Super Talent & TEAM: DDR3-1600 Is Here!
by Wesley Fink on July 20, 2007 11:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Super Talent W1600UX2G7
Super Talent was all but invisible in the desktop memory market until Joe James moved from marketing at Corsair to Super Talent. Since that time Super Talent has been pushing for visibility in the enthusiast desktop memory market, and the brand is appearing at a number of online etailers. With the introduction of DDR3, Super Talent has been heavily sampling memory expert sites like the forums at xtremesystems.org. Of course this is an effort to strongly identify Super Talent as a player in the enthusiast memory market, and it is certainly having a positive impact among memory enthusiasts.
The Super Talent website has been gradually including more emphasis on enthusiast memory products, which were barely mentioned in the past due to the heavy emphasis on flash memory products. Despite being a relatively new name in the enthusiast memory market, you will find the company has been making memory products for about 20 years. The Super Talent design center is located in San Jose, California.
Today you will find an expanded line of flash memory products at Super Talent that range from flash cards for devices to Solid State Drives. The traditional memory offerings now include memory targeted at the desktop, laptop, and server markets, and a specialized line of high-performance overclocking memory. Manufacturing is in the US with 14 SMT assembly lines, which Super Talent claims is the largest and most modern memory manufacturing facility in North America. All memory products are 100% tested for compliance with specifications. Memory and flash products come with a lifetime warranty.
We complained in early Super Talent reviews about the somewhat amateurish packaging of Super Talent DIMMs. That has matured over time, and as you can see above, Super Talent uses the protective clamshell common in the memory industry and attractive high-gloss graphics that help communicate manufacturer identity.
The DIMMs themselves are typical Super Talent. The only feature that makes them stand out in appearance is the increasingly familiar "basketweave" design identifying the memory as Super Talent. This 2 GB kit is made up of two 1GB DIMMs that are populated on just one side. Super Talent chose to use just one heatsink on the populated side which works very well for keeping the DIMM cool. With the current density of Micron Z9 memory chips it would be a relatively easy task to make a 4 GB memory kit. However, performance and timings would likely be somewhat below current specs in a 4 GB kit (not to mention what such kits would cost given current Z9 memory chip pricing).
DDR3 is lower voltage, higher speed, and slower timings than DDR2. The chart below summarizes some of the differences in the official JEDEC DDR2 and DDR3 specifications.
JEDEC specs a starting point for enthusiast memory companies. However, since there was never a JEDEC standard for memory faster than DDR-400 then DDR memory running at faster speeds is really overclocked DDR-400. Similarly DDR2 memory faster than DDR2-800 is actually overclocked DDR2-800 since there is currently no official JEDEC spec for DDR2-1066. DDR speeds ran to DDR-400, DDR2 has official specs from 400 to 800, and DDR3 will extend this from 800 to 1600 based on the current JEDEC specification.
The Super Talent is the first DDR3 we have tested with a rated 1600 or higher speed. It also offers lower latency at 1600, 7-7-7 timings, than many of the speed ratings of the first DDR3 DIMMs at 1066. Super Talent DDR3 is available in three configurations:
2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR3-1600 7-7-7-18 kit Street Price $648
2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR3-1600 9-9-9-21 kit Street Price $598
2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR3-1333 8-8-8-18 kit Street Price $417
Street prices are approximate selling prices at launch, since final prices for Super Talent memory are set by the resellers.
Super Talent was all but invisible in the desktop memory market until Joe James moved from marketing at Corsair to Super Talent. Since that time Super Talent has been pushing for visibility in the enthusiast desktop memory market, and the brand is appearing at a number of online etailers. With the introduction of DDR3, Super Talent has been heavily sampling memory expert sites like the forums at xtremesystems.org. Of course this is an effort to strongly identify Super Talent as a player in the enthusiast memory market, and it is certainly having a positive impact among memory enthusiasts.
