PDP Systems PC3200 & PC4000 DDR
Aug 25th, 2004 | By Archive
PDP Systems PC3200 & PC4000 DDR
Date
: 08/25/04 – 05:21:24 PM
Author
:
Category
: Memory
Page 1 : Introduction
Manufacturer:
PDP Systems
Price:
NA
Around since the mid-80's, PDP Systems has had its hands in the business of DRAM, Flash, and ATi graphics cards. Most well known in the industry for their memory module manufacturing, they continue to make progress in the ever-changing world of technology offering high speed DDR modules and just recently DDR2.
Today we will be looking at two examples from their dual channel DDR line: the
Patriot Memory Dual Channel 1GB PC4000
eased latency and
Patriot Memory Dual Channel 1GB PC3200
low latency memory kits. Our goal in this article is to not only see if they perform up to their advertised specification, but to also see how much extra headroom each kit can afford. With that in mind, lets get started.
Page 2 : Package
The kits PDP Systems sent to us arrived quickly and in good shape. The packaging was very distinguishable from other high-end brands; a patriotic red, white, and blue color scheme. Opening the packaging was very easy and what you see inside is all you get: a matched pair of dual channel memory.
Out of the package these DIMMs feel just like any other I've used. They come with a similar heat spreader to the type OCZ uses that had been previously installed in my test system.
Page 3 : Specifications
The following specifications were provided by PDP Systems:
PDC1G4000ELK
2*512 MB
Tested at PC4000 (500 MHz) in dual channel
CAS# Latency: 3-4-4-8 1T
RAS# to CAS# Delay: 4
RAS# Precharge: 4
Cycle Time: 8
Command Rate: 1T (cycle)
Power Supply: 2.6V
Aluminum Heat Spreader
Limited-Lifetime Warranty
PDC1G3200LLK
2*512 MB
Tested at PC3200 (400 MHz) in dual channel
CAS# Latency: 2
RAS# to CAS# Delay: 3
RAS# Precharge: 2
Cycle Time: 5
Command Rate: 1T (cycle)
Power Supply: 2.6V
Aluminum Heat Spreader
Limited-Lifetime Warranty
Page 4 : Installation
Installing system memory is a very simple process. PDP Systems includes no type of documentation with their memory and all installation help can be found online at their website if it is needed. Both kits were installed without a hitch in this case. In my system, I was able to run both kits at their default speed and CAS latencies at a mere 2.5V. This gave me a good first impression on the performance of both kits as most high speed memory today operates at voltages between 2.6 and 2.8.
<div style='margin-left:1cm;color:#CCCCC9;'>The PC3200LL dimms installed in dual channel configuration.[/quote]
Page 5 : Overclocking and Testing
To test both kits and compare their performance we use PCMark 2004's memory suite, Science Mark 2 membench, SiSoft Sandra 2004, Super Pi, and finally Quake 3 Arena. The first three tests are synthetic and help us gauge the amount of memory bandwidth each setup delivers. The final two tests, Super Pi and Quake 3 Arena, are probably the two most valuable applications in examining memory. Super Pi calculating to 2M places is very sensitive to memory errors and in order for a setup to be considered stable it would need to complete this portion of our testing without any rounding error. Quake 3 Arena is an older game, but the engines widespread use and speed allow us to shift the bottleneck off the video card and onto the CPU/memory.
The tests were conducted using the following system specs:
<div style='margin-left:1cm;color:#CCCCC9;'>
Control Setup:
Pentium 4C 2.4 GHz
Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu
Maxtor 60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
Abit IC7-G i875 Motherboard
ATi Radeon 9700 Pro Video Card
Coolmax 400 W Power Supply
Windows XP Pro SP1 + Latest Drivers, Updates
RAM:
1G PDP Systems PC4000ELK DDR
1G PDP Systems PC3200LLK DDR
[/quote]
The test setup is capable of running at 3.2 GHz on air using a 267 MHz FSB which should provide room for determining the limits of both kits while in a 1:1 ratio with the FSB. In all the benchmarks, the PC3200LL kit is represented by the shades of blue and the PC4000EL kit the remaining colors.
The results of these benchmarks speak for themselves. I was hoping to achieve more out of the PC4000 modules, but unfortunately anything above 260 MHz yielded rounding errors in Super Pi. The PC3200LL modules were very impressive however. They were almost able to attain the same speeds as the PC4000EL kit and were also able to reach a 240 MHz before I needed to raise the CAS latency in order to reach higher speeds. In the end, both kits ended up performing well.
Page 6 : Conclusion
PDP Systems memory was simple to get up and running at the advertised speeds. The PC4000EL kit's headroom was a bit disappointing and didn't leave me with much hope for the PC3200LL kit, but boy was I wrong. The PC3200 kit really shined in overclocking. This kit's performance was almost enough to match or best the PC4000EL kit when compared at stock 250 MHz speed. In terms of value and performance I would find it hard to recommend the PC4000 kit over the PC3200LL kit we have here unless you have the extra money and
need the assurance of going beyond 250 MHz.
Both dual channel offerings make great choices for anyone seeking great performing, high density RAM, but my recommendation and the O² Power Award goes out to the PC3200LL kit for its added value and headroom that give it a high bang for your buck.
Patriot Memory Dual Channel 1GB PC3200
Advantages:
High overclocking potential on looser timings
Excellent performance
Aluminum heatspreaders
Limited-Lifetime Warranty
Low voltage
Disadvantages:
Lower latency timings would always be nicer
Patriot Memory Dual Channel 1GB PC4000
Advantages:
Excellent performance
Aluminum heat spreaders
Limited-Lifetime Warranty
Low voltage
Disadvantages:
High latency timings at stock speed
Weak overclocking potential above stock speed
A big thanks goes out to the people at
PDP Systems
for manufacturing and delivering the memory used in this article.