|

Test System
To
hit bus speeds of 250MHz and higher, it takes some of the best hardware
on the market. Not to take anything away from AMD, but Intel based
systems tend to handle these bus speeds better.
My particular test system consists of the following
hardware.
|
Hardware |
Model |
Provided By |
|
Motherboard: |
DFI LAN
Party Pro875B |
DFI |
| CPU:
|
Intel
Pentium 4
2.4GHz
Model C |
|
| CPU
Cooler: |
Vantec
AeroFlow2 |
Vantec |
| Memory: |
OCZ
PC-4400PE
1Gb Dual Channel Kit |
OCZ |
| Video
Card: |
Crucial
Radion 9800 Pro |
Crucial |
| Hard
Drive(s): |
Seagate
SATA V
2x 120gb
RAID 0 |
Seagate |
To benchmark the memory,
I'll be sticking to SiSoft Sandra. I'll start out at the memory's default rating
of 550MHz DDR and memory timings of 3-4-4-8 and try working my way up the overclocking ladder...if possible. Here is how it
went down:
|
Memory Timings |
Voltage |
DDR Bus Speed |
Sandra Score |
|
3-4-4-8 (default) |
2.8v (default) |
550MHz (default) |
6449/6448 |
| 3-4-4-8 |
2.8v |
560MHz |
UNSTABLE |
| 3-4-4-8 |
2.8v |
570MHz |
FAIL |

Conclusion
The good news is the memory ran
flawlessly at it's rated speed and settings. The bad news is it only took 5MHz
FSB over 275MHz before the system became unstable. I was still able to run some
office aps, but gaming and benchmarking was out of the question at any voltage.
However, the memory score at 275MHz FSB (550MHz DDR) is very impressive. If you
are questioning CPU stability, don't. This CPU is known to hit
as high as 290MHz FSB before becoming unstable. As for the motherboard, 275MHz
to 280MHz FSB is about all she can do. We have been told that this memory has
been known to overclock as high as 290MHz on certain ASUS motherboards, but that
only with ASUS. I consider the DFI 875B to be one of the better motherboards on
the market, so I'm comfortable in saying that most users will only see just what
I did here; 275 to 280MHz FSB at a CPU ratio of 1:1.
As to whether or not
this is memory that could be used by hard core overclockers and gamers, I see no
reason as to why not. After all, even hitting this memory's default of 550MHz is
quite an accomplishment, even by the most experienced of Overclockers. Since
there is no standard for PC4400, this is actually memory for overclocking. So to
say this memory should only be used in moderate overclocking is pretty silly. As
for "moderate gaming", you either game or you don't, and there isn't anything
wrong with this RAM to keep you from gaming with the best of them.
|
Club
Overclocker Rating |
|
Innovation: |
9.0
out of 10 |
|
Performance: |
10 out of 10 |
|
Quality: |
10 out of 10 |
|
Stability: |
9.0 out of 10 |
|
Overclocking: |
6.5 out of 10 |
|
Software Pack: |
N/A |
|
Value: |
9.5 out of 10 |
|
Overall Rating 9.0 |
|
|
|
|
Skill Level |
|
Project Skill Level
(10 being hardest) |
2
out of 10 |
|