2x1GB G.Skill PC3200ZX *AND* 2x1GB OCZ EB PC4000 Platinum OCing Report!

[bachus_anonym]

Heilooooo again

I got a hold on two (quite popular recently) 2x1GB DDR kits and decided to throw some stress at them. I'm gonna share some results and few photos with the rest of you XSers. This is in no way an official comparison of those 2 kits. Just a quick, down and dirty look at what I managed to get from those particular sets using Sandra, SPi32M, SP2004 and Memtest for Windows. Results may and will vary from what others are/will be getting as we all know OCing is a gamble.
I put as much effort as I could to OC them to the best of my abilities. At this moment, I was not able to bench them in 3D due to lack of a decent video card This will change in a very near future, though. So, don't moan that "2GB kits need to be benched in 3D as they do a lot worse compared to 2D" I honestly think, it's all in tweaking...



OK, let's get going...

[bachus_anonym]

G.Skill 2x1GB PC3200ZX










SPi32M i Sandra @ 260x11=2860MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T

SPi32M i Sandra @ 270x11=2971MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T

SPi32M i Sandra @ 273x11=3003MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T

273Mhz was absolutely maximum I could get this pair to pass even SPi32M calculation. Also, 2.9v (2.95v with DMM) seems to be the point where sticks stop returning any gains. Anything above that, it will only produce errors, even at known stable speeds.
Once I found out max 32M clock, it was time to stress them a little bit more. I dropped clock to 270Mhz and gave them a bit more torture...

1000% Memtest for Windows 1817MB used @ 270x11=2971MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T

4 hours of SP2004 LargeFFT 1731MB used @ 270x11=2971MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T

As you can see, all was fine and dandy... To finish off my test, I jacked up HTT, put on a 183 divider, got memory clock to 273MHz again and tried 32M one last time to ensure divider stability.

SPi32M i Sandra @ 297x11=3267MHz div183/DDR546 5-2-3-3.0-1T

Running a divider was totally plug-n-play. Just change it to 183 and viola.

*** Updated on Dec 18th, 2005 ***

I finally had a chance to bench those modules at 3D. As much as I believed I could tweak them to run 3D as high as 2D, it was illusive There must be something odd with early batches of Infineon CE-6 (???) because they are stable, but not stable at the same time I was able to pass 3D tests at 255MHz. Even 1MHz above caused lockups in ANY 3D test I threw at it. So, 27ish is max 2D stable, but 3D stability could be found lower - at 255Mhz.

3DMark2001 and 05 @ 255x11=2805MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T

3DMark03 @ 255x11=2805MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T

Aquamark3 @ 255x11=2805MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T

[bachus_anonym]

2x1GB OCZ EB PC4000 Platinum










SPi32M i Sandra @ 250x11=2750MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T

SPi32M i Sandra @ 260x11=2860MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T

SPi32M i Sandra @ 268x11=2948MHz 6-2-3-3.0-1T

As you can see, 268MHz was as far as that one particular kit went in SPi32M. Remarkable is that it only needed 2.7v (2.74v w DMM) to achieve that. I compared my result with few others I could find here on XS and it seems a tad low. There were few others that seemed to be able to bench SPi32M all the way up to almost 290MHz. Well, not the kit I had, though... Something worth mentioning is that above 2.7v that kit would not gain anything as far as full stability goes. Quite opposite to what I experienced with G.Skill kit. That confirms that bumping up voltage does not always translate to easy gains. Oh well

So, it was time for some more serious task I went back to 265MHz and there are results.

1000% Memtest for Windows 1832MB used @ 265x11=2915MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T

4 hours of SP2004 LargeFFT 1727MB used @ 265x11=2915MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T

Just like with G.Skill kit, some divider action at the end...

SPi32M i Sandra @ 292x11=3213MHz div183/DDR530 5-2-3-3.0-1T

Again same pattern, no problems with running a divider. Just change it and go

*** Updated on Dec 18th, 2005 ***

Unfortunately, I don't have those sticks anymore. Therefore I could not run 3D benches with it. Sorry... But by looking at PC3200ZX results and others' experiences with EB PC4000 (and early batches of Infineon CE-6 based modules in general) I would assume that 3D stability would also be achieven at lower speed than 2D...

[bachus_anonym]

So, after almost 30 hours of playing around with those sticks I was quite impressed with results. Both kits were extremely easy to work with. Running a divider was just a matter of changing one setting in BIOS. All in all, very pleasant experience. It looks like there's more well performing and affordable 2GB kits on the market besides Crucial Ballistix or Tracer. And it's always great when we have a choice, right?

