OCZ EL PC2-8000 XTC: Low Latency PLUS DDR2-1100
by Wesley Fink on April 3, 2006 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Memory Test Configuration
We have reviewed several Intel 975x motherboards that overclock well and provide the kind of stability needed for a DDR2 memory test platform. However, OCZ PC2-8000 offered a unique challenge in that it is the first DDR2 memory we have tested rated at DDR2-1000. In addition we fully expected this memory to go well beyond DDR2-1000. We mention this only because most current motherboards are notoriously unreliable as platforms supporting memory speeds above DDR2-1000.
After talking with OCZ, Corsair, and several other enthusiast memory manufacturers, the consensus was that testing above DDR2-1000 would require an ASUS P5WD2-E motherboard. We had one memory test setup with the ASUS board, but our second test bed used another motherboard. To make sure we extracted all the performance possible from this OCZ PC2-8000 EL XTC, the main memory test bed was updated to the ASUS 975x test bed.
The Intel Pentium 955 Extreme Edition CPU, a 1066MHz FSB dual core solution containing 2MB of L2 cache onboard, was continued as our standard memory test CPU. The EE chips have the advantage of operating at 1066FSB, or 266 base, which raises the 1:1 memory to DDR2-533 instead of the DDR2-400 that is the 1:1 match for 800FSB.
The ASUS P5WD2-E supports a very wide range of memory speeds and FSB options. It also actually runs at all the supported settings. If you look closely at the table you will see that a 1066FSB CPU (or overclocked setting) is needed for support of DDR2-889 and DDR2-1067. It is therefore important to use a 1066FSB CPU when testing memory like the OCZ PC2-8000 which can operate at DDR2-1000 and faster. For additional information on the ASUS board, you can read our full ASUS P5WD2-E Premium review.
Our memory test bench uses the following components:
The OCZ EL PC2-8000 is based on the newest Micron memory chips, which are a variant of the Micron D die. The recently tested Mushkin DIMMs are based on Elpida chips. The other three memories - both Crucial DDR2 and the OCZ EB PC2-4200 - are all based on the now discontinued Micron fat-body D chips. The OCZ is based on early Micron DDR2 chips, while both Crucial Ballistix memories are based on later fat-body D versions.
We have reviewed several Intel 975x motherboards that overclock well and provide the kind of stability needed for a DDR2 memory test platform. However, OCZ PC2-8000 offered a unique challenge in that it is the first DDR2 memory we have tested rated at DDR2-1000. In addition we fully expected this memory to go well beyond DDR2-1000. We mention this only because most current motherboards are notoriously unreliable as platforms supporting memory speeds above DDR2-1000.
After talking with OCZ, Corsair, and several other enthusiast memory manufacturers, the consensus was that testing above DDR2-1000 would require an ASUS P5WD2-E motherboard. We had one memory test setup with the ASUS board, but our second test bed used another motherboard. To make sure we extracted all the performance possible from this OCZ PC2-8000 EL XTC, the main memory test bed was updated to the ASUS 975x test bed.
The Intel Pentium 955 Extreme Edition CPU, a 1066MHz FSB dual core solution containing 2MB of L2 cache onboard, was continued as our standard memory test CPU. The EE chips have the advantage of operating at 1066FSB, or 266 base, which raises the 1:1 memory to DDR2-533 instead of the DDR2-400 that is the 1:1 match for 800FSB.
The ASUS P5WD2-E supports a very wide range of memory speeds and FSB options. It also actually runs at all the supported settings. If you look closely at the table you will see that a 1066FSB CPU (or overclocked setting) is needed for support of DDR2-889 and DDR2-1067. It is therefore important to use a 1066FSB CPU when testing memory like the OCZ PC2-8000 which can operate at DDR2-1000 and faster. For additional information on the ASUS board, you can read our full ASUS P5WD2-E Premium review.
| Memory Configuration Options/ASUS P5WD2-E Premium Motherboard | ||||||||
| FSB/RAM | Auto | DDR2-400 | DDR2-533 | DDR2-667 | DDR2-711* | DDR2-800* | DDR2-889* | DDR2-1067* |
| FSB 1066 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| FSB 800 | X | X | X | X | X | |||
| FSB 533 | X | X | X | |||||
Our memory test bench uses the following components:
| Memory Test Bench Specifications | |
| Processor: | Intel 955 Extreme Edition at 13X Ratio (3.46 GHZ dual core 65nm CPU) |
| RAM: | OCZ EL PC2-8000 XTC (2x1GB) Mushkin XP2 DDR2 PC2-5300 (2 x 1GB) Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 (2 x 1GB) Crucial Ballistix PC2-5300 (2 x 1GB) OCZ Platinum EB PC2-4200 |
| Hard Drives: | Hitachi 200GB SATA2 Seagate 7200.9 ST3500641AS SATA NCQ - 16 MB Cache |
| Video Card: | ASUS 7800GTX TOP 256MB - set to 490MHz/1.3GHz EVGA 7800 GTX KO 256MB - 490MHz/1.3GHz |
| Video Drivers: | NVIDIA ForceWare 84.21 |
| Power Supply: | OCZ PowerStream 520W PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 850-SSI |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| Motherboard: | ASUS P5WD2-Premium |
| BIOS: | AMI version 0304 February 22; 2006 |
The OCZ EL PC2-8000 is based on the newest Micron memory chips, which are a variant of the Micron D die. The recently tested Mushkin DIMMs are based on Elpida chips. The other three memories - both Crucial DDR2 and the OCZ EB PC2-4200 - are all based on the now discontinued Micron fat-body D chips. The OCZ is based on early Micron DDR2 chips, while both Crucial Ballistix memories are based on later fat-body D versions.
