It's great
to see how individual memory stacks up against the competition under stock
configurations, but we're also going to show how it compares when overclocked.
With performance in mind, we're going to compare the maximum overclocked results
of the various DDR2 DIMMs we've tested in the past which are listed below.
Remember, just because memory is clocked fast doesn't mean it's the best thing
for a computer. Timings are also important, and getting the right ratio of both
is the real key to performance-based overclocking!
Well this
is certainly a surprise, the Super Talent T800UX2GC4 DIMMs are the best
overclocking set of DDR-2 memory to pass through the PCSTATS test labs thus far!
Considering
that this was done with tight DDR2 memory timings of 4-3-4-8, the achievement is
even sweeter. One thing is for sure, Corsair, OCZ, Mushkin and the other major
memory manufacturers better watch out for Super Talent - the enthusiast memory
market just welcomed one more into the crowd!
Super Sweet Super Talent Low
Latency DDR2-800
Intel is already on the DDR2 gravy train and AMD will be
joining up very soon when it releases its Socket AM2 Athlon64 lineup in June
2006. Speed is a better marketing tool than latency, and up until now memory
manufacturers have been focusing on providing the fastest DDR2 memory modules
possible with little thought towards lowering latencies.
The higher latency hit is not as apparent with Intel
Pentium 4/D processors, however with AMD Athlon64 chips it can be a deadly speed
trap. This is partially the reasoning behind the sudden shift towards production
of lower latency DDR2 memory this year, in preparation for socket AM2. The new
2GB (1GB per DIMM) Super Talent T800UX2GC4 memory PCSTATS has just put through
the benchmarks is damn fast. There's little doubt that with a default clock
speed of DDR2-800 (or PC2-6400) and 4-3-4-8 memory timings Super Talent have a
good thing on their hands.
As the
benchmarks indicate the lower latencies do improve performance overall, most
noticeably in 3D benchmarks. In every test we ran the Super Talent T800UX2GC4
came in first from Business Winstone 2004, 3DMark05, Battlefield 2 or UT2004.
That's pretty impressive when you consider that the memory is competing with
Corsair, Mushkin and Crucial's best DDR2.
The sweetness didn't stop there, the 2GB Super Talent
T800UX2GC4 memory also excelled at overclocking. With tight 4-3-4-8 memory
timings, the memory hit an amazing 964 MHz! This is the fastest DDR2 memory that
PCSTATS has tested to date! Loosening up the timings allowed the Super Talent
DIMMs to crack the 1 GHz mark, but performance was not up to par because of the
slacker timings.
The only potential problem with Super Talent T800UX2GC4
dual channel 2GB DDR2-800 memory kit is that it's currently difficult to find.
Built with Micron's 2.5ns RevE DRAM, the retail price for this 2GB DDR2-800 kit
should be in the neighborhood of $360USD ($410CDN). If you're able to track
this memory down, be sure to remember that this is the good stuff!
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