Overclocking and Optimizing:
Getting up and running with the memory at 1600MHz already required some overclocking, since the E6850 processor has a 1333MHz frontside bus and it had to be bump to 1600MHz itself. By reducing the multiplier the total speed of the processor can be kept near stock, but the FSB overclock is already over 20% before trying for anything more.
The point of the previous paragraph is that the memory may be quite capable of higher overclocks, but I have run into the ceiling at about the same speed (1700MHz) on just about every PC3-12800 DDR3 kit I have reviewed. My assumption is that the processor is the limiting factor, but until I get my hands on a 1600MHz FSB processor, the state of things probably won't change.
After successfully overclocking several kits to 1700MHz with ease, I decided to jump right up to that speed without altering the timings or voltage. The system worked perfectly, and some preliminary tests indicated that this speed was stable. I was able to push a bit higher (only 16MHz), and stability issues started to pop up with extended use. Considering that another kit to be used for comparison purposes in this review was also tested exactly at 1700MHz, I decided to call that the maximum for this review, too.
The screenshot below was taken from CPU-Z to confirm the overclocked memory speed of 850MHz (1700MHz DDR3).
Testing:
The test system listed in the "Configuration" section was used for the execution of all benchmarks, which include tests from these packages:
» Lavalys Everest Ultimate Edition
» PassMark Performance Test
» 3DMark Vantage
» Track Mania Nations Forever Benchmark
For comparison purposes the Kingston HyperX PC3-12800 kit was tested head-to-head with four other 1600MHz kits, as shown in the image below.
What the image shows are kits from Patriot, Crucial, Aeneon, G.Skill, and Kingston. Each kit has a capacity of 2GB, except for the G.Skill kit which has a 4GB capacity. The seven configurations tested for these five memory kits are detailed below:
» Kingston HyperX 2GB PC3-12800 @ 1700MHz, 9-9-9-27, 1.92V
» Kingston HyperX 2GB PC3-12800 @ 1600MHz, 9-9-9-27, 1.90V
» G.Skill Pi Series 4GB PC3-12800 @ 1600MHz, 7-7-7-18, 1.90V
» Aeneon XTune 2GB PC3-12800 @ 1700MHz, 9-9-9-28, 1.60V
» Aeneon XTune 2GB PC3-12800 @ 1600MHz, 9-9-9-28, 1.60V
» Crucial Ballistix 2GB PC3-12800 @ 1600MHz, 8-8-8-34, 1.80V
» Patriot Viper 2GB PC3-12800 @ 1600MHz, 7-7-7-18, 1.80V
What this represents is each kit running at stock speeds and timings, with the Aeneon and Kingston kits also running overclocked to 1700MHz. These two kits have the most similar stock settings, so I was most interested in comparing them head to head.
