System setup and notes
Basic setup
- AMD Barton XP3200+ (11 x 200 - 2200MHz)
- EPoX 8RDA3+ nForce2 Ultra 400 Motherboard
- ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB (380/680)
- OCZ 2x 256MB PC3200 EL-DDR dual-channel memory kit
- OCZ 512MB PC3500 EL DDR memory
- Corsair 2 x 256MB XMS3500C2
- Mushkin 2 x 256MB EMS PC3500
- Akasa Silver Mountain cooler
- IBM 40GB 7200 RPM hard drive
Software
- Windows XP Professional Build 2600.xpclient.010817-1148
Notes
As we're running on a dual-channel chipset, albeit with a processor that can't take full use of the extra bandwidth afforded by the theoretical 6.4GB/s on tap, we'll run the OCZ modules at their standard 2-2-3-6 ratings. To see just what kind of increase we're receiving from a dual-channel kit over a single module, a 512MB OCZ EL-DDR PC3500 will be run at the same speed and timings as the pair of PC3200 modules, obviously in single-channel mode. Further, to show you just what kind of increase a tRCD of 2 clocks affords, we'll add in a pair of Corsair XMS3500C2 (2 x 256MB) modules running at the same DDR-400 speed, but with 2-2-2-6 timings. All that's changed between the OCZ and Corsair modules is that tRCD has been dropped down to 2 clocks.
We must note that a different manufacturer may have optimised their RAM in some way, shape or form. It would be incorrect for us to attribute any benchmarking lead that the Corsair may have as simply the result of a lower tRCD. Generally, though, a lower tRCD will improve performance markedly. Lastly, we'll try to overclock the modules to their limits.
The first test is to ascertain whether the modules can run at their stated speeds without any problems. For this we turn to Memtest86, a pre-OS program that scans and reports for any memory-related problems by going through a set of grueling tests. Our new EPoX 8RDA3+, one of the new nForce2 Ultra motherboards, has official 200FSB status. We put the pair of OCZ modules in dual-channel mode with 2-2-3-6 timings, set the DDR voltage to 2.50v*, and let Memtest do its thing for 20 minutes. The modules passed without any problems.
Satisfied that the modules could perform to specification, we set out on our benchmarking run. Remember that the benchmarks on the following pages are all carried out at 2200MHz - 200FSB. The RAM configurations are as follows
2 x 256MB - OCZ EL DDR PC3200 in dual-channel mode - 2-2-3-6 (tRCD=3)
2 x 256MB - Corsair XMS3500C2 in dual-channel mode - 2-2-2-6 (tCD=2)
1 x 512MB - OCZ EL DDR PC3500 memory in single-channel mode - 2-2-3-6 (tRCD=3)
*JEDEC have now ratified that PC3200 modules may use a stock 2.6v for DDR-400 speeds and above.
