Geil PC3200 Ultra X: High Speed & Record Bandwidth
by Wesley Fink on August 20, 2004 12:04 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Final Words
Geil PC3200 Ultra X competes in every way with the fastest DDR memory we have ever tested. At DDR400, it is the fastest memory we have tested. In the 433 to 500 range it is competitive with the best memory we have tested. Finally, in the all important bandwidth area, the Geil Ultra X establishes a new record by reaching the speed of DDR561, which can only be considered an astounding range for a memory rated at DDR400. The Ultra X is one of the best memories ever tested at AnandTech and can be recommended to anyone looking for a fast DDR400 memory, which has the added advantage of such a wide bandwidth that it can also power a system overclocked to DDR550 with ease.
It is interesting that the fastest DDR memory we have tested is hitting the market just as Intel attempts to move its platforms to DDR2. We have already seen that DDR2-533 performs about the same as fast DDR400 to DDR433, so these new fast DDR modules keep DDR very much in the memory competition. These latest DDR400 2-2-2 memories are not just replacements for discontinued Winbond chips, as they provide performance and range that were only dreamed of when Winbond was king of high-speed memory. For the first time you can really choose from several DDR memories that do just about everything well - from the lowest latency at DDR400 to a broad bandwidth that will satisfy most users to beyond where their processors allow them to go. The only thing we might wish for is memory that will also do DDR500 at 2-2-2. The Geil won't do this, but the DDR500 timings it will do are much better than many DDR500-rated modules can actually achieve.
Our recommendations do not really change from our DDR400 2-2-2 roundup, but we do need to add Geil Ultra X to the highly recommended. Crucial Ballistix stills achieves the fastest timings we have seen across the bandwidth, but Geil Ultra X joins OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 as a memory with the broadest bandwidth yet seen with any memory - particularly a memory rated at DDR400. Geil even surpasses the excellent OCZ Platinum Rev.2 by a few MHz at the top, but performance is close enough they should be considered basically equivalent, which is very high praise for Geil Ultra X.
The nice thing about the wealth of excellent choices in DDR400 2-2-2 memory is that the buyer finally gets to look at value in their DDR400 2-2-2 purchase. Since all of the DDR400 2-2-2 we recently tested goes to DDR500 you can shop for price among the seven available memories with assurance you will get the fastest DDR400 timings possible, with bandwidth to at least DDR500. If you want the widest bandwidth possible then you can choose between the Geil PC3200 Ultra X tested here and the equally excellent OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2.
In the more difficult area of memory for the Athlon 64, the Geil brings nothing new to the table. We found it behaved like Samsung memory tested in our roundup on the Athlon 64 platform, which means it tops out MUCH lower on the A64 than the Intel platform. Consider the A64 limit to be around DDR466 with this Geil Ultra X. That means for Athlon 64 systems, your best choices are still Crucial Ballistix or other Micron-based memory like OCZ 3500EB or 3700EB. The Micron-chip memory performs the same in our tests on either Intel or Athlon 64. If you prefer Samsung chips for your A64, then OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 was the only Samsung dimm to reach DDR500, which was still far short of the DDR557 it reached on the Intel 875 platform.
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xeoph - Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - link
ISSUE:pricing at the top m-400-512x2gl1gb3200dc
= misleading.
you are looking for the m-400-512x2glx1gb3200dc model.
notice the X that was missing before, the difference between Ultra X and Ultra Platinum...
Stupid mistake I almost made.
Zebo - Sunday, August 22, 2004 - link
#5,6,12This expensive ram, all expensive ram has a horrendous price to performance ratio and I think that's what you're asking. You're talking about 3-5% performance increases from the very best ram to the cheapest Kingston Value Ram.. It's amazing people readily spend 100-200% more money for 3-5% more performance. In fact I can't think of a poorer cost/benefit ratio of parts inside computers than in expensive ram, though SCSI, EE's, FX's come close.
Anyway check out toms, he did such a review last year.
Aelius - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
It seems RAM is still the Achilles heel of the A64.Do you guys plan to review the OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev 3 and OCZ EL PC4000 Gold Rev 2?
It might not bring anything to the table for A64 but from talking to OCZ and some minor early review leaks by them I get the impression that they think the new Hynix chips will perform much better then previous chips on A64.
Worth reviewing anyway. Especially since it includes the first PC4000 RAM that can run 2.5,3,3,6 at only 2.6 volt at stock speed.
Wesley Fink - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
#11 - To keep results as consistent as possible we have always set BIOS on the P4C800-E with Performance Mode on Auto and Performance Acceleration on Auto. We do not test memory or overclocks with either of these options enabled.#14 - The manufacturers tell us heatspreaders cool memory, but I am not a believer. I find memory is often cooler without heatspreaders, but I have no objective proof for this claim. Heatspreaders do a good job of hiding the name of the memory chip maker. A high output heatsink fan nearby or a fan over the memory modules cools memory better than any heatspreader I have seen.
Wesley Fink - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
#13 - We did Doom 3 week with Doom 3 benches on every CPU and video card we could find. We have no plans of using Doom 3 for memory testing. You will see Doom 3 benchmarks in future video card tests at AT. We are also considering using Doom 3 in future motherboard tests.Visual - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
Wesley, thank you for your response.It seems then that anyone not about to overclock the ram much is better off saving some bucks going with value RAM, or getting larger capacity modules instead of lower-latency ones...
Due to lack of money I've already decided against the low-latency modules, I'd be looking forward to a possible Value RAM shootout at this site :)
Another question popped in my mind seeing comment #12... Do RAM heatspreaders actually help the cooling, when overvolting or not, or are they just for decoration?
Thanks a bunch!
Visual
manno - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
why does Anandtech refuse to post Doom 3 benches? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! :)PrinceGaz - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
#5 and #6- you must have read my mind as I considered asking exactly the same having read the article this morning. We get to see how all these premium sticks perform at various speeds but I'd be very interested to know how the cheap ones compare.Wesley- although its possible to guesstimate the performance of various brand-name PC3200 ValueRAM / CAS3 or CAS2.5 modules, actually testing them is the only way to get a reliable figure. More importantly it should give some guide as to whether they are able to overclock to any useful extent, and at what timings and reasonable voltage increases. I don't think any of us would want to stick 3V into a stick of cheapo (but brand-name) PC3200 without a heat-speader if we wanted it to last for an extended period, but upping the voltage to 2.7 or even 2.75 isn't going to harm any module.
I'm sure a lot, maybe even the majority of AnandTech readers use budget or intermediate RAM for price/performance reasons rather than the premium sticks which are usually reviewed, so it would make sense including at least a few of the major brands.
TRDACH - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
Wesley,The Asus P4C800-E is the motherboard you have been using in recent memory reviews.
Can you please tell me what bios setting you are using for the "Turbo" option under the JumperFree Configuration Menu and what setting is being used for the "Performance Acceleration Mode" option under the Advanced Chipset settings Menu.
Wesley Fink - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
#5 & #6 -The info you are looking for is already in the charts but it takes a little digging. The Samsung PC3700 (DDR466) performed at 2.5-3-3-5 timings at DDR400 in our tests. Comparing the Samsung 3700 results at DDR400 to any of the DDR400 2-2-2 results should give you a very good idea of the performance impact of 2.5-3-3 timings compared to 2-2-2.
All of the memory reviews have a Performance page that lists timings at each speed, and the Samsung performance chart is at http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=199... We used 4x256MB modules in testing the Samsung, but we have already shown in past memory articles that 4SS performs the same as 2DS dimms. The performance penalty comes with 2SS modules on an Intel platform.
We are planning a Value RAM shootout in the future which should directly address your question.