The Super Talent website has been gradually including more emphasis on enthusiast memory products, which were barely mentioned in the past due to the heavy emphasis on flash memory products. Despite being a relatively new name in the enthusiast memory market, you will find the company has been making memory products for about 20 years. The Super Talent design center is located in San Jose, California.
Today you will find an expanded line of flash memory products at Super Talent that range from flash cards for devices to Solid State Drives. The traditional memory offerings now include memory targeted at the desktop, laptop, and server markets, and a specialized line of high-performance overclocking memory. Manufacturing is in the US with 14 SMT assembly lines, which Super Talent claims is the largest and most modern memory manufacturing facility in North America. All memory products are 100% tested for compliance with specifications. Memory and flash products come with a lifetime warranty.
We complained in early Super Talent reviews about the somewhat amateurish packaging of Super Talent DIMMs. That has matured over time, and as you can see above, Super Talent uses the protective clamshell common in the memory industry and attractive high-gloss graphics that help communicate manufacturer identity.
The DIMMs themselves are typical Super Talent. The only feature that makes them stand out in appearance is the increasingly familiar "basketweave" design identifying the memory as Super Talent. This 2 GB kit is made up of two 1GB DIMMs that are populated on just one side. Super Talent chose to use just one heatsink on the populated side which works very well for keeping the DIMM cool. With the current density of Micron Z9 memory chips it would be a relatively easy task to make a 4 GB memory kit. However, performance and timings would likely be somewhat below current specs in a 4 GB kit (not to mention what such kits would cost given current Z9 memory chip pricing).
| Super Talent W1600UX2G7 Memory Specifications |
|
| Number of DIMMs & Banks | 2 SS |
| DIMM Size | 1GB |
| Total Memory | 2 GB (2 x 1GB) |
| Rated Timings | 7-7-7-18 at DDR3-1600 |
| Rated Voltage | 1.8V (Standard 1.5V) |
DDR3 is lower voltage, higher speed, and slower timings than DDR2. The chart below summarizes some of the differences in the official JEDEC DDR2 and DDR3 specifications.
| JEDEC Memory Specifications | ||
| DDR2 | DDR3 | |
| Rated Speed | 400-800 Mbps | 800-1600 Mbps |
| Vdd/Vddq | 1.8V +/- 0.1V | 1.5V +/- 0.075V |
| Internal Banks | 4 | 8 |
| Termination | Limited | All DQ signals |
| Topology | Conventional T | Fly-by |
| Driver Control | OCD Calibration | Self Calibration with ZQ |
| Thermal Sensor | No | Yes (Optional) |
JEDEC specs a starting point for enthusiast memory companies. However, since there was never a JEDEC standard for memory faster than DDR-400 then DDR memory running at faster speeds is really overclocked DDR-400. Similarly DDR2 memory faster than DDR2-800 is actually overclocked DDR2-800 since there is currently no official JEDEC spec for DDR2-1066. DDR speeds ran to DDR-400, DDR2 has official specs from 400 to 800, and DDR3 will extend this from 800 to 1600 based on the current JEDEC specification.
The Super Talent is the first DDR3 we have tested with a rated 1600 or higher speed. It also offers lower latency at 1600, 7-7-7 timings, than many of the speed ratings of the first DDR3 DIMMs at 1066. Super Talent DDR3 is available in three configurations:
2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR3-1600 7-7-7-18 kit Street Price $648
2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR3-1600 9-9-9-21 kit Street Price $598
2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR3-1333 8-8-8-18 kit Street Price $417
Street prices are approximate selling prices at launch, since final prices for Super Talent memory are set by the resellers.
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Wesley Fink - Friday, July 20, 2007 - link
1333 and 1066 are both at 2.66GHz - which was the best we could do. We would definitely prefer to compare ALL memory speeds at the same CPU frequency as we have done in all memory testing in the past. However, as we point out in the article, with just a 1333 strap and a 333 multiplier it just isn't possible. With boards with 1600.166 and possibly 2000 atraps we can do fixed CPU speed and varied memory speed again.Suggestions for test speeds are welcomed.
rjm55 - Friday, July 20, 2007 - link
I can see where a 1600 strap is now almost a must on motherboards with these new 1600 kits. Does anyone know of ANY Intel P35 motherboard that has support for the 1600 or 1666 strap?LTG - Friday, July 20, 2007 - link
Please cite an example of "break though performance".
