Geil PC3200 Ultra X: High Speed & Record Bandwidth
by Wesley Fink on August 20, 2004 12:04 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
When Corsair 3200XL appeared on the market about 2 months ago, it created quite a bit of excitement with 2-2-2 timings at DDR400. After disappearing from the market when Winbond BH5 memory chips were discontinued, 2-2-2 DDR400 memory had become available again. At that point we certainly did not expect the flood of new 2-2-2 DDR400 memory that has appeared in recent weeks. It now seems that every major memory maker has a new PC3200 2-2-2 memory in their product line. Considering how popular low-latency memory is with computer enthusiasts that is certainly understandable.
We reviewed six of the new DDR400 2-2-2 dimms just a couple of weeks ago in =F-A-S-T= DDR Memory: 2-2-2 Roars on the Scene. Geil has introduced another fast PC3200 memory with their PC3200 Ultra X rated at 2-2-2-5 memory timings. This brings to seven the number of new DDR400 2-2-2 memory offerings that we know are now available in the marketplace. With a selection like this you can finally make some choices in fast DDR400 memory based on value as well as performance.
The most remarkable trait with the new DDR400 2-2-2 we have tested so far is the incredible bandwidth they have demonstrated. All of the six tested memories reached DDR500 with decent timings and a bit more voltage. This kind of bandwidth is unique in the memory market, and it makes the latest DDR400 as close to universal memory as you will find in the market today. You get the fastest timings possible at DDR400, plus greatly extended bandwidth that can take your performance to DDR500 or beyond.
The other side of the equation is the fastest performance at DDR400. In that regard, every one of the six 2-2-2 DDR400 dimms we have tested met the specification of the fastest 2-2-2 performance at DDR400. Most managed these fastest timings at default voltage of 2.5V to 2.6V.
The questions with the Geil PC3200 Ultra X then, is how it compares with the fast DDR400 memory we recently tested. Is this another Samsung or Micron-based memory with great timings and an incredible bandwidth? Can the Geil compete with the best from the fast DDR400 roundup? Can anything approach the incredible bandwidth of OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 that reached all the way to DDR557?
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qquizz - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
excellent read thanks Anandtech for the useful infoAvalon - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
Forgot to mention it was tested on an A64 rig. If you've got an AXP rig, lower latency might mean more. I should go test it out...Anyway, great article Wes! It's good to see Geil come out near the top. They make some great memory and are very under-recognized sometimes.
Avalon - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
I forget where I saw it, but I did see latency compared in a Doom 3 article. Low CAS 2 latency benefitted over CAS 2.5 by giving you roughly 2-3% more framerates. Which added up to about 1 frame. Since I can't quite remember where I found it, take this with a large boulder of salt :Pciwell - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
I am wondering the same thing as #5. It would be very interesting to see a comparison between the Value RAMs and these.Anyways, great article.
Visual - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
This isn't really in the goals of this article, but I'm wondering, is the extra-low latency worth it at DDR400?Could you include a slow(Value RAM) memory from Kingston, Corsair or other, running at CAS 2.5 and 3 for comparison?
I really wanna know if the extra $100 or so for a low-latency ram would give me noticeable difference.
pookie69 - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
Mr Fink!!!! Another GREAT READ!!!! I so LOVE these memory articles of yours. SO informative and give much food for thought.Thanks and keep up the gd work! ;)
Wesley Fink - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
#1 - Corrected. We are missing our Web Editor who is taking a well-deserved vacation.#2 - You make an interesting point. I was leaning toward Samsung TCCD chips, particularly based on the poorer overclocks on Athlon 64, but I agree there are some timings at certain speeds that don't really fit. Hynix also exhibits poorer A64 overclocks compared to Intel, so it is a possibility.
Zebo - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
Nice work Wes. To bad we don't know what chips they have...I'm leaning twards hand picked Hynix that can do 2-2-2 @ 200 by the way it mirrors it's brothers at higher bandwidth...in addtion to it's bandwidth.KingofCamelot - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
Just a couple of things you might want to fix, on the bottom of page 2 it has the title "OCZ PC3200 Platinum Revision 2 Specifications" which should be "Geil PC3200 Ultra X Memory Specifications". Also on page 4 at 557DDR speed the Quake3 fps is missing a decimal and is listed as 43486 instead of 434.86 fps. Other than that great review, awesome looking ram man!