Conroe Buying Guide: Feeding the Monster
by Gary Key & Wesley Fink on July 19, 2006 6:20 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
High-Performance DDR2
The availability of high-performance DDR2 memory has dramatically increased in the last couple of months. That is understandable when you consider the introduction of AMD AM2 and Intel Core 2 Duo.
We have recently reviewed the Buffalo, Crucial, and OCZ DDR2 on the 955EE Net-Burst processor. Conroe compatibility was validated with those modules and tests were also performed on the Corsair, Kingston, and Mushkin High-Performance DDR2 which were in the lab for review.
To be considered High-Performance, a memory had to be rated at DDR2-1000 or above, and the memory had to be completely stable at DDR2-1067, which will be the next official DDR2 memory speed. These 2GB kits represent the best-performing DDR2 memory you can currently buy for the Core 2 Duo or AM2 platforms.
Each 2GB kit was evaluated for the fastest memory timings that could be achieved at each standard DDR2 memory speed - DDR2-400, DDR2-533, DDR2-667, DDR2-800, DDR2-1067, and the highest 1:2 (DDR2-1067 base) memory speed that could be achieved.
Buffalo Firestix PC2-8000
It is hard to miss the bright red heat spreaders of Buffalo Firestix. Buffalo also reaches DDR2-1100 at the 2:1 (DDR2-1067) ratio, delivering performance that is on par with others in this stratospheric club.
Corsair CM2X1024-8500C5
Corsair DDR2-1066 2GB kits have been our standard for high-performance memory since the launch of the AM2 platform. You can clearly see why we like the performance of this Corsair 2GB kit. It generally reaches the same timings as other top DDR2 in this roundup, but voltages required at each step are generally slightly lower than the average for the group. Corsair also reaches to DDR2-1104 form the 1067 ratio, which is one of the highest results we have seen from DDR2 memory.
Crucial Ballistix CL1116N.LW
The Crucial heatspreaders may be the ugliest color you have ever seen, but the performance of Crucial's Ballistix line is generally pure gold. As the retail arm of Micron, you would expect the Ballistix to be the best-of-the-best, but performance is generally toward the bottom of this top-performing group. All of the other high-performance 2GB kits made it to DDR2-1100 or higher, where the Crucial topped out around 1084. The results, in the end, are all very close, and you will never be disappointed if you do choose the Crucial - particularly if you get some of the special pricing Crucial is famous for providing at their web site.
The availability of high-performance DDR2 memory has dramatically increased in the last couple of months. That is understandable when you consider the introduction of AMD AM2 and Intel Core 2 Duo.
| High Performance DDR2 Specifications | |||||
| Manufacturer | Description (Memory Chips) |
Rated Speed |
Rated Timings |
Rated Voltage |
Cost (2x1GB) |
| Buffalo FireStix |
FireStix PC2-8000 (Micron) |
DDR2-1000 | 5-5-5-15 | 2.1V | $432 |
| Corsair XMS2 |
CM2X1024-8500C5 (Micron) |
DDR2-1067 | 5-5-5-15 | 2.2V | $453 |
| Crucial Ballistix |
CL1116N.LW (Micron) |
DDR2-1000 | 5-5-5-15 | 2.2V | $455 |
| Kingston HyperX |
KHX8500D2K2/1G (Micron) |
DDR2-1067 | 5-5-5-15 | 2.2V | $226 (2x512MB) |
| Mushkin Redline |
2GB XP2-8000 Redline (Micron) |
DDR2-1000 | 4-5-4-11 | 2.2V | $430 |
| OCZ PC2-8000 EL |
PC2-8000 EL Platinum (Micron) |
DDR2-1000 | 4-5-4-15 | 2.2V | $445 |
We have recently reviewed the Buffalo, Crucial, and OCZ DDR2 on the 955EE Net-Burst processor. Conroe compatibility was validated with those modules and tests were also performed on the Corsair, Kingston, and Mushkin High-Performance DDR2 which were in the lab for review.
To be considered High-Performance, a memory had to be rated at DDR2-1000 or above, and the memory had to be completely stable at DDR2-1067, which will be the next official DDR2 memory speed. These 2GB kits represent the best-performing DDR2 memory you can currently buy for the Core 2 Duo or AM2 platforms.
Each 2GB kit was evaluated for the fastest memory timings that could be achieved at each standard DDR2 memory speed - DDR2-400, DDR2-533, DDR2-667, DDR2-800, DDR2-1067, and the highest 1:2 (DDR2-1067 base) memory speed that could be achieved.
