OCZ VX Revisited: DDR Updates on DFI nForce4
by Wesley Fink on March 30, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Performance Test Configuration
All four memories were tested on the DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR. The new DFI nForce4 SLI and Ultra are the only current production boards that support the voltages required for top VX performance. An OCZ DDR Booster can be used with motherboards without support for high memory voltages. nForce4 is PCI Express, so we used the PCIe version of our standard nVidia 6800 Ultra for testing. Other components remain the same as used in the memory setup in Athlon 64 Memory: Rewriting the Rules.The A64 test bed includes components that have been proven in Socket 939 Athlon 64 benchmarking, such as the Socket 939 4000+ (same specifications as FX53), the OCZ Power Stream 520 Power Supply, and the nVidia 6800 Ultra. We have found the 6800 Ultra to be a particularly good performance match to nVidia motherboards.
All other basic test conditions attempted to mirror those used in our earlier Intel memory reviews. However, test results are not directly comparable to tests performed on the Intel test bed.
| AMD nForce4 Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | AMD 4000+ (FX53) Athlon 64 (2.4GHz, Socket 939, 1 MB cache, Dual Channel, 1000HT) |
| RAM: | OCZ EL PC4000 VX Gold (DS) 2X512MB Corsair TwinX1024-4400C25 (DS) 2X512MB Crucial Ballistix (DS) 2X512MB OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev 2 (DS) 2X512MB |
| Hard Drives | Seagate 120GB SATA 7200RPM 8MB Cache |
| PCI/AGP Speed | Fixed at 33/66 |
| Bus Master Drivers: | nVidia nForce Platform Driver 6.39 |
| Video Card(s): | nVidia 6800 Ultra 256MB PCIe, 256MB aperture, 1024x768x32 |
| Video Drivers: | nVidia Forceware 71.84 Release |
| Power Supply: | OCZ Power Stream 520W |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP1 |
| Motherboards: | DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR |
| BIOS: | N4D310p Release (3/10/2005) |
With nForce3 motherboards, we achieved the fastest performance on AMD Athlon 64 chipsets (nForce3, VIA K8T800 PRO) at a Cycle Time or tRAS of 10. However, as we saw in the recent nForce4 SLI roundup, the nForce4 appears to behave a bit differently with memory. In the SLI roundup, we found a tRAS of 7 to be ideal for memory based on Samsung TCCD chips. Therefore, we ran a complete set of Memtest86 benchmarks with only tRAS varied to determine the best tRAS setting for OCZ VX.
| Memtest86 Bandwidth DFI nForce4, Athlon 64 4000+, OCZ VX |
|
| 2 tRAS | 2572 |
| 3 tRAS | 2572 |
| 4 tRAS | 2572 |
| 5 tRAS | 2640 |
| 6 tRAS | 2640 |
| 7 tRAS | 2640 |
| 8 tRAS | 2505 |
| 9 tRAS | 2505 |
| 10 tRAS | 2505 |
| 11 tRAS | 2441 |
| 12 tRAS | 2383 |
These tests are particularly easy to do with the DFI nF4 boards, since memtest86 is built-in to the BIOS. To boot memtest86, you only have to enable it in BIOS and the system will boot directly into memtest86. This makes it very easy to test various memory timings, but memtest86 should be disabled in BIOS when you are ready to boot into the system.
| Memtest86 Bandwidth DFI nF4, Athlon 64 4000+, OCZ 3200 Platinum Rev. 2 |
|
| 4 tRAS | 2191 |
| 5 tRAS | 2191 |
| 6 tRAS | 2242 |
| 7 tRAS | 2191 |
| 8 tRAS | 2191 |
| 9 tRAS | 2141 |
| 10 tRAS | 2092 |
Similar tests were also run on Crucial Ballistix, Corsair PC4400, and OCZ Platinum Rev.2. All 3 memories showed their best bandwidth at a tRAS setting of 6 - just like OCZ VX. Therefore, a tRAS setting of 6 was used for testing wherever possible.
