In order to test the SuperTalent PC2-6400, we used the following setup:
- CPU: Intel XE6600 @ 2.4GHz
- Motherboard: Asus P5B Deluxe Wi-Fi Edition BIOS 0903 (beta)
- PSU: OCZ GameXStream GXS600 SLI-Ready
- VGA: MSI 7600GT Silent (stock memory/core timings)
- HDD: WD 800JB
- OS: Windows XP SP2 with all the latest updates installed
While for benchmarking we used:
- Memtest86+ v1.65
- Sisoft Sandra 2007 SP1
- RightMark Memory Analyzer v3.70
- Pov-Ray v3.7 Beta15
- SuperPI XS Mod v1.50
The Asus P5B Deluxe offers various CPU:RAM ratio locks and high overclocking tuning precision. With CPU-Z, we can check the properties of the memory modules. Strangely, the PC2-7200 were reported as PC2-6400 with EPP technology. At 454MHz its memory timings are 4-4-3-15:
For all tests, we manually set the FSB to 266MHz. This made the CPU run at 2.40GHz and we then used the various built-in CPU:RAM ratios to underclock/overclock the memory:
Each CPU:RAM ratio offers different performance which we benchmarked with our software suite. For each setting, we tried to find the most aggressive timings that offer the best possible performance. Each setting, before benchmarking, had to pass a 30min test with Memtest86+ v1.65 without producing any error in all tests. All benchmarks were doubly confirmed and the displayed results are the average of both measurements.
- Overclocking
The user has to manually set aggressive timings and memory voltages. All tests were carried out at 2.25V, since the Asus P5B Deluxe doesn't offer a 2.20V setting. Below are the best timings we managed to get and the real frequency for each memory speed:
The test results are the most impressive we have seen in our labs. The OCZ PC2-7200EPP managed to reach 1128MHz (564MHz effective), even though its rated as "only" 450MHz. We also had success at 1148MHz but the system was not 100% stable. Maybe with more voltage "juice", you can achieve even higher memory speeds.
