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Value RAM Roundup: Computing On a Budget

by Wesley Fink on April 11, 2005 4:26 PM EST
102 Comments | Add A Comment
102 Comments

OCZ PC3200 Value Series: "Value VX"

OCZ VX emerged as our memory performance leader in our recent memory review, OCZ VX Revisited: DDR Updates on DFI nForce4. Rated at DDR500 speed at 2-2-2 timings, we quickly learned that you needed a lot of memory voltage to get the most from this memory. In fact, VX really requires 3.5V to 3.6V for best performance. This requires one of the new DFI nForce4 motherboards, an add-on OCZ DDR Booster, or a motherboard memory voltage mod to provide the voltages VX demands.

The other part of the VX equation was cost. OCZ bins VX and tests at DDR500 2-2-2 speed, and the cost of that selectivity and guaranteed performance is about $270 for a Gigabyte of RAM. As performance RAM goes, this is a bargain price, but we never considered VX a Value RAM until OCZ dropped a surprise on our doorstep.

With the introduction of DDR500 VX, OCZ announced that they would be also producing a "Value VX" rated at DDR400 and lower voltage. Basically, this Value VX would be an unbinned part not tested for high voltages and high overclocks. That "Value VX" is now on the market as OCZ PC3200 Value Series and selling for about $115 for a pair of 512MB DIMMs!

PC3200 Value Series comes in a more basic and lower cost package.

The pair of 512MB double-sided DIMMs are also one of the few OCZ memories sold without a heat sink. In past reviews, we found the heat sink on or off made very little difference in memory performance. The memory chips are blanks supplied to OCZ by Winbond. OCZ didn't label the blanks on "Value VX" product.

Specifications

OCZ rates Value VX at the very conservative 2.5-3-3-7 at DDR400 at default voltage. The memory does meet these specs, but when you crank up the voltage, these "Value VX" DIMMs turn into a different animal.

 OCZ PC3200 Value (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

There is no mention on the innocent "OCZ PC3200 Value Series" label of what lurks within.

Test Results

OCZ PC3200 Value (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 2-2-2-6
3.0V 1T		 570.2 INT 2940
FLT 2929		 INT 6096
FLT 6148		 81 120.0
11x218 436 DDR 2-2-2-6
3.1V 1T		 579.6 INT 3138
FLT3117		 INT 6478
FLT 6412		 80 120.9
10x240 480 DDR 2-2-2-6
3.2V 1T		 593.4 INT 3242
FLT 3352		 INT 6746
FLT 6789		 79 122.7
11x245
(2.7GHz)		 Highest CPU/Mem Performance
490 DDR		 2-2-2-6
3.3V 1T		 613.6 INT 3384
FLT 3459		 INT 7284
FLT 7204		 72 129.1
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, and in particular Super PI, will crash a less-than stable memory configuration.

The binned and tested OCZ PC4000 VX reaches a higher speed of DDR530 at 2-2-2. That just proves the value of binning and testing for performance. But how can we complain about a memory that costs 57% less than 4000 VX and still performs with complete stability at DDR490 at 2-2-2 timings? Frankly, we can't.

You bargain hunters who want to play with VX, 2-2-2 timings, and high memory voltage will want to grab a pair of Value VX. They aren't binned, but we suspect that most will reach DDR480 to DDR500 if you supply the voltage - and some may do even better. That translates into a Clock frequency of 240 to 250, which should be more than enough to supply 1:1 2-2-2 to any AMD A64 at stock multiplier. A 2.4GHz 4000+ would be 2.88 to 3.0GHz at 240 to 250, for example - probably more than what the CPU can do with air cooling. At $115, for a Gigabyte of Value VX, there is now no price barrier to providing 2-2-2 1:1 memory for any AMD CPU - provided you can supply the voltage.

Aida 32 is now available as Everest Home Edition, a free download from www.lavalys.com.

OCZ PC3200 Value (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 2-2-2-6
3.0V 1T		 5877 2033 45.8
11x218 436 DDR 2-2-2-6
3.1V 1T		 6170 2056 44.6
10x240 480 DDR 2-2-2-6
3.2V 1T		 6666 2207 44.2
11x245
(2.7GHz)		 Highest CPU/Mem Performance
490 DDR		 2-2-2-6
3.3V 1T		 8310 3321 35.2

Performance patterns are exactly the same as seen in our recent reviews of VX memory. The unbinned $115 DDR400 memory reached DDR490, while the binned $270 DDR500 version reached DDR530 - with 2-2-2 timings all around. If you want assured performance, go for the DDR500 tested part. If you want low price and lots of potential, OCZ PC3200 Value Series has your name on it.

