Testing (continued):
3DMark Vantage:
3DMark Vantage was the next test to be executed. While gaming performance is far more dependent on things like the CPU and GPU, I wanted to see if the results would vary if those two factors were held fairly constant while changing only the system memory. The results below were achieved in Performance mode with the display resolution set to 1280x1024.
This benchmark shows once again that despite looser timings, the Kingston kit can hang with any of the other kits on hand. Overclocking provides a minimal boost over stock performance, and considering the CPU was actually running slower and the GPU speed didn't change, I wouldn't have expected much change. The CPU speed was about 3.2GHz (400MHz x 8) when the kits were run at 1600MHz and the CPU speed was about 3.0GHz (425MHz x 7) when the kits were overclocked to 1700MHz.
Track Mania Nations Forever:
The final test executed was the benchmark built in to the game Track Mania Nations Forever. With settings on high, a resolution of 1280x1024, anti-aliasing set to 8x, and anisotropic filtering set to 8x, the impact of system memory on gaming performance was analyzed.
The values above indicate that despite going to a 4GB kit, not much can be done for the performance of this game, as far as memory goes. Each kit provided a frame rate value just above 60 fps, and on screen everything looked great.
