ATI 9100 IGP PRO: Overclocking and Memory Stress Tests
FSB Overclocking
One question that we could not answer in our tests of the RS350 Reference Board was whether ATI had fixed the overclocking complaints many had with the earlier RS300. ATI assures us that the RS350 is now a competitive overclocker with the Intel 865G chipset, which would certainly be a dramatic improvement compared to the dismal overclocking abilities of the RS300. However, the RS350 Reference Board, like most Reference Boards we test, was not really designed for overclocking. With no FSB adjustments and no voltage adjustments available at all on the board, we could not verify ATI's claims about overclocking.When Radeon 9100 IGP PRO boards begin shipping, we will take a closer look at the chipset's overclocking abilities. As much as the RS350 is improved over the original, overclockers will expect the ATI chipset to perform just as well at overclocking as the Intel 865/875 family chipsets. This feature will be very important to them, but will not matter very much to those who do not overclock their systems.
Memory Stress Testing
We performed memory stress tests on the Radeon 9100 IGP PRO Reference Board. This memory stress test simply tests the ability of the RS350 Reference Board to operate at its officially supported memory frequency (400MHz DDR) at the lowest supported memory timings our Mushkin PC3500 Level 2 memory will support:| Stable DDR400 Timings - 2 DIMMs (One Dual-Channel Bank 2/4 DIMMs populated) |
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| Clock Speed: | 200MHz |
| Timing Mode: | N/A |
| CAS Latency: | 2.0 |
| Bank Interleave: | N/A |
| RAS to CAS Delay: | 3T |
| RAS Precharge: | 5T |
| Precharge Delay: | 2T |
| Command Rate: | N/A |
While we had stability issues running at the most aggressive 2-2-2-5 timings that our memory would support, we had no problem running 2 DS 512MB DIMMs of our standard Mushkin PC3500 Level 2 with complete stability at 2-2-3-5 timings. This meant adjusting RAS-to-CAS timings to 3 instead of the fastest 2 setting. Performance at these timings should be very close to that achieved with 2-2-2-5 timings. ATI tells us that these are probably the most aggressive timings that could be achieved with the Reference Board, but that the shipping 9100 IGP PRO will likely be capable of the most aggressive timings we have been able to use on Intel chipsets.
Filling all available memory banks to populate two dual-channel banks is more strenuous on the memory subsystem than testing 2 DIMMs. 4 x 512MB DIMMs in 2 DC banks, a total of 2 GB of memory, worked just fine on the RS350. We were able to use the same timings for stable operation with 4 DIMMs that worked with 2 DIMMs.
| Stable DDR400 Timings - 4 DIMMs (Two Dual-Channel Banks 4/4 DIMMs populated) |
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| Clock Speed: | 200MHz |
| Timing Mode: | N/A |
| CAS Latency: | 2.0 |
| Bank Interleave: | N/A |
| RAS to CAS Delay: | 3T |
| RAS Precharge: | 5T |
| Precharge Delay: | 2T |
| Command Rate: | N/A |
We tested the memory timings with both 2 and 4 DIMMs using several stress tests and general applications to guarantee stability. Prime95 torture tests were successfully run at the timings listed in the above charts. We also ran ScienceMark (memory tests only) and Super Pi. None of the three stress tests created any stability problems for the ATI RS350 Reference Board at these memory timings.
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Wesley Fink - Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - link
My apologies. The chart was supplied by ATI and shows a Clock Speed of 300 and a Ramdac of 400.SocrPlyr - Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - link
The comparison sheet on page 10 definately has 400MHz for the RAMDAC...it is a picture, and pictures don't lie :)
Josh
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, May 4, 2004 - link
The comparison sheet on page 10 states the Ramdac speed is 300MHz, exactly what was stated when the review was published. Where is the comparison sheet that states 400 for the Ramdac speed?quanta - Tuesday, May 4, 2004 - link
Are you sure the RAMDAC on 9100 IGP Pro is really 400MHz? The ATI site says it is 300MHz, but the comparison sheet in your site says 400MHz.gofor55 - Tuesday, May 4, 2004 - link
Does anybody know whether 9100IGP Pro will run ATI's Multimedia Center 9.0 and EazyShare. This might be just the ticket for a low cost multimedia PC for living room and bedroom to view PVR captures from a networked media server.Pumpkinierre - Tuesday, May 4, 2004 - link
So Wesley any indications in that ATI note as to how they optimise for Prescott?Wesley Fink - Tuesday, May 4, 2004 - link
ATI confirmed SATA RAID was present on RS350, not AOpen. Must have been a petit mal . . .Wesley Fink - Tuesday, May 4, 2004 - link
#12 -AOpen has confirmed that RS350 DOES support SATA RAID 0,1. We confiormed SATA RAID works fine with a pair of WD Raptors in a stripe.
The review will be updated to correct the SATA information.
Kai920 - Tuesday, May 4, 2004 - link
#14 - Very well said.I like how IGPs keep improving --say goodbye to Intel Extreme Graphics 2 and onboard GF4MX. The IGP may very well be a major decision in my future purchases, if not the next.
Wesley Fink - Monday, May 3, 2004 - link
#12 -Asute of you to catch the Sata RAID in the diagram. Unfortunately the diagram also shows IXP 300 when the board had an IXP 320.
We have asked ATI for clarification on whether SATA RAID is an option. They are all in Barcelona, Spain for the big X800 kick-0ff tomorrow, so we might not have an answer for a few days.
#10 -
As for the comment about mfg suck-up, GET REAL. Mfgs HOPE they will get a good review from us because we are honest, but more often than not mfgs complain we are too negative in pointing out failings with their product. That means we probably have it about right.
#4 - If you bothered to read the review you would have found the MAIN message was the RS350 competes very well with Intel AS A CHIPSET, which SHOULD be of interest to you. The other news was that Prescott optimizations make Prescott a better performer than Northwood on the new chips. Yes, we coverd Integrated Graphics, because it mattered, but that was not the main point. It wasn't a slow news day - the NDA expired at 6AM today, as the X800 NDA expires tomorrow. The RS350 is a damn good chipset or I wouldn't have bothered.