Gaming, and overclocking
| RAM: ET: QW - 1,024x768 0xAA 0xAF low | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Corsair DDR3-1,866 CL9 6GB DOM | Corsair DDR3-1,600 CL8 6GB DOM | Crucial DDR3-1,066 CL7 6GB | Crucial DDR3-1,333 CL9 3GB |
| 200.6 | 194 | 181 | 184.6 |
| RAM: ET: QW - 1,680x1,050 4xAA 16xAF vhq | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Corsair DDR3-1,866 CL9 6GB DOM | Corsair DDR3-1,600 CL8 6GB DOM | Crucial DDR3-1,066 CL7 6GB | Crucial DDR3-1,333 CL9 3GB |
| 85.3 | 84 | 83.6 | 82.8 |
| RAM: Far Cry 2 - 1,680x1,050 - ranch long - vhq | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Corsair DDR3-1,866 CL9 6GB DOM | Corsair DDR3-1,600 CL8 6GB DOM | Crucial DDR3-1,066 CL7 6GB | Crucial DDR3-1,333 CL9 3GB |
| 55.02 | 54.2 | 53.95 | 52.49 |
| RAM: Far Cry 2 - 1,680x1,050 - ranch long - vhq (min) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Corsair DDR3-1,866 CL9 6GB DOM | Corsair DDR3-1,600 CL8 6GB DOM | Crucial DDR3-1,066 CL7 6GB | Crucial DDR3-1,333 CL9 3GB |
| 26.11 | 26.16 | 25.18 | 20.66 |
The gaming results kind of mirror the 2D's, that is, faster memory does help, but the benefits aren't as startling as you may expect them to be, even on an Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition CPU.
However, the Far Cry 2 test is run with the system already set to consume 1.5GB of memory, by opening up a set number of applications, to reflect real-world usage. We reckon that most people begin gaming without closing everything down or rebooting, so it mimicks real-life play.
6GB is better than 3GB for the simple reason that it smoothes out the lows, leading to better game-play.
Overclocking
| Maximum stable frequency 8-8-8-24 2T | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Corsair DDR3-1,866 CL9 6GB DOM | Corsair DDR3-1,600 CL8 6GB DOM | Crucial DDR3-1,066 CL7 6GB | Crucial DDR3-1,333 CL9 3GB |
| 1888 | 1692 | 1480 | 1562 |
Bringing down the latencies to 8-8-8-24-2T, slightly more aggressive than the shipping 9-9-9-24-2T, and raising operating VDIMM to 1.75MHz and strapping the AIRFLOW on top, we managed to hit a 20-minute Memtest86 pass at an effective 1,888MHz. Not too shabby, eh?
