Conroe Buying Guide: Feeding the Monster
by Gary Key & Wesley Fink on July 19, 2006 6:20 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Kingston KHX8500D2K2/1G
The Kingston Hyper X is a dynamite performer, and frankly it would have been a top recommendation except for the fact Kingston provided a 1GB kit instead of the 2GB kit we tested for every other brand in this Buying Guide. You might ask why this matters?
Smaller capacity DIMMs usually clock higher than higher capacity memory, so the fact Kingston matches our leader Mushkin at the top does not mean a Kingston 2GB kit would perform the same. When comparing memory performance make sure you compare the same size DIMMs if you want to be sure you are choosing the best. Still, the Kingston is an excellent performer, and the 1GB kit is just $226. If 1 GB is enough memory for you, this 1GB kit would be a great choice.
Mushkin XP2-8000 Redline
It has been a while since we have reviewed a Mushkin Redline kit, and we were certainly impressed when we looked at the last Mushkin Redline kit for DDR. The 2GB Mushkin Redline kit turned in the highest overclock we have seen with any DDR2 memory at 1116. Mushkin also managed to reach the timings of the best high-performance DDR2 tested in this roundup - but generally at a lower voltage than others here. This is a winning combination, and you will likely be very happy if you choose the Mushkin 2GB Redline kit for your new Core 2 Duo computer.
OCZ PC2-8000 Platinum EL
We gave OCZ the Gold Editors Choice award when we first tested this dynamite OCZ PC-2-8000 Platinum 2GB kit last March. The OCZ is still one of the best performers we have tested in DDR2 memory, but it now has some company from Corsair and Mushkin. If you want the best DDR2 you can buy, then one of these three will fit your needs.
Comparing High-Performance Memory
It is no accident that all six of our high-performance memory kits for Core 2 Duo are based on Micron memory chips. Micron currently produces what are arguably the fastest DDR2 memory chips available. Using Micron memory chips is also the reason all six kits costs between $400 and $450 for the 2GB kit. Each manufacturer has their own binning (speed sorting) techniques, they choose or develop their PCB, and they also may have very unique customized SPD programming. Despite these differences, the performance of all six 2GB kits are more similar than not.
Three of the six memories stand out for better timings and/or lower voltages at each tested speed. The OCZ PC2-8000 Platinum EL has been highly praised in the past. It is now joined by the Corsair CM2X1024-8500C5 and the Mushkin Redline XP2-8000 as the top-performing DDR2 memory you can buy. Corsair, Mushkin, and OCZ have all three done an exemplary job in the manufacture of these 2GB kits.
In fairness the performance differences between any of these six kits is very small, and you can select any of the six based on the best pricing - confident you will get great performance from your new DDR2 memory. None of these memories come cheap, and many will find $400 to $450 for 2GB of DDR2 memory too much for their new Core 2 Duo system.
If you are in that group looking for value, you will want to take a close look at our test results with a group of seven value priced 2GB kits beginning on the next page. These 2GB kits, ranging from $117 to $170 for the 2GB kit, provide much better value on the Core 2 Duo platform than we first imagined. You will likely be pleasantly surprised at the performance you can get in this value DDR2 segment.
The Kingston Hyper X is a dynamite performer, and frankly it would have been a top recommendation except for the fact Kingston provided a 1GB kit instead of the 2GB kit we tested for every other brand in this Buying Guide. You might ask why this matters?
Smaller capacity DIMMs usually clock higher than higher capacity memory, so the fact Kingston matches our leader Mushkin at the top does not mean a Kingston 2GB kit would perform the same. When comparing memory performance make sure you compare the same size DIMMs if you want to be sure you are choosing the best. Still, the Kingston is an excellent performer, and the 1GB kit is just $226. If 1 GB is enough memory for you, this 1GB kit would be a great choice.
| Kingston HyperX - DDR2-1066 - 2x512MB Model # KHX8500D2K2/1G |
||
| CPU Ratio | Memory Speed |
Best Memory Timings (Voltage) |
| (4:3) | 400 DDR2 | 3-2-2-5 1.8V |
| (1:1) | 533 DDR2 | 3-2-2-7 2.0V |
| (4:5) | 667 DDR2 | 3-2-3-8 2.0V |
| (2:3) | 800 DDR2 | 3-3-3-9 2.1V |
| (1:2) | 1067 DDR2 | 4-4-4-14 2.2V |
| Highest Mem Speed (1:2) |
1116 DDR2 | 5-5-5-15 2.3V |
Mushkin XP2-8000 Redline
It has been a while since we have reviewed a Mushkin Redline kit, and we were certainly impressed when we looked at the last Mushkin Redline kit for DDR. The 2GB Mushkin Redline kit turned in the highest overclock we have seen with any DDR2 memory at 1116. Mushkin also managed to reach the timings of the best high-performance DDR2 tested in this roundup - but generally at a lower voltage than others here. This is a winning combination, and you will likely be very happy if you choose the Mushkin 2GB Redline kit for your new Core 2 Duo computer.
| Mushkin XP2-8000 Redline - 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 | 3-2-2-7 2.05V |
| (4:5) | 667 DDR2 | 3-2-3-8 2.1V |
| (2:3) | 800 DDR2 | 3-3-3-9 2.1V |
| (1:2) | 1067 DDR2 | 4-4-4-12 2.2V |
| Highest Mem Speed (1:2) |
1116 DDR2 | 5-5-5-15 2.35V |
OCZ PC2-8000 Platinum EL
We gave OCZ the Gold Editors Choice award when we first tested this dynamite OCZ PC-2-8000 Platinum 2GB kit last March. The OCZ is still one of the best performers we have tested in DDR2 memory, but it now has some company from Corsair and Mushkin. If you want the best DDR2 you can buy, then one of these three will fit your needs.
