Does Bandwidth/Timings mean Anything?

[eBoy0]

I posted this on EOCF aswell, wanna hear your feedback guys, cancled my order of ballistix after seeing this.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...&enterthread=y
Test Configuration:

-Video card is BFG6800GT@ultra.
-CPU Winch 939 1800@2610 Mhz, 290Mhz HTT, 3x LDT
-Operating system Windows 2000 service pack 4 and all updates.
-Dx version- 9c
-Lastest *official* Nvidia video card and Nvidia motherboard drivers.
-All memory is 2 x 512 MB.

Test 1: Super budget crucial PC2100 ram Henceforth refered to as “old ram”
290 bus
100 memsetting yeilds PC2300 (145Mhz)
3 3 3 1T

Test2: PC3200 Buffalo Value ram w/ CH-5 chips Henceforth refered to as “value ram”
290 Bus
133 mem setting Yeilds ~PC3000 (186Mhz)
3-3-3 1T

Test 3: Low Latency (LL) and PC3000, many ram can do this!! I used the TCCD here, but "value" buffalo can handle this speed and latency too!!
290bus
133 mem setting Yeilds ~PC3000 (186Mhz)
2-2-2 1T

Test 4: Highend: PQI PC3200 w/ Samsung TCCD
290Bus 1:1
200 memsetting Yeilds ~PC4700 (290Mhz)
3-4-3 1T

Test 5: Highend: Crucial Ballistix PC3200 (uses Micron G)
290Bus
166 memsetting Yeilds ~PC3800 (237Mhz)
2.5-2-2 1T

Testing software:

All real world except Sandra mem/cpu just to show how erronious it is for A64:

-SiSoftware Sandra Lite 2005, mem and CPU
-Far Cry 1.3 HardwareOC Far Cry Benchmark Demo , max details, AF = 1, AA = 0, 800x600 and 1600 x 1200
-Unreal Tournament 2003 @ 10x7 default settings
-Doom3- All High Quality Settings, "timedemo demo1 1", AA4x, 1600x1200 and 1024x768
-Half Life 2- All High Quality Settings, Route Kanal custom demo features indoor/outdoor, AA6x, AF4x, 1600x1200 and 1024x768
-LAME 3.96.1 (build from mitiok.cjb.net)Default settings 163MB CBS Masterworks Beethoven Symph #9 op.125 Allegro non troppo, un poco maestoso 16:44m
-Cinebench 2003
-ScienceMark 2.0 beta (23SEP03 build) - Molecular Dynamics
-PiFast Parameters: 0,0,10m,1024,1
-Superpi 1M
-Winrar 3.41 internal benchmark
-POV-Ray v3.6 Chess2.pov 1024x768 AA.03
-DVDShrink 3.2 Lawrence Of Arabia Superbit Encode Chap 1-6, 863MB to 500 MB = 58% compression (sharp quality setting)

Results

Sandr mem INT ALU
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 4285
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 5556
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 5602

PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 7272
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 6977

Sandra mem FLOAT FPU
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 4288
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 5550
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 5603
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 7267
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 6904
As you can see, TCCD Sanda mem is showing a whopping ~70% faster vs. the cheapest PC2100 ram ever sold. And 30% more than value ram, PC3000 ram @3-3-3. Will this translate into real performance gains? Well lets see.

Sandra CPU Drystone ALU
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 11064
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 11068
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 11066
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 11071
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 11068
no difference

Sandra CPU FPU
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 4253
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 4253
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 4253
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 4252
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T -4353
no difference

Sandra CPU SSE2
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 5527
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 5536
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 5528
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 5551
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 5446
meh, now lets get to the real world:

Farcry 800x600 in FPS
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 61.46
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 66.49
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 72.67
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 74.97
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 77.08

Farcry 1600x1200 in FPS
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 62.25
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 68.14
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 71.31
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 73.52
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 74.42
On farcry, we see ~18% faster performance from the old ram. But only ~8% faster than value ram. hint: spend the xtra $100 on a better video card. Notice async low latency Ballistix owning all even 1:1 TCCD.


Doom3 1024x768 in FPS
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 77.8
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 80.3
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 81.4
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 82.3
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 82.4
No signifigant difference above PC3000

Doom3 1600x1200 in FPS
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 44.6
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 44.6
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 44.6
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 44.5
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 44.6
Video card limitation here...

