Corsair memory wierdness with A7N8X's (way to save money)

[Alan Wright]

I have two identical A7N8X systems, except that for one
I accidentally ordered a different grade of Corsair XMS
PC3200 memory. In one machine I have stuff that runs
at 200Mhz at 6-3-3-2, manually set since SPD is wrong.
In the other, I have a lower grade which runs at 8-3-3-3
at 200Mhz (and will fail if set lower). Both have the same
processor (3200+).

The weird thing is that these two systems perform
identically! In fact, I was at first getting lower numbers
on the 6-3-3-2 machine until I found that it had a debug
ethernet driver that was costing me a couple percent of
the CPU.

The symmetry in performance holds for all benchmarks,
including SiSoft Sandra memory bandwidth. Both get
2950/2750. So why pay extra for the lower latency
stuff if they perform the same? I saved about $50 due
to this apparently fortunate accident.

Maybe I am doing something wrong with the faster
memory, but I'm at a loss to figure it out. Is anyone
getting more than 2950 for the bandwidth with the
PC3200C2 at 200Mhz?

Alan

 

[Mike Butler]

Corsair XMS
SiSoft Sandra says 3044 (no overclocking)

 

[Alan Wright]

Timings?

Alan

Corsair XMS
SiSoft Sandra says 3044 (no overclocking)

 

[Andrew J]

I have two identical A7N8X systems, except that for one
I accidentally ordered a different grade of Corsair XMS
PC3200 memory. In one machine I have stuff that runs
at 200Mhz at 6-3-3-2, manually set since SPD is wrong.
In the other, I have a lower grade which runs at 8-3-3-3
at 200Mhz (and will fail if set lower). Both have the same
processor (3200+).

The weird thing is that these two systems perform
identically! In fact, I was at first getting lower numbers
on the 6-3-3-2 machine until I found that it had a debug
ethernet driver that was costing me a couple percent of
the CPU.

The symmetry in performance holds for all benchmarks,
including SiSoft Sandra memory bandwidth. Both get
2950/2750. So why pay extra for the lower latency
stuff if they perform the same? I saved about $50 due
to this apparently fortunate accident.

Maybe I am doing something wrong with the faster
memory, but I'm at a loss to figure it out. Is anyone
getting more than 2950 for the bandwidth with the
PC3200C2 at 200Mhz?

Alan

For a better RAM score change that 6 to 10 or 11.

 

[Alan Wright]

For a better RAM score change that 6 to 10 or 11.

Why is that?

I did try changing it to 8-3-3-3 to match the other system.
There was a small decrease in scores. Maybe noise.

Alan

 

[AJ]

Why is that?

This is a known boost on most NF2 boards. They like the little delay
to get charged up.
_________________________
French Connection:
http://www.metrospy.com/boycott_brands.htm

 

[Ed]

I have two identical A7N8X systems, except that for one
I accidentally ordered a different grade of Corsair XMS
PC3200 memory. In one machine I have stuff that runs
at 200Mhz at 6-3-3-2, manually set since SPD is wrong.
In the other, I have a lower grade which runs at 8-3-3-3
at 200Mhz (and will fail if set lower). Both have the same
processor (3200+).

The weird thing is that these two systems perform
identically! In fact, I was at first getting lower numbers
on the 6-3-3-2 machine until I found that it had a debug
ethernet driver that was costing me a couple percent of
the CPU.

The symmetry in performance holds for all benchmarks,
including SiSoft Sandra memory bandwidth. Both get
2950/2750. So why pay extra for the lower latency
stuff if they perform the same? I saved about $50 due
to this apparently fortunate accident.

Maybe I am doing something wrong with the faster
memory, but I'm at a loss to figure it out. Is anyone
getting more than 2950 for the bandwidth with the
PC3200C2 at 200Mhz?

Alan

Have your tried it with buffering off in sandra?
some of my unbuffered tests - http://tinyurl.com/38ozj

Ed