OCZ 3500EB: The Importance of Balanced Memory Timings
by Wesley Fink on April 7, 2004 12:04 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Test Results: OCZ 3500EB
To test overclocked stability, we used the very demanding Gun Metal 2 - Benchmark 2, which pushes systems with its DX9 routines. To be considered stable for test purposes, Gun Metal, our Quake3 benchmark, UT2003 Demo, Super PI, Halo, and Comanche 4 had to complete without incident. Any of these, and in particular Super PI and Gun Metal, will crash a less-than stable memory configuration.| OCZ 3500EB (DDR433) - 2 x 512MB Double-Bank | |||||
| Speed | Memory Timings & Voltage | Quake3 fps | Sandra UNBuffered | Sandra Standard Buffered | Super PI 2M places (time in sec) |
| 400DDR 800FSB |
2.5-2-3-5 2.5V |
322.2 | INT 2735 FLT 2782 |
INT 4456 FLT 4459 |
131 |
| 433DDR 866FSB |
2.5-2-3-5 2.65V |
350.4 | INT 3009 FLT 3018 |
INT 4856 FLT 4867 |
121 |
| 466DDR 933FSB |
3-2-3-5 2.65V |
376.5 | INT 3216 FLT 3241 |
INT 5204 FLT 5215 |
113 |
| 500DDR 1000FSB |
3-2-3-5 2.85V |
403.3 | INT 3457 FLT 3501 |
INT 5580 FLT 5586 |
104 |
| 510DDR 1020FSB |
3-2-3-6 2.85V |
408.1 | INT 3516 FLT 3557 |
INT 5715 FLT 5718 |
102 |
At DDR433, OCZ 3500EB clearly meets its specifications. We were able to run our complete memory test suite at the SPD timings with no problem. We did achieve the best performance on the Intel test bed, however, with the lowest Cycle Time (tRAS) that we could run. Therfore, the best performance on an Intel chipset was with the lowest possible tRAS, which is reported in the chart.
It is also worth mentioning that OCZ 3500EB was completely stable at 2.5-2-3 timings to DDR460. Above 460, we needed to raise our CAS setting to CAS 3 for most stable performance. However, across the DDR400 to DDR510 range we were able to maintain a tRP (RAS Precharge) of 2, and a tRCD (RAS-to-Cas Delay) value of 3.
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Pumpkinierre - Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - link
Yeah well I have had OCZ platinum 3200 o'clocked to 3500 (2-2-3-7) for 9months now and noticed it slowly degrading. I used to pass Memtest86 at 220MHz with Game Accelerator (GAT) F1 (Abit IC7-G) but now I have to switch off the GAT at 216MHz to successfully run Memtest86. At F1, DDR Voltage is 2.7V otherwise 2.6V. I notice the mem. modules are quite warm (even hot) so maybe I need extra cooling as the DIMMS are out of the normal air circulation at the top of the case. And its been a hot summer.It seems crazy that memory modules that are at least 12 months old (BH5/BH6) are still the best performers in the 400 to 433MHz range and even higher (original OCZ3700 gold) given the very fast ascent from 266 to 400 at low latencies. Lets hope these Hynix DDR550 modules cut the mustard.
I cant run F1 higher than CAS2 at present (and Street Racer not at all) although others in posts say they do. So finally Wesley, will the EB technology modules run F1 or Street Racer at 466-500Mhz.
johnsonx - Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - link
It might have been interesting to set CAS latency on the other modules to 2.5 to see how much this 'EB' helps vs. non-EB ram at identical timings.This article also simply seems to show (again) that OCZ memory, of any sort, is just plain good. Recall the article on the FX-53, wherein the 2.4Ghz chip with OCZ ram performed more than 200Mhz better than the 2.2Ghz FX-51 with Mushkin RAM... this even though the Mushkin had better timings.
Were I shopping for high performance RAM, my shopping would begin and end with OCZ... it'd just be a matter of choosing which OCZ modules.
Cybercat - Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - link
Well....this is new....and impressive.