I hope you enjoyed my OCing report.

[CCUABIDExORxDIE]

Great review! looks like the ballistix may have a run for their money...maybe. also, did you pop the heatspreader on those badboys??

[RyderOCZ]

excellent work Bachus...I always enjoy your editorial skills

[Dave_Sz]

Excellent work. I'm waiting on my new ZX set to get here, my first set was rather poor

[Okda]

after this review i am more happy that i ordered the @GZX yesterday

[fullup3]

Very nice work sir! I'm getting ready to jump on the 2 gig bandwagon myself.
Both of these look very nice indeed.

[Okda]

Both of these look very nice indeed.

but when talking about the fact that the 2GZX costs 213 while the EB costs 307$ i think it is very clear now who is the winner

[SmokeyTheBandit]

Thanks bachus,

I recently bought these sticks but i cannot boot these sticks over 235 .. 3-3-2-5 ....
I have a feeling it has got something to do with my X2 mem controller

What bios revision did you use ?

[WesM63]

Nice write-up bachus! Makes my 2gb kit choice a bit harder, but with the GSkill only begin $213-221 I might just pick them up. I really want 280mhz 1:1, but beggers can't be choosers

[bachus_anonym]

Thanks guys!

Just keep in mind what I said somewhere in there before. G.Skill kit I have seem to be doing very well. But I as G.S Technician said and I think, expected full stable average may be lower - between 250-265Mhz. OCZ kit I was testing, on the other hand looks to be on the bottom of their average results from what I have seen. There are results of even 270-280Mhz here on XS. Both are really nice memory kits and I really enjoyed playing around with them.

@SmokeyTheBandit

704-1. the one that was pulled out due to "vcore bug" but I just got used to using it. I also tried 623-3 and 704-2. They all returned same results.

[DAK1640]

Outstanding job bachus_anonym, excellent writeup. Looks like the GX can really fly...Too bad I already ordered Ballistix ($300).

[aicjofs]

Nice review, and good time for it as alot of people in this community seem to be looking to 2GB. Thanks.

GSkill's price to performance was the selling point for me.

[FlyBoyGeo]

Is the ZX better than the HZ or HX? Whats the major difference between the three?

I enjoyed your review, thanks for sharing!!!

[[XC] moddolicous]

Nice write up Bachus. Maybe if u take the heatspreaders off u can get more clocks (like 280 on the G Skill and 270 or higher on the OCZ). Always worth a try.

[longsiew]

Nice review. May I know are these rams are using TCCD???

[dimasdw]

Nice review. May I know are these rams are using TCCD???

AFAIK both RAM use Infineon chip...
Just got the ZX ,Save as the Screenshot for my reference
oh..BTW good Review

[Vapor]

Yeah, Infineon on both. Definitely not TCCD (not dense enough).

[Rattle]

Hello all
I'm looking to get a 2gb kit in the coming days and these G. Skills look to be the best bang for the buck, are they available yet?
Can anyone post a link?

Thnx

EDIT: nvm

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=System+Memory

anyone know any place cheaper ?

[perkam]

Hello all
I'm looking to get a 2gb kit in the coming days and these G. Skills look to be the best bang for the buck, are they available yet?
Can anyone post a link?

Thnx

EDIT: nvm

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=System+Memory

anyone know any place cheaper ?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...nd&order=PRICE



Perkam

[Rattle]

wow which are the best stix out of those for 250-275 HTT ??

[bachus_anonym]

I'm glad you guys enjoyed my little write-up.

Decission on which kit is better has to be based on few factors. If one of them is OCing potential then here's what I think:

1. It's probably fair to say that G.Skill PC3200ZX will not take you in vicinity of 100% stable 280MHz 5-2-3-3.0-1T. The kit I have looks to be quite exceptional performer and results like that may not be easy to obtain with most of ZX. With OCZ EB PC4000 Platiunum, 280MHz can be done as we've seen few kits doing a lot better than the one I tested.

2. If 250Mhz 5-2-3-3.0-1T is all you need then clearly G.Skill sits better with it's rock-bottom price and it may be considered that many ZX kits will do that speed. But keep in mind that ZX's speed grade is PC3200 so If you will get only 245Mhz out of it then that's what you will have and cannot have any reason to complain about it.

I hope that my little test gave you guys an idea on how those 2x1GB kits perform and what can be expected.

[Rattle]

Great I think the G. Skills look like my stix simply for the price and 245X11 on my 3700 suits me just fine.