It seems any benchmark gains were largely due to CPU speed differences.
Wesley Fink - Friday, July 20, 2007 - link
I consider almost doubling memory speed in less than 2 months qualifies as breakthrough, just as a 6 GHz CPU would be a breakthrough. It is true that memory is just one component in overall performance and that the impact of doubling memory speed is definitely not the same as doubling CPU speed or doubling video speed would be. That still does not change the fact that the Z9 chips are a significant memory development.It is also true that potential gains are dampened by the current lack of straps above 1333 for DDR3. However, those will come sooner, rather than later, now that memory exists that can run at 1600/1666 and 2000.
LTG - Friday, July 20, 2007 - link
Well, you still didn't answer the question so I'll repeat:Whats one single example of "breakthrough performance" provided by this memory?
Wait, let's make it easier - shouldn't the article provide any examples of significant performance differences at the same CPU speed (aside from artificial benchmarks)?
bryanW1995 - Friday, July 20, 2007 - link
A 50% increase in memory speed is not "breakthrough"? This is enthusiast/overclocking memory, it's not designed for the wannabe. Which one are you?DigitalFreak - Friday, July 20, 2007 - link
It's not when there is only a minuscule real world performance increase. It's the same situation as the P4 clock speed crap. The P4 may have run at 3.6Ghz, but it was still bested by an A64 running a Ghz or more slower.TA152H - Saturday, July 21, 2007 - link
The fallacy with your argument is that the tests presented do not include every "real world" situation (no amount of tests could), and there will be situations where the extra memory performance will exhibit extraordinary improvements, depending on the software. I was not crazy about their choice of operating systems either, and you would expect the memory difference to be more in Vista than in XP, simply because Vista uses more memory and resources, and should have a lower cache hit percentage.It's also useful within a hardware context too, not everyone will be buying a Core 2 with 4 MB cache. Right now, yes, it will be what most people get, but when AMD goes to DDR3, and DDR3 prices drop so it becomes mainstream, it will be used on systems with a smaller cache and you'll see a better improvement in speed. So, it's informative.
Also consider that DDR3 does all this with lower voltages than DDR2, so is meaningful in a performance/watt criteria.
If all you are walking away with is a 2.5% improvement with a huge increase in cost, that's not much of interest because it's not worth it for most people. But, extrapolate from that in terms of different hardware and software, and the incredible changes in DDR3 performance lately, as well as the inevitable price drops, and you might get more value out of the review.
DDR2 is obsolete. I said it a month ago, and I'm saying it again. It's low cost, but the performance is not there. It is fading fast (even faster than I thought, to be honest). In less than a month it went from being very competitive in performance and much lower cost against a technology that was showing potential but little real world current value, to already being a low cost, low performance alternative. It is not power efficient either, so all that remains to happen for DDR3 is for the price points to drop. Obviously, the performance delta will increase, but it's already better at that. Reviews like this are useful in that they show this to be true and they will give you a way to plan your next system, or perhaps put off a system purchase until a better time.
Would you buy a DDR2 based system now? It would be like buying a DX9 based video card. Why buy obsolescence when already the next generation is showing real improvements. Time will make the differences greater.
strikeback03 - Monday, July 23, 2007 - link
Speaking of voltage, no complaints over the 2.25V they used with the Super Talent DDR3? You complained about 1.7 volts in the Kingston article after all.And the comparison with DX9 video cards is not a great once for making your point either, as you already know that most people who comment here disagree with you on that point as well.
domski - Saturday, July 21, 2007 - link
Do you have any real-world power consumption figures to back up these assertions?
Don't get me wrong -- I believe you. But I would be interested to see the magnitude of the difference in both absolute power consumption and performance per watt.