Value RAM Roundup: Computing On a Budget
by Wesley Fink on April 11, 2005 4:26 PM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Transcend JM366D643A-50
Transcend will be best known to some of our readers as a manufacturer of flash memory. While flash memory is an important product line for Transcend, they also manufacture storage products and system memory. You will not find Transcend for sale at a huge number of US websites, but Transcend also sells directly to end-users at their website. Transcend has US sites in both Spanish and English, as well as several European language sites, and Taiwan, Japan and China websites.
Specifications
Transcend rates JM366D643A-50 at DDR400 CAS 2.5 and we found the "auto" or SPD timings to be 2.5-3-3-8.| Transcend JM366D643A-50 (DDR400) Memory Specifications | |
| Number of DIMMs & Banks | 2 DS |
| DIMM Size Total Memory |
512 MB 1GB |
| Rated Timings | 2.5-3-3 |
| SPD (Auto) Timings | 2.5-3-3-8 |
| Rated Voltage | 2.6V |
Transcend shows both DDR400 CAS 2.5 and DDR400 CAS 3 in their product list, so it is clear that the DIMM products from Transcend are aimed at the Value end of the memory market.
Test Results
| Transcend JM366D643A-50 - 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 | 2.5-3-3-6 2.6V 1T |
532.0 | INT 2420 FLT 2593 |
INT 6050 FLT 6036 |
82 | 111.9 |
| 11x218 | 436 DDR | 3-3-3-6 2.8V 1T |
529.2 | INT 2593 FLT 2735 |
INT 6393 FLT 6309 |
82 | 111.7 |
| 12x223 (2.68GHz) |
Highest CPU/Mem Performance | 3-3-3-7 2.8V 1T |
575.5 | INT 2668 FLT 2835 |
INT 6650 FLT 5516 |
75 | 122.5 |
Transcend is another memory that costs just $100 for a Gigabyte and yet manages to nearly reach DDR450 in overclocking. The cost and performance are very similar to the Kingston CAS 3 rated Value RAM except that Transcend rates its Value RAM at CAS 2.5. While the rated timings differ, both Kingston and Transcend both are stable at CAS 2.5 at DDR400. The Transcend RAM is an excellent value and provides the overclocking capabilities to reach a 12% CPU overclock at 1:1 memory ratio.
We have looked at Aida 32 results in the past, and found them to be very useful in examining read/write performance and memory latency. Aida 32 is now available as Everest Home Edition, a free download from www.lavalys.com.
| Transcend JM366D643A-50 (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 | 2.5-3-3-6 2.6V 1T |
5801 | 1861 | 47.7 |
| 11x218 | 436 DDR | 3-3-3-6 2.8V 1T |
6028 | 1906 | 48.8 |
| 12x223 (2.68GHz) |
Highest CPU/Mem Performance 446 DDR |
3-3-3-7 2.8V 1T |
6306 | 1989 | 47.9 |
It is easy to see in the Everest results that dropping CAS just from 2.5 to 3 in moving from DDR400 to DDR436 offsets virtually all of the performance improvements that you get from higher memory speed. The $100 Transcend reaches on to DDR446 to give you most of the headroom that you need for air-cooled 1:1 overclocking at stock multipliers.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
102 Comments
View All Comments
segagenesis - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link
Meh, I am lost for the life of me here. I dont see what the big fuss is over Value VX when I still cant find it. To save the comments http://tinyurl.com/46vg6 this doesnt look like the memory reviewed in the article being 3-4-4-8.Seeing how http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?desc... is $87 and I already have some and know it works well... im hard pressed to think I really need to buy "mystery memory".
Illissius - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link
Finally, is what I can say. However, if you really mean it when say you want to test real life performance, you should test with stuff from the actual standard benchmark suite - Quake 3 might show impressive gains from higher memory bandwidth, but does the same hold true for Doom 3?xsilver: While I agree that testing with the insane voltages available on DFIs limits the scope of the article somewhat, and results for lower voltages would've been nice to see (or at least mentioned specifically, it seems they're actually there for the BH5, though not the VX), I'm frankly more annoyed with all the other motherboard manufacturers for not allowing higher voltages (Abit in particular), than I am with AT for going ahead and testing with the only one that does. I wouldn't call it advertisement, more like a fair appraisal of capabilities.
Den - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link
I thought it was interesting to see in the charts that the Crucial Balistix which are $204 right now ($106 each but 4% off if you buy two and therefore JUST missed the price cutoff for this review) were consistently very good (faster than almost everything in this review) and are the only ones that can be that fast on more normal (non-DFI) voltages.xsilver - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link
Im not saying the dfi is bad or expensive.... its just that if you review with features that only the dfi can provide its not really a review / roundup anymore ..... its called an advertisment.... where's the choice?????I expect that dfi shareholders to be laughing really loud right now.... and OCZ too....
bigtoe36 - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link
Value VX is $115 if you shop around, how does this count it out of a value roundup?Should AT have only reviewed value ram that performs poorly?
OrSin - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link
#40 actually alot people would do just that.The DFI mother is not really that expensive.
Asus and gigabit are the the same price. 6800GT cards are high but if you want the best cards you buy them, to play the games. But how many times have anyone said what type of ram you need to play Doom 3 or HL. No one. If you don't over clock, then $90 ram will slow you system down what 1-2% over $300 ram. I got a A64 3400 and 800XL and kingmax ram. And my system runs alot fat then my friend with with a just 800 and $250 ram.
Sorry but buying high priced ram are mostly for over clockers and most people don't do that. Alot on these tech sites do, but my guess is even most people that buy $200+ ram don't
The review was nice to me.
xsilver - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link
another thing I want to clarify is that you make the assumption that you must be a "mad overclocker" if you buy the dfi because it can do 3.4v and all others that dont have the dfi are just posers..... many people would disagree but you seem to not notice???xsilver - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link
wesleyI understand what you say about making things consistent but arent then you just promoting the dfi board as no other board supports 3.4v? what about people who are going nforce 3 or intel (god forbid :P)
in trying to maximize the potential of the ram, you are limiting the practical application...
an analogy would be "in testing a ferrari its performance is great when drive it with brand X of fuel and feed it liquid oxygen".... umm... what about the rest of the people that dont use that?... that's why car reviews talk more about the "feel" & handling of the car, things that can be appriecieated by ALL customers....
and by specifying that this review was more for "mad overclockers" that may use the dfi then why even review the cheaper solutions that dont even overclock at all... I mean its not exactly fair when you compare the really cheap ram to some OCZ VX values now is it?
On one hand you try and generalize to the broader market but then on the other you say that you're only catering to the "mad overclockers" that buy the dfi
your original scientific basis / aim is a little unsound
bigtoe36 - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link
If your looking for value VX look here.http://www.atacom.com/program/print_html_new.cgi?c...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
Look closely at the part number is has WV which stands for with winbond die, timings are usually 3-4-4-8 or 2.5-3-3-8 buit its all the same stuff.
adg1034 - Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - link
Where exactly can you find the Value VX? Do you have a model number? I was going to buy the Corsair Value RAM, but after reading this, I definitely think I'm going OCZ.