Test Settings
All AMD Athlon 64 processors are unlocked downward, and the FX CPUs are unlocked up and down. This feature allows a different approach to memory testing, which truly measures performance differences in memory speed alone. All tests were run with CPU speed as close to the specified 2.4GHz of the 4000+/FX53 as possible, with CPU speed/Memory Speed increased at lower multipliers to achieve 2.4Ghz. This approach allows the true measurement of the impact of higher memory speed and timings on performance, since CPU speed is fixed, removing CPU speed as a factor in memory performance.The following settings were tested with the OCZ EL PC4000 VX Gold on the DFI nF4 test bed:
- 12x200/DDR400 - the highest stock memory speed supported on K8T800-Pro/nF3-4/SiS755-FX motherboards
- 11x218/DDR436 - a ratio near the standard DDR433 speed
- 10x240/DDR480 - a ratio near the standard rating of DDR466
- 9x267/DDR533 - a standard memory speed used in testing other high-speed memory
- Highest Memory Performance - the highest memory bandwidth and game performance that we could achieve with the memory being tested. This is rarely the highest memory speed that we could achieve; it is normally a lower speed with 1T Command Rate and tighter memory timings.
We ran our standard suite of memory performance benchmarks - Quake 3, Return to Castle Wolfenstein-Enemy Territory-Radar, Super Pi 2M, and Sandra 2004 Standard and UnBuffered.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
53 Comments
View All Comments
renzokuken - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
Wesley, you've made my day. Thankyou for this follow-up review. The only thing I didn't like is the following statement "The Corsair did not do as well at the highest speeds on the DFI as it has done on other platforms, but that can likely be fixed with a BIOS revision". I'd love to know if/when this BIOS revision will be released and how much it will affect the Corsairs results.Btw, if anyone can tell me how to change the password required to post a comment I would be eternally grateful
arswihart - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
zebo, i have no idea what you tried to just sayJoKeRr - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
look at corsair and mushkin tccd (3200s) that doesn't use BP pcb, they almost never break 260 eitherJoKeRr - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
but I don't ballsitix uses BP pcb, if it does, it will prob. kill tccd.Zebo - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
Consistancy. It's not there. Just browse various forums.. some like us report kick arse performance some can't even get 220Mhz out of it w low timings.When you buy TCCD any moron can get at least 275Mhz out of it which is very appealing until you look past sisuck numbers. Also, in general, TCCD is more flexible because of that. Can run 2-2-2 @ 200 just like Ballistix but can also run up around 300Mhz and everything in between. I've never seen ballistix posting at anything above 275 w/1T.
Zebo - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
"anandtech is the biggest dfi propaganda site on the web"They use the best mobo in mem guides this is nothing new where you been? Back in NF3 days it's was MSI NEO2..Back w intel tests it was Asus..actually this is the first time I ever seen them using DFI which stand to raseon since it's the NF4 winnar.
ozzimark - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
#35-one thing i never understood. ballistix (more the micron -5b chips than ballistix itself) has an amazing performance/ocing to cost ratio. plus, it oc's at tight timings fairly well without much voltage. how come it was never very popular like BH-5/UTT and TCCD?
Zebo - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
Joker, Ballistix is essentially EB..so it likes up to 3.1 too but runs hot...need to cool it activly and have a mobo which staggers mem like DFI's.. i.e geographically in slots: Mem--Blank--Mem--Blank to allow air flow.I personally run 245Mhz 2.5-2-2 1T @ 2.8
But screwing around w/ volts I get 261 2.5-2-2 w/o error But since I'm a silence freak it's not for me.
Still this winbond UTT mem is better overall if you plan to send high volts to mem anywayz
Zebo - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
"TCCD isn't the holy grail of RAM anymore."It never was. It's loose arse timings always got whooped by Ballistix, and especially "old" BH-5 in the benchmarks running async with tight timings and moderate BW. This new ram is from co that brought you BH-5 and it's prolly better except it can't run 1.5 CAS.
arswihart - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
anandtech decides to focus on dfi and ocz as a magical combination, no matter what qualifications they make in the article they are still selling these specific products to readers. Its reflected in the forums and probably in sales. I don't like how anandtech's articles are beginning to constantly offer suggestions and declarations about the best this and that (often just based on what they have reviewed to date, not all that is available).