Half-life 2 1024x768 in FPS
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 113.3
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 120.9
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 131.6
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 133.3
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 134.4
We see low timings here credited with speed since PC3000LL is basically equivalent to PC4700. Overall nothing big above PC 3000.

Half-life 2 1600x1200 in FPS
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 98.77
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 102.5
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 106.0
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 107.9
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 107.3
Same as above. Save your money.

Pifast in seconds
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 38.91
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 36.53
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 35.48
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 34.67
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 34.45
We see bandwitdh have *some* effect here..nothing to write home about. PC2300 vs PC4700 is 10.9% faster, but very small difference vs. value ram.

Superpi 1M in seconds
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 37
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 34
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 33
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 32
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T -32
Similar as above. Nothing drastic at anything above PC3000

Science Mark- Molecular Dynamics time in seconds
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 67.03
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 66.92
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 66.68
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 66.69
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 66.47
Seems bandwidth has no effect here.

CineBench 2003 Rendering
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 363
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 365
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 366
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 368
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 367
Seems bandwidth has no effect here.

CineBench 2003 Shading
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 414
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 426
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 434
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 439
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 440
Infinitesmal bandwidth help

CineBench 2003 OpenGL SW
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 1949
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 1992
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 2019
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 2032
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 2034
Infinitesmal bandwidth help

CineBench 2003 OpenGL HW
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 3568
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 3662
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 3756
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 3781
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 3796
this is getting old, on to another game.

UT2003 10x7 Flyby
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 297
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 319
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 334
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 341
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 345
14% max boost, hey but very small difference with value ram.

UT2003 10x7 BotMatch
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 110
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 118
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 123
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 127
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 128
15% boost over PC2300, only 8% over value ram.

Winrar in KB/s
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 496
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 564
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 636
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 651
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T - 703!!!
Here we see pretty signifigant gains due to bandwidth 41% diff top to bottom. This test obviously is very beneficial to have bandwidth or LL. Update: Crucial Ballistix owning all, Winrar seems the like LL even more than bandwidth. We sorta saw this already by the very close scores of PC3000 LL VS PC4700 high bandwitdh.

Lame in seconds
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 56
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 56
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 56
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 56
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T -56
Seems bandwidth or LL has no effect here.

Chess2.pov in seconds
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 246
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 245
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 246
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 247
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T -246
Seems bandwidth or LL has no effect here.

DVDShrink in seconds
PC2300 - 3-3-3 1T- 243
PC3000 - 3-3-3 1T- 235
PC3000 - 2-2-2 1T- 228
PC4700 - 3-4-3 1T- 221
PC3800 - 2.5-2-2-1T -224
DVDShrink seems to like bandwidth a little bit.


Summary of Results
Well there it was. While sandra likes to show whopping 70% increased bandwidth of expensive TCCD it really does'nt translate to real world . Only one area seemed signifigant was winrar. The couple game tests which slow slight inprovement with bandwidth or LL, I think you're much better of upgrading to the next tier of video card if on a budget instead of investing with overpriced ram. Investing in expensive Ram probably offers to poorest bang for the buck of any computer part. What's intesting was Ballistix's async 166 and LL the performance faired a little better than TCCD 1:1. Seems A64 prefers LL rather than bandwidth? Also shows that running async is'nt to be shunned.

Course if you want the best, go right ahead and invest in expensive ram, as shown it makes a slight difference in gaming and winrar but I'm sticking with $130 2x512 value ram and use a divider from now on because the price to performance ratio is simply not worth it. IMO You're much better off using that cash for the next level of video card which really does boost performance by ~70% in games.

One other thing of intrest is PC3000 running async 133 at low timings 2-2-2 was almost as good as PC4700 high bandwidth but loose timings TCCD is forced to run at 290Mhz.... many a ram can do ~200Mhz 2-2-2.


Bottom Line:

Some Games = very slight benefit to using expensive high bandwidth TCCD or expensive LL ram Like Ballistix over value ram. Winrar sees major benefit though, 41% top to bottom.

LAME, Cinebench, ScienceMark, PiFast, Superpi, POV-Ray, DVDShrink shows no or infinitesmal boost above Value ram.