| OCZ PC2-8000 Platinum EL -2x1GB DDR2-1000 |
||
| CPU Ratio | Memory Speed |
Best Memory Timings (Voltage) |
| (4:3) | 400 DDR2 | 3-2-2-6 1.8V |
| (1:1) | 533 DDR2 | 3-2-2-9 1T 2.1V |
| (4:5) | 667 DDR2 | 3-2-3-10 2.1V |
| (2:3) | 800 DDR2 | 3-3-3-11 2.1V |
| (1:2) | 1067 DDR2 | 4-4-5-14 2.3V |
| Highest Mem Speed (1:2) |
1100 DDR2 | 5-4-5-15 2.35V |
Comparing High-Performance Memory
It is no accident that all six of our high-performance memory kits for Core 2 Duo are based on Micron memory chips. Micron currently produces what are arguably the fastest DDR2 memory chips available. Using Micron memory chips is also the reason all six kits costs between $400 and $450 for the 2GB kit. Each manufacturer has their own binning (speed sorting) techniques, they choose or develop their PCB, and they also may have very unique customized SPD programming. Despite these differences, the performance of all six 2GB kits are more similar than not.
Three of the six memories stand out for better timings and/or lower voltages at each tested speed. The OCZ PC2-8000 Platinum EL has been highly praised in the past. It is now joined by the Corsair CM2X1024-8500C5 and the Mushkin Redline XP2-8000 as the top-performing DDR2 memory you can buy. Corsair, Mushkin, and OCZ have all three done an exemplary job in the manufacture of these 2GB kits.
In fairness the performance differences between any of these six kits is very small, and you can select any of the six based on the best pricing - confident you will get great performance from your new DDR2 memory. None of these memories come cheap, and many will find $400 to $450 for 2GB of DDR2 memory too much for their new Core 2 Duo system.
If you are in that group looking for value, you will want to take a close look at our test results with a group of seven value priced 2GB kits beginning on the next page. These 2GB kits, ranging from $117 to $170 for the 2GB kit, provide much better value on the Core 2 Duo platform than we first imagined. You will likely be pleasantly surprised at the performance you can get in this value DDR2 segment.
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Beaner - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Very well-written article guys!Thanks for taking the time to enlighten us all.
Just wanted to point out that the Mushkin Redline sticks can be had right now for $355 AR. At that price, I may just have to grab 'em myself!
ChronoReverse - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
It was pretty much shown that the effect of using memory dividers for Athlon64's was rather minimal while most dividers were more adverse for Netburst.How large of an effect does using memory dividers have on the Conroe?
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
The effect of memory dividers is much smaller on Conroe than we saw on Netburst. In fact memory dividers on Conroe behave more like AM2 - probably the result of the "apparent" reduction in latency with the intelligent look-ahead in memory. Core 2 Duo is not Hyper-Transport, so 1:1 (533) tis still theoretically the highest performing setting, but we were hard pressed to find any measurable advantage of 1:1 in most situations.We had tested a number of high-performance dimms on Conroe before we wrote the Buyers Guide, but there just wasn't the time - or room - to include full memory performance data in the Guide. We do have memory reviews in process that will provide specifics to your questions.
We can summarize what we have learned about memory on Conroe so far. DDR2-667 is quite a bit higher in real perfomance than DDR2-400 or DDR2-533 (1:1). We would consider DDR2 to be the minimum memory that should be used with Conroe. Going up from DDR2-667 we found the following - from fastest to DDR2-667. DDR2-1067 4-4-4 is a bit faster than DDR2-800 3-3-3 is a bit faster than DDR2-667 3-2-3. Timings are very important above DDR2-667 and you can give up any performance advantage with slower timings. DDR2-667 is a good match to COnroe bandwidth, and is better perfoming than 533 or 400 by a wider marging than you find above DDR2-667. It also appears Conroe responds better (performs better with increases) to DDR2 bandwidth increases than either Netburst or AM2.
Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
We would consider DDR2-667 the minimum memory to use with Conroe, and faster timings do generally improve performance.Sunrise089 - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
I would like to know this as well.txt2000 - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Just wondering, if your going to spend ~$400 on memory if you would be better off with 4GB value DDR or 2GB high performance.Patsoe - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
I suppose that completely depends on your usage pattern. Almost all of my activities fit within 512MB, and probably anything I do fits within 768MB. So getting faster RAM would do more for me than more of it.If you could fill 3GB, then a setup with 2GB will see a lot hard-disk swapping... even a very slow 4GB of RAM will do better in that case.
Andy4504 - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
Anything over 1GB results in the OS addressing your memory differently. Never did the reasearch on how that different addressing affected system performance however.supremelaw - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2797&am...">http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2797&am...Timing and content were perfect for this article.
And, your earlier article on the nVidia 590 chipset
for Intel also dovetails perfectly: nice photos too.
August+ should be VERY interesting.
Many thanks!
Sincerely yours,
/s/ Paul Andrew Mitchell
Webmaster, Supreme Law Library
http://www.supremelaw.org/">http://www.supremelaw.org/
mobutu - Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - link
"The board was very stable with our X6800 and X6600 Core 2 Duo processors ..."It should have been E6700 (or maybe E6700)