Value RAM Roundup: Computing On a Budget
by Wesley Fink on April 11, 2005 4:26 PM EST- Posted in
- Memory
OCZ PC3200 Premier
In the past two years, OCZ has moved from relative obscurity to becoming one of the most widely recognized names in enthusiast products. Today, OCZ markets power supplies, heat sinks, memory voltage boosters, and thermal compounds, but OCZ is still best known for their enthusiast memory. Recently, OCZ has also been quite innovative in new product introductions, including products like our current RAM Speed champ, OCZ VX, which requires a very non-standard 3.5 to 3.6V to really shine.What many forget is that like Corsair, Kingston, Mushkin, and other full-line memory companies, OCZ has a very large line of value products. The Premier Series is a Value line, and the PC3200 Premier is a typical Value product, with a web selling price as low as $121 at mWave.
Specifications
OCZ rates their PC3200 Premier at the more aggressive CAS 2.5 timings at DDR400 and stock voltage.| OCZ PC3200 Premier (DDR400) Memory Specifications | |
| Number of DIMMs & Banks | 2 DS |
| DIMM Size Total Memory |
512 MB 1GB |
| Rated Timings | 2.5-3-3-7 at DDR400 |
| SPD (Auto) Timings | 2.5-3-3-7 |
| Rated Voltage | 2.6V |
Test Results
The OCZ PC3200 Premier is the first Value RAM we have tested that reaches DDR480, our next test point on the 2.4GHz ratios. Our samples actually booted as high as DDR500, but memtest86, Super Pi and games were not stable beyond DDR480, regardless of voltage.| OCZ PC3200 Premier (DDR400) - 2 x 512Mb 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 | 2.5-3-2-6 2.6V 1T |
535.0 | INT 2637 FLT 2826 |
INT 6072 FLT 6025 |
83 | 112.4 |
| 11x218 | 436 DDR | 2.5-3-3-6 2.7V 1T |
538.5 | INT 2803 FLT 2969 |
INT 6481 FLT 6410 |
82 | 113.0 |
| 10x240 | 480 DDR | 2.5-3-3-6 2.9V 1T |
546.6 | INT 2901 FLT 3136 |
INT 6708 FLT 6626 |
81 | 114.7 |
| 11x240 (2.64GHz) |
Highest CPU/Mem Performance | 2.5-3-3-6 2.9V 1T |
586.0 | INT 2976 FLT 3214 |
INT 7083 FLT 7007 |
75 | 124.1 |
The Premier actually did a bit better than specified at DDR400 with stable 2.5-3-2-6 timings. It is also worth noting that Premier was stable with CAS 2.5 timings all the way to the memory speed limit of DDR480. This is particularly outstanding performance for a memory that actually sells for $121.
Aida 32 is now available as Everest Home Edition, a free download from www.lavalys.com. Everest has been very useful in measuring read/write performance and memory latency.
| OCZ PC3200 Premier (DDR400) 2x512Mb Double-Bank Everest 1.51 |
|||||
| CPU Ratio at 2.4GHz | Memory Speed | Memory Timings & Voltage |
Everest READ MB/s |
Everest WRITE MB/s |
Everest Latency ns |
| 12x200 | 400 DDR | 2.5-3-2-6 2.6V 1T |
5795 | 1948 | 47.1 |
| 11x218 | 436 DDR | 2.5-3-3-6 2.7V 1T |
6122 | 1998 | 44.6 |
| 10x240 | 480 DDR | 2.5-3-3-6 2.9V 1T |
6661 | 2217 | 44.3 |
| 11x240 (2.64GHz) |
Highest CPU/Mem Performance | 2.5-3-3-6 2.9V 1T |
6668 | 2710 | 40.3 |
With OCZ Premier covering a broader range of memory speeds from 400 to 480, there is more potential to see the true impact of memory speed on performance. With memory timings at a consistent 2.5-3-3 and CPU speed at a constant 2.4GHz, any performance deltas are the result of true performance differences. As we move from 400 to 480 - a 20% speed increase - memory read improves by 15%, write improves by almost 40%, and latency drops by about 17%.
However, these improvements in synthetic memory benchmarks are not reflected by similar improvements in benchmarks with real games. Improving memory speed by 20% - from 400 to 480 - at the same CPU speed improves gaming performance by just 2% to 3%. Clearly, we are getting a better performance increase than this in real-world performance with faster CPU speed. You can see this in the 10% CPU speed increase from 10x240 to 11x240 at the same memory timings. This 10% CPU Speed increase improves gaming FPS by about 8%.