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DoctorBooze - Tuesday, April 4, 2006 - link
I'm a bit mystified why there's any better performance at any speed over dual-channel DDR2-533 - is it just because the CPU ended up overclocked?Am I right in thinking that CAS 2 for DDR2-533 is the same amount of time as CAS 4 for DDR2-1066?
Also, what's performance like with a single-channel setup using DDR2-1066 since that would also theoretically be a 1:1 configuration, wouldn't it?
Calin - Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - link
The improved performance is based on the fact that RAM is no longer random access memory - it is faster to bring several kilobytes of data forming a single block than to bring several kilobytes of data from separated areas of the memory. And, while the speed to bring 1024 bytes, each 4 bytes from a different area of the memory means that each access is made with delay of (CAS2 + RAS2 + ... + tRAS) multiplied by memory clock is the same as CAS4 + RAS4 + ... + tRAS for a memory that has twice the speed, if you bring a single block, you only need CAS and RAS once, and the rest comes at memory clock, one block at a clock. So, if you make long transfers, you can almost forget about CAS and RAS, and only use the memory speed.So, faster memory with higher CAS (Column Address Select) and RAS (Row Adress Select) timings will still move loads of data faster, even if single bytes will go as fast as with slower memory with lower CAS and RAS
What is CAS and RAS?
A memory is a huge space of addresses. However, you can not access all those addresses at the same time - memory is accessed in blocks formed by rows and columns. In order to access data from memory, you must be in the correct block (row and column). Once in a block, the data from memory can be read by simple commands (selection of address). If the row, column or both changes, the memory must change the block it shows - so, here are the CAS and RAS timings needed for the memory to select a different block.
Visual - Tuesday, April 4, 2006 - link
... or amasingly complexim just standing here and boggling at the complexity of overclocking intel systems. well, it turns out just as simple as amd when i think about it, but the mem ratios that allow the ram to run faster than the cpu fsb (as opposed to only slower like on the athlons) kinda make it too weird to assimilate :p
and with ratios,fsb/cpu/mem frequencies,timings and whatnot to consider at once it does get messy for someone unexperienced like me.
its interesting to see the significant performance differences that the proper settings can bring. in particular, it looks like with a fast memory like this and a proper oc one can get a good 20-30% above stock in gaming performance, and so can match amd systems even with the netburst cpus. who made me think netburst was dead?
also it makes me think if the conroe benches weren't ran with something like this - very fast memory, low latencies, overclocked fsb. cant be bothered to look for your old article on it though, i'll just wait for the next benches to come up.
Calin - Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - link
My ECS K7S5A (built somewhere in 2002 probably) could run my Duron 600 processor at 100 or 133 FSB, and the memory at 100 or 133 FSB for SDR or 200 and 266 for DDR, independent on each other.This is not something new. I remember older systems having the same possibilities.
The Athlons (Socket A Athlons) were able to run memory faster than the FSB, however, there was an important performance loss because of the increased latency. In some cases, an Athlon on 100MHz FSB was slower with 133MHz memory than with 100MHz memory, as the increased bandwidth advantage was negated by increase in latency
Jjoshua2 - Monday, April 3, 2006 - link
On page three HL2 is reported as over 850 fps on 1:2.Wesley Fink - Monday, April 3, 2006 - link
We reran and updated the Half life 2 - Lost Coast results after the article was published. The enthusiastic typing error is now corrected.Barbarossa - Monday, April 3, 2006 - link
Wow, looks fast. I have to wonder if it's available anywhere though. I followed all your links at the top of the article, but those take me to different parts than the one you reviewed, and a quick search at Newegg, ZipZoomFly, and TigerDirect shows that nobody has it in stock.Does this part actually exist or is this just a cherry-picked press release part?
Wesley Fink - Monday, April 3, 2006 - link
This memory is currently available at Atacom.com and possibly other sites. More info is at http://www.atacom.com/program/print_html_new.cgi?c...">http://www.atacom.com/program/print_htm...m_code=M....It is incredibly expensive at $560 for the 2GB kit.
JarredWalton - Monday, April 3, 2006 - link
It's a brand new part, and it's not yet in our pricing engine. The links at the top are generated by key words from our pricing engine and do not always bring up the appropriate parts. The part numbers you'll want are:1x512: OCZ2P1000512EE
2x512: OCZ2P10001GEEK
1x1024: OCZ2P10001GEE
2x1024: OCZ2P10002GEEK
Availability should commence shortly.
Missing Ghost - Monday, April 3, 2006 - link
lmao