Installation and Performance

Installation of this memory is as easy as any other memory out there, but the fun part after plugging it in is to see how high you can clock the memory at.  The memory that I previously had was Infineon 7.5ns (PC-133) memory rated at 3:3:3.  This memory is still good, being able to operate at 143MHz with a timing of 2:3:2.  For testing, I have found the beast tool is 3DMark99 Max.

That’s right, not 3DMark 2K, but 3DMark 99.  I have found that 3DMark 99 is a little more sensitive to memory clock speeds than the more complex 2000 version.  If 3DMark 99 Max can run the race scene in a loop for more than 30 minutes, then the memory is more than likely stable.  I have had some memory seem to perform great at certain speeds, but when I throw 3DMark 99's race scene at it, it usually crashes back to desktop or simply locks up.  Before I go any further, I'll give you a list of my system setup.  

• Pentium III 500E
• Abit BE6-II BX motherboard
• 128MB of EMS HSDRAM
• Creative Labs Annihilator Pro
• Aureal SQ2500  

The Infineon memory seemed to operate fine at 150MHz with 3:3:3 memory timings, but it still could not complete 30 minutes of 3DMark 99 looping.  After plugging in the HSDRAM, I kept the bus speed where I had it before (143MHz), but lowered the memory timings to the unsupported 2:2:2 timings.  After doing my testing I was happy to see that the memory was still stable at this speed with the memory timings.

The next big step was to see if I could operate the memory at 150MHz, so to be sure that the memory timings didn't interfere with anything, I set the timings to 3:3:3.  I was very happy to see that the memory did indeed pass the testing.  I pushed it a little higher, but could not obtain stability, so I set the timings to the lowest while still with stability.  The lowest I could get the timings at 150MHz FSB was 3:2:2.  That’s not bad at all, in fact, those are excellent results.

To measure the memory performance I used one of my favorite and easiest to use benchmark programs, SiSoft Sandra.  SiSoft does a great job at assessing the performance of a systems memory.  I was pleased with the benchmark results I got and after you see them you will know why.

Memory running @ 150mhz/3:2:2

Memory running @ 143mhz/2:2:2

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