Buffalo Firestix PC2-8000
It is hard to miss the bright red heat spreaders of Buffalo Firestix. Buffalo also reaches DDR2-1100 at the 2:1 (DDR2-1067) ratio, delivering performance that is on par with others in this stratospheric club.
| Buffalo Firestix - 2x1GB DDR2-1000 |
||
| CPU Ratio | Memory Speed |
Best Memory Timings (Voltage) |
| (4:3) | 400 DDR2 | 3-2-2-5 1.8V |
| (1:1) | 533 DDR2 | 3-2-3-8 2.1V |
| (4:5) | 667 DDR2 | 3-3-3-9 2.1V |
| (2:3) | 800 DDR2 | 3-3-4-10 2.1V |
| (1:2) | 1067 DDR2 | 4-4-5-14 2.3V |
| Highest Mem Speed (1:2) |
1100 DDR2 | 5-5-5-15 2.35V |
Corsair CM2X1024-8500C5
Corsair DDR2-1066 2GB kits have been our standard for high-performance memory since the launch of the AM2 platform. You can clearly see why we like the performance of this Corsair 2GB kit. It generally reaches the same timings as other top DDR2 in this roundup, but voltages required at each step are generally slightly lower than the average for the group. Corsair also reaches to DDR2-1104 form the 1067 ratio, which is one of the highest results we have seen from DDR2 memory.
| Corsair XMS8505v1.2 - 2x1GB DDR2-1000 |
||
| CPU Ratio | Memory Speed |
Best Memory Timings (Voltage) |
| (4:3) | 400 DDR2 | 3-2-2-5 1.8V |
| (1:1) | 533 DDR2 | 3-2-2-8 2.1V |
| (4:5) | 667 DDR2 | 3-2-3-3-9 2.1V |
| (2:3) | 800 DDR2 | 3-3-3-11 2.15V |
| (1:2) | 1067 DDR2 | 4-4-4-14 2.2V |
| Highest Mem Speed (1:2) |
1104 DDR2 | 5-5-5-15 2.35V |
Crucial Ballistix CL1116N.LW
The Crucial heatspreaders may be the ugliest color you have ever seen, but the performance of Crucial's Ballistix line is generally pure gold. As the retail arm of Micron, you would expect the Ballistix to be the best-of-the-best, but performance is generally toward the bottom of this top-performing group. All of the other high-performance 2GB kits made it to DDR2-1100 or higher, where the Crucial topped out around 1084. The results, in the end, are all very close, and you will never be disappointed if you do choose the Crucial - particularly if you get some of the special pricing Crucial is famous for providing at their web site.
| Crucial Ballistix - 2x1GB DDR2-1000 |
||
| CPU Ratio | Memory Speed |
Best Memory Timings (Voltage) |
| (4:3) | 400 DDR2 | 3-2-2-5 1.8V |
| (1:1) | 533 DDR2 | 3-2-3-8 2.0V |
| (4:5) | 667 DDR2 | 3-3-3-10 2.1V |
| (2:3) | 800 DDR2 | 4-3-4-11 2.1V |
| (1:2) | 1067 DDR2 | 4-4-5-14 2.35V |
| Highest Mem Speed (1:2) |
1084 DDR2 | 5-4-5-15 2.35V |
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mongoosesRawesome - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Im curious, can you go into some detail as to how you determine each memory's stable speeds at the various timings you reported?Did you test any of the value ram up to 1067 or would they not work at all?
shabby - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Too bad you guys didnt test the asrock conroexfire, its basically similar to the one you tested now but with a 16x pcie slot and only ddr2 support.Gary Key - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
We have more boards coming, the flood gates are getting ready to open from the motherboard suppliers over the course of the next four weeks. Although the press embargo release was moved up to last week, the motherboard suppliers were still targeting 7/27 for hardware releases into the market. We will review and post articles on Conroe capable boards as soon as we receive them. We still have some very good AM2 boards to review also. ;-)
jones377 - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Can you guys run a few benchmarks with DDR1 on this board? It doesn't have to be the full suite, just some to get an idea of DDR1 performance with Conroe. Thanks!Gary Key - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
We are testing another DDR1 board shortly and will have those results up in the near future. Bios version 1.3 on this board improved DDR1 performance and we are expecting another bios spin shortly.
jones377 - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
What board is that? Another ASROCK? They have quite a few Conroe compatible ones based on VIA, ATI and the i865G chipsets.
Gary Key - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Yes, we will be testing the ASRock 775i65G, there might also be a i865 board coming from PC Chips. We should see some additional value based boards in the near future from other suppliers based on the 946PL and SIS662 chipsets.yacoub - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Lists chipset as: Chipset Intel 975X + ICH8RI thought it was 965?
yacoub - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
And on the same page:"Despite the similarity of the ASUS 975X and 965 top boards, a closer look at options does tell you 965 is targeted a bit lower than 965. "
JarredWalton - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Fixed - as you can imagine given the length, there will probably be a few more typos than normal. Our heads are all spinning a bit after putting this together. ;)