Setup, notes and issues
Software
- Windows XP Professional Build 2600.xpclient.010817-1148
Notes
We'll examine the benefits of high latency and high MHz against lower latency and lower overall bandwidth. The semi-unlocked P4 3.2GHz allows us to run in the following combinations:
3021MHz - 201.4FSB - DDR402.8 - 15x multiplier - 2-2-2-6 timings: These settings indicate just how a well-tuned 3.0GHz 800FSB CPU would perform with tight, low latency DDR400 memory. We're thinking along the lines of Corsair's very own TwinX LL here.
3040MHz - 233.9FSB - DDR467.8 - 13 x multiplier - 3-4-4-8 timings: We're attempting to keep the CPU speed relatively constant by lowering the multiplier and raising the FSB and memory speeds. We're thinking of a pseudo 2.6GHz 800FSB CPU overclocked to 234FSB and using Corsair's TwinX XMS3700 matched memory kit in this instance.
3007MHz - 250.6FSB - DDR501.2 - 12x multiplier - 3-4-4-8 timings: Here is how we try to compare the Corsair TwinX XMS4000 matched memory kit to the other two setup's results. This would indicate a 2.4GHz 800FSB overclocked to 250FSB and running the TwinX kit in synchronous mode.
Why 250.6MHz (DDR501.2) ?. Simply because that's the speed that the XMS4000 matched memory pair default to in an EPoX Springdale motherboard. Note the 1024MB total size and dual-channel affirmation from CPU-Z v1.18. The kit was subjected to 20 minutes of Memtest86 testing at 250.6MHz @ 2.8v. No errors were reported. However, much like the TwinX XMS3700, the XMS4000 modules would not initially boot in the test EPoX 4PDA2+ Springdale board. It appeared to have difficulty in applying the plug-n-frag SPD technology inherent in these modules. Instead, a Corsair XMS3500C2 module was required to boot the system and enter the 3-4-4-8 latencies manually. It's only once these values were saved that the TwinX modules were able to boot the system successfully.
The test, as mentioned above, is to see if pure RAM MHz is preferable to low latencies. We must note that we're not conducting an apples-to-apples comparison here. The 1GB TwinX XMS4000, due to its larger size, will benchmark differently to the two comparison 512MB tests. We cannot assume or presume that the 512MB TwinX XMS4000 matched memory kit will benchmark in exactly the same way as the review 1GByte set.
Let's now see what our benchmarks make of it all.
