Super Talent & TEAM: DDR3-1600 Is Here!
by Wesley Fink on July 20, 2007 11:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Bandwidth and Memory Scaling
As you saw in our overclocking test, the Super Talent kit reached DDR3-2000+ and the TEAM DDR3-1600 topped out at DDR3-1900. We compared standard or buffered bandwidth on the P965 running DDR2, the new P35 running DDR2, and the new P35 running Kingston DDR3-1375, Super Talent DDR3-1600, and TEAM DDR3-1600.
At DDR3-1066 the DDR2 Corsair Dominator running in the P35-DDR2 board holds a slight lead. This is a pattern you will see throughout many of these test results. If you intend to run only 1066 and nothing higher, the ASUS P5K Deluxe with fast DDR2 beats DDR3 and P965. This is likely due to the very aggressive 4-4-3 timings DDR2 can manage on the P35, but the lead is very small compared to these new Micron Z9 DDR3 memory modules.
The new Z9 DDR3 memory owns the rest of the benchmarks. From 1333 to the highest OC of 2000 nothing comes close to the bandwidth of the new Micron memory chips. The best modules in this roundup are from Super Talent. The TEAM DIMMs are close in every benchmark, but the Super Talent memory wins all the benchmarks at every speed from 1333 up.
The timings are also record-breaking. 5-4-3-9 at DDR3-1066 (1333 strap) are the best memory timings we have seen in DDR3 tests at that speed. Similarly 6-5-4-12 at 1333, 7-6-5-15 at 1600 and 1666, and 9-8-7-18 at DDR3-2000 are the tightest timings seen so far with DDR3 at any of those speeds. The Micron Z9 memory chips achieve speeds and tight timings that we really didn't expect until next year or later.
We also test memory with buffering schemes like MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, etc, turned off. While these features do provide apparent improved bandwidth, the unbuffered bandwidth tends to correlate better with gaming performance. Unbuffered performance does not always follow the patterns of buffered memory performance.
Unbuffered results show the same basic pattern as buffered results. At 1066 speed the best bandwidth is with fast DDR2 on the P35 chipset, and at all other speeds the Super Talent DDR3-1600 and TEAM DDR3-1600 top the results. DIMMs based on Micron Z9 memory chips are the fastest DDR3 you can buy. There will still be variations based on the memory makers' experience and expertise in binning, PCB construction, and SPD programming, but for the time being we expect all of the fastest DDR3 memory to use Z9 chips.
Of course DDR2 could not reach the 1333 speed, and with DDR3 now running up to 2000 MHz and higher DDR3 is looking like the logical choice for high-performance computing. DDR2 is slightly better on the P35 chipset only at the 1066 speed. Now with Z9 chips, DDR3 also outperforms the P965 chipset running fast DDR3 at 1066. Anything higher than 1066 is the domain of fast low-latency DDR3.
As you saw in our overclocking test, the Super Talent kit reached DDR3-2000+ and the TEAM DDR3-1600 topped out at DDR3-1900. We compared standard or buffered bandwidth on the P965 running DDR2, the new P35 running DDR2, and the new P35 running Kingston DDR3-1375, Super Talent DDR3-1600, and TEAM DDR3-1600.
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| Click to enlarge |
At DDR3-1066 the DDR2 Corsair Dominator running in the P35-DDR2 board holds a slight lead. This is a pattern you will see throughout many of these test results. If you intend to run only 1066 and nothing higher, the ASUS P5K Deluxe with fast DDR2 beats DDR3 and P965. This is likely due to the very aggressive 4-4-3 timings DDR2 can manage on the P35, but the lead is very small compared to these new Micron Z9 DDR3 memory modules.
The new Z9 DDR3 memory owns the rest of the benchmarks. From 1333 to the highest OC of 2000 nothing comes close to the bandwidth of the new Micron memory chips. The best modules in this roundup are from Super Talent. The TEAM DIMMs are close in every benchmark, but the Super Talent memory wins all the benchmarks at every speed from 1333 up.
The timings are also record-breaking. 5-4-3-9 at DDR3-1066 (1333 strap) are the best memory timings we have seen in DDR3 tests at that speed. Similarly 6-5-4-12 at 1333, 7-6-5-15 at 1600 and 1666, and 9-8-7-18 at DDR3-2000 are the tightest timings seen so far with DDR3 at any of those speeds. The Micron Z9 memory chips achieve speeds and tight timings that we really didn't expect until next year or later.
We also test memory with buffering schemes like MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, etc, turned off. While these features do provide apparent improved bandwidth, the unbuffered bandwidth tends to correlate better with gaming performance. Unbuffered performance does not always follow the patterns of buffered memory performance.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Unbuffered results show the same basic pattern as buffered results. At 1066 speed the best bandwidth is with fast DDR2 on the P35 chipset, and at all other speeds the Super Talent DDR3-1600 and TEAM DDR3-1600 top the results. DIMMs based on Micron Z9 memory chips are the fastest DDR3 you can buy. There will still be variations based on the memory makers' experience and expertise in binning, PCB construction, and SPD programming, but for the time being we expect all of the fastest DDR3 memory to use Z9 chips.
Of course DDR2 could not reach the 1333 speed, and with DDR3 now running up to 2000 MHz and higher DDR3 is looking like the logical choice for high-performance computing. DDR2 is slightly better on the P35 chipset only at the 1066 speed. Now with Z9 chips, DDR3 also outperforms the P965 chipset running fast DDR3 at 1066. Anything higher than 1066 is the domain of fast low-latency DDR3.
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retrospooty - Friday, July 20, 2007 - link
thanks.I would really like to see the effects of latency on the new DDR3 platform. Now that more options are availbale, it would be great to see scores using the lowest and highest latency settings achievable at 1066, 1333, 1600 etc...