Evaluating today’s high end memory
Specifications
|
The
product
|
- PC-133 Memory
- CAS2 Compatible
- 6-Layer PCB
- 128MB Modules
|
N/A
|
Earlier this month we took a look at two different
Mushkin modules; high performance PC-100 CAS2 128MB w/Infineon chips versus
the Mushkin budget PC-133 CAS3 128MB w/Nanya chips. From our testing, the
CAS2 performance proved to be slightly faster in all of our tests. Using SiSoft
Sandra 2000 Pro, the performance increase was measured at over 15%. This could
translate a 15% boost for those applications that are specifically memory
intensive such as various voice recognition programs and other non-3D FPU
tasks.
In this article we take a look at Mushkin’s top
line PC133 memory; their High Performance w/Mosel Vitalic chips (128MB modules).
They submitted the revision 1.5 and their newest revision 2.0 modules. The
only difference between both is that the new revision (2.0) has more "fine
tuned" traces, which should result in slightly better performance.
This memory is sold under the high performance "blurb" because Mushkin
guarantees these specific products to run at a minimum of 133MHz using a CAS2
latency. This should result in a reasonable speed boost compared to a CAS3
latency. Our third candidate is Enhanced Memory Systems, Inc., with their
High Performance PC133 HSDRAM module.
EMS HSDRAM
HSDRAM is a synonym for high-performance SDRAM.
What justifies an H in the name? An HSDRAM chip must have low latency. That
means that it basically has a low hesitation factor when asked to remember
something to put it into simple terms. Latency factor is determined by access
time, measured in nanoseconds (a billionth of a second, and abbreviated as
nS). With computer systems accessing memory at extremely high rates,
a lower latency can give a performance edge.
The Case Of CAS
CAS literally means column address
strobe, which is fancy terminology for how fast the RAM in your precious
box can process temporary information. The common designations for SDRAM has
been 2 and 3. The 2 signifies two cycles and the 3 signifies 3 cycles. Because
more cycles takes more time, the lower your CAS setting, the quicker your
RAM is at a particular FSB.
PC "XXX" Speeds
PC100 theoretically gives rise to a timing spec
of 10 nS. A nS is a short period indeed, being 1E-9 or 0.000000001 seconds.
Fast, eh? An easy method of calculating the nS required to meet a certain
MHz requirement is to use the 1000 (MHz-nS) rule. For example: 1000 (MHz-nS)
/ 7.5 nS = 133 MHz (rounded from 133.33). So if somebody tells you they have
5 nS RAM, that would imply a speed of 200 MHz. The vast majority of the time,
this one or two digit nS rating can be easily found by closely examining the
chip at hand.
The Test
We used the Asus P3V4X
motherboard for the tests because of its multiple Front Side
Bus speed flexibility: 66 / 68 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 / 95 / 100 / 103
/ 105 / 110 / 112 / 115 / 116 / 118 / 120 / 124 / 126 / 130 / 133 / 135 /
138 / 140 / 142 / 144 / 146 / 148 / 150 / 155 / 160 / 166. All tests were
done using an Intel Pentium III 550E CPU that is notable for it's excellent
overclocking--especially beyond 133MHz. The video card of choice was the ATI
XPERT 98 that utilizes the RAGE PRO chipset as this was the only video board
that didn't have problems running at speeds beyond 133MHz. All CAS3 tests
were at (322) and the entire CAS2 test was done at (222). The AGP ½ divider
was used so the AGP speed was kept as close as possible to the 66MHz spec.
Test System
Test System
|
CPU(s)
|
Intel Pentium III 550E
|
|
|
Motherboard(s) |
ASUS
P3V4X |
|
|
|
Memory |
Mushkin
HP REV1.5
|
Mushkin
HP REV2.0 |
EMS
HSDRAM |
|
Hard
Drive |
Maxtor
Diamond 10.2GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA 66
|
CDROM(s) |
Sanyo CRD-BP2 w/Tekram
DC-390U2W SCSI
controller
|
Video
Card(s) |
ATI Rage Pro (XPERT98)
|
Operating System
|
Name(s)
|
Windows 2000 Professional, Windows
98 SE
|
Benchmarking
|
Names(s) |
|
Candidates
Mushkin HP 1.5 PC-133
|
Mushkin HP 2.0 PC-133
|
EMS HSDRAM PC-133
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
85%
|
50%
|
85%
|
CAS3 Test
CAS3
|
133
|
135
|
138
|
140
|
142
|
144
|
Mushkin
HP PC-133 R1.5 |
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
NO
BOOT
|
Mushkin
HP PC-133 R.2.0 |
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
NO
BOOT
|
EMS
HSDRAM PC133 |
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
Notice that the EMS HSDRAM
module is doing a great job under CAS3 (322); no wonder why it's called High
Performance memory.
CAS2 Test
CAS2
|
133
|
135
|
138
|
140
|
142
|
144
|
Mushkin
HP PC-133 R1.5 |
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
Mushkin
HP PC-133 R.2.0 |
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
OK
|
EMS
HSDRAM PC133 |
OK
|
OK
|
NO
BOOT
|
NO
BOOT
|
NO
BOOT
|
NO
BOOT
|
The HSDRAM module easily
reached the CAS2 setting up to 135MHz, which is quite impressive for a chip
claimed to be CAS3 (322). Unfortunately, we can't confirm that all of the
EMS HSDRAM modules will reach 135MHz. As for Mushkin, it does 144MHz without
any problems; however,I had to raise the CPU voltage from 1.60 to 1.65 for
99.9% stability.
Price comparison (04/26/00)
Mushkin
PC-133 HP R1.5
|
Mushkin
PC-133 HP R2.0
|
EMS
PC-133 HSDRAM
|
$
139
|
$
178
|
$149.00
|
Conclusion
Mushkin has always been
known for it's quality memory, and they do not disappoint with their High
Performance modules. The REV1.5 and REV 2.0 are practically the same product
as the maximum performance increase of the 2.0 over the 1.5 was 3% in high
resolution Quake III Arena. Mushkin claims that the revision 2.0 has a newer
and improved PCB, but with a price difference of almost $40USD, we recommend
that you to stick with the REV1.5.
EMS HSDRAM is also a very
interesting candidate; it's one of the top solutions for the power user. This
memory is one of the greatest performers in today's market, particularly because
you can be sure it will offer 99.9% stability at high FSB speeds. The module
is claimed to run at CAS3 (322) but from our tests, this EMS module delivered
much more, we reached stability at 135MHz CAS2.
If you are planning to
use CAS2 on a overclocked system beyond 133MHz, then Mushkin's REV1.5 should
do the job perfectly with it's current $139 price tag. I can't recommend the
latest revision 2.0 because we couldn't see any significant increase over
the previous revision 1.5. With EMS's HSDRAM module priced at reasonable 149$,
this is a very interesting solution. If you will be using CAS3 on an overclocked
system, this module proved to be the winner under all of our CAS3 tests. Even
at CAS2, this is still an interesting product, we easily reached 135MHz at
CAS2 (222).
Oleg Mitskaniouk
00/05/01