OCZ PC3200 Premier OCZ PC3200 Gold: "Value BH5"
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  • LoneWolf15 - Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - link

    Thanks for a good article. I usually post response for constructive criticism, but I ought to balance that out more. The Value VX OCZ RAM was particularly interesting and worth knowing about.

  • Wesley Fink - Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - link

    #79 - I double-checked the part number on the OCZ "Value BH5" and corrected the Part Number on page 2. Thanks for pointing this out.

  • ericeames - Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - link

    I belive that the idea of this roundup was good but it has some flaws:

    I dont think that getting memories directly from the manufacturer is a good idea. I know that this is how it "works" it makes the result less credible!

    The overclocking possibilities is not THAT important altough it should not be neglected.


    Compairing them with better brands was a good idea, it makes the results relative.

    /
    Eric

  • srstudios - Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - link

    Wesley, it seems that the part number is incorrect for the BH-5 OCZ shown on page two.

    http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_e...

    ELDCGE-K for BH-5 2-2-2

    Nice article though, thanks for all the great work!

  • srstudios - Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - link

  • xsilver - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link

    another thing I have to clear up..... I don't mind extreme voltages used on a "performance" review but this was supposed to be a "VALUE" roundup.... so in this situation extreme voltages may not be warranted

  • xsilver - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link

    #62 wesley... you continiued analogy is flawed....
    the thing you forget to mention is that the ferrari only smokes the chevy IF and ONLY IF the racing alcohol is used (3.4v) and the racing alchohol is only available to people who buy say brand X tyres (dfi board).... so in essence you cannot separate the dfi board and the vx + bh5 ram.... they must be used together.....
    I stand by my statement that this "review" smells a bit like an advertisment for dfi and ocz

    #74
    I thought it was generally accepted that you can now get the same performance with 1:1 overclocking on loose cas3 timings as a lower mhz with tighter cas 2 timings.... so the need to push the ram to the highest mhz is unnessessary to get the best performance

  • JustAnAverageGuy - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link

    Poor Wesley.

    The crowds can never be pleased.

  • AtaStrumf - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link

    ChineseDemocracyGNR's post reminded me of one more thing that is sooooo... wrong with this article. 240MHz is nowhere near enough for 1:1 OC-ing of A64s, because unlike you, we don't have 2,4 GHz (4000+, 939, 12x multiplier) chips which cost a fortune, but rather 1,8/2,0 GHz (3000+/3200+, 939, 9x/10x multiplier) chips which cost much less. So if you do the math that is 2160/2400 MHz, which is not exacly the limit, at least not anymore, now that the 90 nm Venice chips are just around the corner.

  • AtaStrumf - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link

    I noticed that typo too Olaf van der Spek, but more importantly this very same Transcend RAM gave me quite a bit of trouble and I would not recommend it to anyone with an A64. I was getting strange errors on my ABIT KV8 K8T800Pro, A64 3200+ S754, 2x512 transend RAM combo, like consistent NERO Identity check failures after a DVD burn. Really annoying!!! There were other stuff too, but the point is after I switched to TwinMOS Twister 3700, PQI OEM 3200, Geil Value 3200, Crucial Ballistix 3200 CL2 (best RAM I tested so far), Corsair XMS 3700 (crap RAM BTW), APACER 4000 (TCCD chips; on A64 won't run with any other stick, eg. 1x512 Ballistix + 1x512 APACER, system only sees 512MB of APACER RAM; checked with many different memories) or any other memory for that matter, everything worked just fine, so there is something really strange wrong with Transcend RAM so I strongly recommend that all A64 users avoid it like a plague.

    I agree that the only good choice in this roundup was a OCZ VX Value. You shouldn't let manufacturers pick the RAM you test. Ask us what we want to see tested, we'll have plenty of ideas. The ones I'd like to see are Corsair Value (which I know is crap, I just want you to show in Anand's recent blog entry AT's much advertised backbone and prove to Corsair that you will not take their BS excuse and will still test their RAM, even if they don't want you to, because we, the readers, come first), then GEIL Value 3200 isn't all that bad, then TwinMOS Speed Premium, PQI 3200 OEM, Geil pc4000 Ultra Platinum isn't that expensive either.

    And please stop at 2,9V, because that is as high as most are willing to go, and don't test more that CAS 2.5 and 1T.
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