When
building a high performance machine there are several aspects
of which you want to ensure you have not only the "Performance
Factor"but the "Quality Factor" as well. When it
comes to memory, there are several good choices out there to help
you build a system that can perform with the best of them, while
ensuring stability. Today I am reviewing one such kit, the OCZ
EL DDR PC-3700 Dual Channel Kit.
Although
you can run non Dual Channel memory in Dual Channel mode, you
don't always get the performance of a matched pair of sticks.
Dual Channel sticks are still a little more costly than buying
two sticks of the same make and speed, but that is for a reason,
they are matched to perform at the rated speed in Dual Channel
mode, and then some. If you are still using a motherboard that
does not support Dual Channel mode, than I would stick with the
more cost effective non-kit memory sticks.
First
off, let's go over the specifications and PR blurb for this kit:
Specifications
•
ULN Technology: Ultra Low Noise shielded PCB
• Lifetime Warranty
• 512GB or 1GB Hand tested kits available
• Gold-Layered Heatspreader
• OCZ HyperSpeed® technology for outrageous top end
speeds*
• Optimized for High Speed applications on Intel i865/i875
chipsets.
• 466Mhz CL 2.5-3-3-7
• 2.7V
• EVP®(Extended Voltage Protection) Technology allowing
up to 2.9 volts DDR while maintaining full warranty
The
packaging is nicely done, with you being able to see the ram and
it's specifications quite easily.
Looking
at the back of the packaging we notice a slew of "Editor's
Choice" and "Recommended" awards (hey wait, how
can they put that there before I finish my review? :P). A couple
of things that caught my eye off the list above are the Optimized
for i865/i875 chipsets and the EVP. It makes we wonder
how these would perform in an nForce 2 environment, but I guess
they want you to go for OCZ's Platinum if that is your chipset.
It is also nice to know they expect you to crank up the voltage
a notch on their sticks.
Ed.
Note: The reason why this kit, as well as many other PC3700+
kits suggesting Springdales and Canterwoods is due to the fact
that it is extremely difficult for Athlon XPs (and pretty much
impossible for Athlon 64s) to reach 233FSB at low latencies
using anything but the most of extreme cooling solutions. Most
i865/i875 motherboards (with the right CPU) can do these speeds
without breaking a sweat. Simply put, if your hardware can't
hit 233FSB and higher, you're wasting your money with anything
faster than PC3500.
Each
of the sticks is covered in a gold colored heat spreader, although
how effective this will be is open to debate. Regardless they
do look very good. You can check out the timings for the memory
on the sticker that gives you the usual pertinent info.
The
sticker tells us this sticker is a 512MB stick of PC3700 ram,
and is part of a Dual Channel 'Matched' pair. We also have the
memory timings listed here, 2.5-3-3-7.
Test
System
Let's
take a look at what is inside the test rig for this review:
ABIT
AI7 Motherboard
1GB (2x512 in Dual DDR Mode) OCZ PC3700 Kit
Intel Pentium 4 2.4C (800MHz FSB)
ATI Radeon
9600XT
Hitachi Deskstar (IBM Deskstar renamed) 80GB, 8MB buffer, 7200
RPM, SATA Drive
Windows XP SP1 and Pre-SP2 hotfixes
ATI Catalyst 3.9
Comparison
I
will be comparing the OCZ PC3700 Kit to the original OCZ PC3200
(non-paired) memory as well as a 1GB
Corsair TwinX PC3700 Kit.
Overclocking
This
OCZ PC3700 overclocks very well, and the timings (2.5-3-3-7) remain
tight all the way to 240FSB (2.88GHz), it is only at 250FSB (3.0GHz)
that I must relax the timings some for solid booting/testing.
Although this memory is rated for 233MHz, 240FSB was easily obtained
without loosening any timings or increasing the DDR voltage. Once
I got to 250FSB however, no matter how much juice I supplied (all
the way to 2.95V), she would not boot all the way to windows login.
I had to relax the timings to 3-4-4-7 and increase the DDR voltage
to 2.85V, I was, however, able to maintain 1:1 FSB ratio.
To
get to 260FSB (3.12GHz) I had to move to 3:2 FSB ratio and run
it at 2.9V with 3-4-4-7 timings, which can and does hurt memory
performance quite a bit.
NEXT
