OCZ VX Revisited: DDR Updates on DFI nForce4
by Wesley Fink on March 30, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Test Results: OCZ EL PC4000 VX Gold
OCZ EL PC4000 VX Gold (DDR500) - 2x512Mb 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 | 400DDR (Stock V) |
2-3-2-6 2.6V 1T (Stock V) |
567.4 | INT 2852 FLT 3000 |
INT 6128 FLT 6082 |
81 | 119.2 |
12x200 | 400DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.0V 1T |
572.8 | INT 2918 FLT 3070 |
INT 6154 FLT 6100 |
80 | 120.2 |
11x218 | 436DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.1V 1T |
580.2 | INT 3075 FLT 3250 |
INT 6538 FLT 6465 |
80 | 121.4 |
10x240 | 480DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.2V 1T |
600.1 | INT 3230 FLT 3402 |
INT 6804 FLT 6726 |
78 | 123.5 |
9x267 | 533DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.5V 1T |
601.5 | INT 3479 FLT 3670 |
INT 7140 FLT 7054 |
77 | 124.8 |
10x250 | Rated Speed 500DDR | 2-2-2-6 3.2V 1T |
612.2 | INT 3364 FLT 3557 |
INT 7093 FLT 7009 |
75 | 128.4 |
10x267 (2.67 GHz) |
Highest CPU/Mem Performance | 2-2-2-6 3.5V 1T |
645.0 | INT 3465 FLT 3630 |
INT 7552 FLT 7460 |
71 | 135.7 |
The top row of Performance results at 2.6V is included as a performance baseline. While VX cannot achieve 2-2-2 timings at stock voltage at DDR400, it can be coaxed easily into 2-2-2 performance at DDR400 with more voltage. With these modules, we reached an extremely stable DDR400 2-2-2-6 at 3.0V. We then maintained 2-2-2-6 timings all the way to DDR538, which required 3.6V for complete stability. The voltage requirements from 3.0 to 3.6 volts were very linear to Memory Speed.
The important results here are rows 2 to 6, where CPU speed is kept at 2.4GHZ and only the Memory Speed is varied. The performance differences you see in that range are a result of Memory Speed and timings only. In the case of VX, where memory timings also remain constant, the true impact of just memory speed can be clearly seen. It is not a huge difference in real-world benchmarks, but the increase is real nonetheless.
However, speed from 400 to 533 is not the only thing that is important with OCZ VX. Please take a look at VX performance in our later performance comparisons. Look at each of these speeds comparing VX to the best AMD TCCD and other memory that we have tested and you will see something very interesting. VX is faster at every speed than competing memory that we have tested. This means all 2-2-2 is not created equal, as VX is faster at every speed than the competition at 2-2-2.
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Wesley Fink - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
#9 - We reran everything in this review and took nothing for granted. Both results are the result of memtest86 on different BIOS, and a different pair of Platinum Rev. 3. I would guess the later BIOS is the difference. You can easily run the test yourself to check for best bandwidth, but 6 is the recomendation with this setup.#12 & #13 - You forgot that MSI won our nF3 Gold award and was our nF3 board of choice. The MSI also shared as the nF4 winner. With so many brands being pimped, it's hard to keep up :) We like the best performance - regardless of brand.
xsilver - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
"anandtech is the biggest dfi propaganda site on the web"I noticed that too.... but is it possibly due to the fact that their nf4 board is so much better than everybody else's??
just like this memory is suprisingly better than the competition
I guess what they are saying may be you are crazy to buy anything else for the same price.... however not everybody can affor a dfi nf4, 6800ultra sli + 1gb ocz vx memory
arswihart - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
i should say, before they were the biggest asus propaganda site, but tons of early problems with the sli have quieted them latelyarswihart - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
anandtech is the biggest dfi propaganda site on the web, where's the attention to all the other nf4 boards?bigtoe36 - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
#6 there is always value VX if you don't want the warranty to 250fsb etc, you pays your money you take your choice.PhoenixOrion - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
what kind of cooling on the cpu for the test config?Viper4185 - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
Nice follow up article but there has to be a mistake somewhere on this page...http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=238...
First you say this...
"In the SLI roundup, we found a tRAS of 7 to be ideal for memory based on Samsung TCCD chips."
Then...
Therefore, a tRAS setting of 6 was used for testing wherever possible.
I refer you to this article...
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?...
It says 7 here??? So which is best 6 or 7?
Lonyo - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
It would be nice to see some overall overclocking performances, using the FX-55 to see what the highest overclock you can gain is (obviously concentrating on the top memories).ie: If the VX was using with an overclocked FX55, how would it compare at max speed other RAM and the same CPU?
Zebo - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
Getting late I stutterd while typing.Zebo - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
Waste money on a hyped brand name? Or save $100 or Save $100 with "Twinmos speed premium"... Your choice and google is your friend:)