), 3700+ or 3800+, as all the AMD CPUs are multiplier unlocked downwards.Secondly, do you have any further information on the Corsair 2-2-2 sticks? My own tests have shown they can barely run at 3-4-4-10@218MHz fsb and fail to reach 240MHz at any timings :(
Wesley Fink - Sunday, October 10, 2004 - link
The timings used at each speed are included in the Test Results tables on pages 6 and 7.There is only so much information you can include in a chart before it gets too confusing, but we always include timings and voltages for each speed in the Test Results tables.
AkumaX - Sunday, October 10, 2004 - link
nice article! were all different memory speeds (actual: 200, 233, 250, 275) at 2-2-2-5|10 also?