OCZ VX Revisited: DDR Updates on DFI nForce4
by Wesley Fink on March 30, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Final Words
Conclusions have not really changed in our update to DDR performance testing on the DFI nForce4. Across the board, OCZ VX is the fastest memory that we have tested when comparing equivalent speeds. However, we also found that other top-performing DDR memory also does better on the DFI nF4. The result is that other top DDR memory is capable of achieving similar performance to VX, although they require higher CPU speeds and memory speeds to offset the slower memory timings and slower performance of the memory chips at the same speed. Results were closer between top competing memory than it appeared in our initial review, and we found this to be almost completely attributable to the better performance of nVidia 71.84 compared to the earlier 61.77 drivers.In the end, the fastest memory that we have tested is OCZ PC4000 VX Gold. Across the range from DDR400 to DDR533, it outperforms any DDR memory that we have tested. This certainly proves that timings do indeed still matter, and 2-2-2 timings combined with a faster memory chip can yield impressive performance levels. The "gotcha" is that you will need a lot of voltage - up to 3.6 volts - to reach these performance levels. The DFI nF4 pair are the only productions boards we are aware of that can supply these kinds of voltages. You can also achieve these voltages on some motherboards by using the OCZ DDR Booster.
There is certainly good news for other top memory on the DFI nF4, however. Almost all of the memory could achieve roughly equivalent performance to the OCZ VX Gold at higher memory speeds and higher CPU speed. TCCD at 318x9 or 280x10 were roughly equivalent to VX performance at 267x10. This required both higher CPU speed and higher memory speed to offset the advantage of fast 2-2-2 timings and fast Winbond chips in OCZ VX. Crucial Ballistix came closest to OCZ VX performance across the curve, since Micron chips do appear more equivalent in performance to Winbond than Samsung TCCD. However, TCCD can reach higher memory speeds, which offsets the Ballistix advantage if your system is capable of the higher speeds. Corsair was particularly fast for a TCCD memory in the 466 to 533 range, exactly where it is targeted. 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. In the end, everyone's top performances were pretty comparable.
If you have the means to reach the voltage levels required by VX , then OCZ Gold VX is definitely the fastest memory that you can buy. It tops out at DDR533, but it is just as fast at that speed as TCCD at DDR636 or DDR560 at higher CPU speeds. All 4 memories can achieve similar top performance levels, but OCZ VX Gold does it at the lowest DDR speed and fastest timings. Across its bandwidth of DDR400 to DDR533, OCZ VX Gold is the fastest memory that we have tested. At the top, other top DDR can match VX performance, but they require higher CPU speed and/or memory speed to offset the memory timing advantages of OCZ VX Gold.
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AnnihilatorX - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
This memory rocks. Can someone please do me a favour of buying this memory for me from newegg, ship it to me (UK/HK) and I'll pay him cost + postage + a bit extra via paypal. Thanks very much. It's a bit annoying since you cannot buy this ram from HK. No suppliers.Just e-mail me at annihilator@x-annihilation.com
Thanks again
ozzimark - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
*notes that it's 245mhz at 2.5-2-2-10ozzimark - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
#28my ballistix can go to 245mhz with 2.7v before my memory controller starts hating me and having some serious stability issues. though they seem to scale nicely with voltage, i can't really test it out, because even at 3-4-4-10 with 2T, i can't get over 250mhz.
n yusef - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
AnandTech should do a review of the TwinMOS UTT chips that cost $150 less than the VX. I bought VX before I heard about the TwinMOS stuff, but my friend is doing 2-2-2-6 at 255MHz with 3.4 volts at 1:1. My VX can do 260MHz, but I would give 5MHz RAM/FSB bandwidth and 50MHz core for $150 any day.JoKeRr - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
one more thing, I've heard from many ppl that they're running their BH5 sticks (2x512) to 250 2-2-2-5 with like 3.1 to 3.2V, if u still do have some old BH5, would it be possible to lay a show down between bh5 and VX?? I think I saw a guy on xtremeresouce /or maybe system doing ddr293 with 4V with mushkin BH5 at 2-2-2-5 timing, that's crazy.JoKeRr - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
How does the Ballistix react to voltage?? I've heard that Tccd doesn't react very well, but the old EB stuff could do 2.5-2-2-5 at ddr500 once u give it 3.1V. Could you plz try that and see how the Ballistix scale with voltage plz?? thankQ in advance.JoKeRr - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
Rapsven - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
23-If you are trying to get 2 gigabytes to do those speeds in tandem with the CPU, you'll have problems. Try using the regular 2*512 instead of 4*512 and see you can hit 250 fsb at 2-2-2.
Or ask the OCZ guys, they're very helpful.
ozzimark - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
hmm, my bad, the [img] tags don't work here. just copy and paste that link :)and since it seems that some posts have been deleted, my above comment is in response to #13
ozzimark - Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - link
#14-that's quite interesting. maybe the spd's on the ram sticks are changing important values other than the cas, trcd, trp? i know that there are a lot of values that effect ram performance other than those three. i actually went through most of them on the dfi board, and found that lower isn't always better, similar to tras. though with that you said, i may have to go through and re-tweak my setup with the write benchmark in mind too. i never really gave it much thought assuming that it would scale similarily to read bandwidth.
also, i noticed some inconsistancies at various multipliers. i tested at two speeds, 230mhz (near the limit of my memory controller) at 2.5-2-2-10, and 200mhz at 2-2-2-10. (i use 2x512mb of crucial ballistix)
the only thing changed between runs is the cpu mutliplier. the ram is 1:1, and everything else remains constant.
[img]http://www.freewebs.com/cfeclipse/latency.PNG[/img]