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2cpuminimum - Wednesday, June 1, 2005 - link
I have to agree that a value ram analysis would be more useful if it checked stability of less well known brands, such as memory pro. Also it would be useful to review sodimm ram 512MB modules, as many budget laptops come with scanty ram and it is usually cheaper to add it aftermarket than buy more from the manufacturer.Pjotr - Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - link
Oh, I forgot, the package does say it has EVP!Pjotr - Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - link
"If you are interested in the OCZ Value VX, note the differences in the two part numbers, one with a "W" and one without.Value VX = OCZ4001024WV3DC-K
2.5-3-3-7 (picture) Supports EVP (Extended Voltage Protection)
Value = OCZ4001024V3DC-K
3-4-4-8 Does not Support EVP"
I bought the OCZ Value 2x512 RAM with 3-4-4-8 timings for $115 at Fry's, so basically I got fooled at that price?
I have this setup: DFI nF4 SLI-D, X800XL, Winchester 3000+.
I've tried this RAM and it won't run at CAS2 at all, I think, I need to do some more work. I've tried 3.0 to 3.2 V in general. I do get it to run 2.5-3-3-8 up to about 240 MHz, from there I need to relax to 2.5-4-3-8 and I then hit 250 quite stable, 255 SuperPI stable but not 3DMark stable.
I'm a bit disappointed now... any hints? Shouldn't I be able to get better timings at 240-250 MHz too? The memory chips are marked OCZ, not blank. Don't know exact markings right now.
Baldeagle76 - Friday, April 29, 2005 - link
Edit I am an idiot and don't know how to read page 2. Thanks for a good article. Do compliments from idiots count ? As far as the voltages go I was happy to see what it "could" handle if this is not anything that I would ever do in my motherboard, the curiousity inside me found this interesting. I thank you for pushing the ram to the limit because in the long run I think the ram that tolerates that type of voltage would have an advantage in OC'ing. I was very curious about the posts earlier saying that you can keep your Ram at ddr400 (effective) and increase your FSB and have no asynchronous lag. This probably isn't the place for that discussion but I nonetheless was very interested in this information. Maybe a review of that is in order for the next Ram test if you have the time ?Baldeagle76 - Friday, April 29, 2005 - link
I have a question. After reading this article I went to NEW EGG to look up the current prices of RAM. Specifically I was looking for the prices on the Value VX ram. Sadly, I did not find anything that fit this description. I don't know if it because I don't know what I am looking for. In None of the titles of the RAM did they mention Value VX. Value was mentioned but how do I know if it is the VX or not? Also looked for the OCZ value BH5 and again I am not sure if I don't know what to look for or if they are out of stock because I didn't see any. It might be helpful for consumers making purchases based off of the articles on Anandtech to include the manufacturer part number so we know whether or not we are getting the same thing reviewed or not. Maybe you could help me out with this because I was looking at getting some of this 512x2 for a second machine i am building but would definetly want the stuff reviewed and not stuff I don't know how good it is. Just including the manufacturer part number would be very helpful in this regard, especially for ram.Baldeagle76 - Friday, April 29, 2005 - link
alexXx - Tuesday, April 19, 2005 - link
wow, honestly now. For a reputable website, why is it that the level of english used in this article could be bested by a 4th grader.YOU CANNOT pluralize 'memory' If you want to refer to more than one you use 'pieces of memory' or 'memory sticks'. Also when you say 'the memories' you can bloody just say 'the memory'. It is not a hard concept. Would you see this in a newspaper? NO. Same should go for online articles.
wakeboarder3 - Tuesday, April 19, 2005 - link
I just got some of this ram, 2 gigs after reading the review "0CZ4001024WV3DC-K" And all I can say is WOW!!!!! 2-2-2-11 @2.9 220 X 11 on my 2500m/ABITAnd for $115 a gig. Runs better then my old bh-5
CanadianDoc - Monday, April 18, 2005 - link
#93 As Wesley said in the opening paragraph, the PURPOSE of this RAM review is to help the reader find the combination of components yielding the best overall "system performance" for the money.That's the Big Picture that you need to keep in mind.
In that context, the combination of Crucial Ballistix RAM, a DFI nF4 mobo, and a Venice 3200+ CPU at 10 x 280 MHz is a very attractive one, in terms of system speed versus cost.
Of course, "system performance" can include other things than just speed, such as fault tolerance, noise, heat, portability, availability, etc.
I happen to value low noise as well as high speed, which is why I suggested the other components, too. I simply hope that my comments give other readers a few ideas of their own.
And that's the point of these forums, isn't it?
JoKeRr - Sunday, April 17, 2005 - link
#92 this is a ram review.wesley: it's interesting to see that the new BH-5, tccd, Micron rev.g, and UTT chip, at 2-2-2-5 timing ddr400, they never reached over 3k on sandra unbuffered test. However, going back to the old P4 2.4C test bed, Mushkin and OCZ 3500 BH-5 running at ddr400 2-2-2-5 had over 3.1k each.
Guess the old BH-5 is still faster than the new one.