Introduction:
Back in December of 2006, I contacted Alonso of CellShock for a review sample of their flagship product, the PC2-8000C4 2GB Kit. It took me until late in January to obtain my sample as they only had a limited number of samples they could give out, and I had missed the mark for the previous month. Lucky for me, once January came around I had already put my name in the queue and I was good to go. Regarding the sample I had received, I've been assured by Alex (Alonso) that my review set is a 100% retail representative sample.
I began testing the modules and I was very pleased with the results. However, half way through my testing, I was running Orthos at 4-4-3-9-3 with 2.4v and suddenly the system blue screened and wouldn't let me boot back up. After some trouble shooting I found that one of the sticks had died during the testing. I contacted Alex about the problem and suggested that it might be voltage that was the cause. However, Alex informed me that CellShock performs extreme heat and voltage tests on their modules for long durations of time to eliminate sticks that may be prone to failure from such things. Therefore we concluded that it must have just been one of those times when "it just happened", without much explanation.
Luckily for me, with a dead module, I was able to RMA my sticks within the states thanks to the very gracious Ben, of Tankguys.com. Alex and Ben worked out the details and allowed me to get a new set from Ben's stock to replace my defective set in short time. When my new set arrived, I tested each stick individually and found that the worse stick of the two in this set performed exactly the same as the worse stick of the previous defective set. Which of course meant that I didn't have to waste time repeating my previous testing. This also confirmed that the set I had received from CellShock directly was indeed NOT a cherry picked review sample, but in fact a retail representative sample just as Alex had stated. Thanks again to Alex and CellShock for their honesty and integrity in this matter as it is of the utmost importance to the readership of this forum.
Below here is a small blurb about CellShock as a company themselves taken directly from their website:
Now, onto the exciting stuff...the review...Originally Posted by CellShock Official Website
The Memory:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Specifications:
Specification: DDR2 1000 (PC8000)
Timings: 4-4-4-12
VDimm: 2,1V - 2,3V
Chip: Micron D9GKX 64Mx8
PCB: 8-layer, 240pin
Guarantee: 5 years
-------------------------------------------------------------
Test Setup:
Intel Core 2 Duo "Allendale" E6400 - Lapped
Asus P5B-Deluxe rev1.03G - Stock, Bios: 910 Official
CellShock 2x1GB PC2-8000C4 "CS2221440"
BFG GeForce 7950GT 512MB @ 700/800
OCZ PowerStream 600w
Cooling:
CoolTechnica AQX MP-05 SP LE, Swiftech MCW60, Black Ice Pro III, Swiftech MCP655, 7/16" ID
120mm Yate Loon @ 12v over memory
-------------------------------------------------------------
Testing Methodology:
The testing process I used is quite simple, and I'm guessing quite close to the same procedures the bulk of you use to test your new hardware. I simply went into bios, and set the tightest timings I felt would be stable at the stock rated voltage, while still leaving me some head room to clock upwards. I then proceeded to exit bios and enter Memtest v1.70. I tested using tests 1, 2, 4, and then 10 loops of test 5 before moving on to the next speed bump. I worked in the 2:3 ratio and moved up 2MHz on the FSB at a time. I also used full vFSB and vMCH voltages the entire time to ensure the chipset wouldn't hold me back. I increased clock speed until I would error in memtest, then I'd back down 1MHz on the FSB at a time until the errors disapeared, then I'd log my results and push up the voltage another notch and do the same testing with that. Once this was done, I entered windows and began testing in Orthos using 2hr test periods (at a priority of 3) to attempt to document some level of stability; atleast higher than SuperPi 32M, while still maintaining my social life and other responsibilities.This time around my test results in MemTest proved to remain very true to those I received in Orthos. Meaning that the limits I was finding in MemTest were nearly identical to the limits I hit in Orthos testing.
The Review:
Each piece is separated by timings and voltages. I started with 3-3-3-6-3 and ended with 5-5-5-15-5 to achieve maximum MHz. I've included screenshots of MemSet this time with the results to show the sub-timings I chose for each run.
The voltages listed are what was selected in bios. These are not "actual" voltages.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Timings: 3-3-3-6-3
2.25v
2.35v
2.45v
Timings: 4-4-3-9-3
2.1v
2.25v
2.35v
2.45v
Could not get any clock speed increases with this voltage, even with adjustments to the sub-timings. This still confuses me...
Timings: 4-4-4-12-4
2.1v
2.25v
2.35v
2.45v
Timings: 5-5-5-15-5
2.1v
2.25v
No increase, chipset limited.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion & Verdict:
Well these sticks were certainly a blast to play with! Look at some of these results, DDR860 3-3-3! DDR1140 with 4-4-4 timings with 2.4v! And most impressive, DDR1160 5-5-5 with only 2.1v!!! And all on an unmodded P5B! I'm just very impressed with these sticks and the results they put out. Unfortunately I couldn't reach my goal of DDR1200s, but it was not the fault of the memory as can be assumed from the outstanding 5-5-5 timing results. No matter how loose I made the sub-timings, I was simply hitting a wall past 1165 or so that was begging me for more vFSB that I did not have.
I must say that overall these sticks are a jack of all trades. They can do 3-3-3 timings at stock voltages with room to clock higher, and if you want to go for all out bandwidth, they'll simply fly at 5-5-5 timings and above! I've found the sweet spot for these sticks for every day use and reliability is DDR1070 with 4-4-4-10 timings and 2.25v. However, any route you choose, you really can't go wrong.
Soon I'll be testing on an Asus Commando, so these problems with chipset limitations will hopefully be out of the way. And in a week or so, I'll be posting up some results with these sticks as well as the G.Skill HK's I reviewed earlier on the eVGA 680i board to see what both sets are capable of for high MHz!
If you'd like to purchase the CellShock 2x1GB PC2-8000C4 "CS2221440", you can get them from Ben at Tankguys.com. At ~$419.99 for the 2GB kit, I find these are a good value when compared against other top performing sticks such as Corsair's Dominator series or OCZ's Flex series.
I'd like to thank CellShock for this review opportunity. And of course, this has been a hardware reaction from yours truly, EnJoY.
Reply With Quote
Both me gskill and cellshock wont do over 571 4-4-4 on me unmodded P5B... I think you should be able to get a bit further with 5-5-5 though. vFSB seems to help me.
Bookmarks