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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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.