W1zzard
09-26-2005, 10:57 AM
[page=Introduction & Packaging]
Introduction
I would like to thank G.SKILL (http://www.gskill.com) for providing us with the reviewed memory.
From the Manufacturer:
Package : 1024MB kit (2x512MB) dual channel pack
IC Spec : Samsung TCC5 or TCCD
CAS Latency : 2.5-4-4-8 (PC4400)
Test Voltage : 2.7~2.9 V
PCB Board : 6 Layers PCB
Speed : DDR 550 MHz (PC4400)
Type : 184-pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking : Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered : Unbuffered
Quality Control : Comprehensive rigorously tested in pair at dual channel environment
Warranty : Lifetime
Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/package1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/package1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/package2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/package2.jpg)
The Blister Pack from G.SKILL can be easily opened without a knife, so there is no risk of injuries. The plastic feels a bit soft, I think a bit stronger plastic might be a good improvement to reduce the risk of shipping damage.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/booklet_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/booklet.jpg)
The "background" paper in the blister pack can be folded open and reveals some info about G.SKILL, their testing methods and a contact address.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/sticker_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/sticker.jpg)
Each module has a sticker on it, which gives the rated speed and the stock timings.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/memory_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/memory.jpg)
The heatspreaders are golden color, but they seem to be made from a very light-weight metal, certainly not copper.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/contact_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/contact.jpg)
Also the area where contact is made with the memory is rather small, so I doubt the heatspreaders contribute to the memory's performance. At least they help protect against breaking off any small components when installing/uninstalling the memory.
[page=Performance & Overclocking]
Test Setup
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="systable">
<tr><th colspan="2" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System</th></tr>
<tr>
<th width="100">CPU:</th>
<td>AMD Athlon64 3000+ Venice</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Motherboard:</th>
<td>DFI LanParty NF4 UT</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Memory:</th>
<td>2x 512 MB G.SKILL F1-4400DSU2-1GBFC</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Video Card:</th>
<td>ATI Radeon X850 Pro PCI-E</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Harddisk:</th>
<td>Maxtor Diamondmax 160GB</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Power Supply:</th>
<td>HEC PurePower 475</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Software:</th>
<td>Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.10</td>
</tr>
</table>
We will be testing this memory at 1T timing only, because that's what enthusiasts are using to get maximum performance out of their memory.
Performance
The first test we did, was test how the memory performs at a stock frequency of 200 FSB. We tested both 2-2-2-5 and 2.5-4-4-8 timings. Here you can clearly see how big the performance difference between both timings is.
After this, we tested how far we could overclock the memory at 2.6V. Even at 0.1V below the recommended voltage (GSkill recommends 2.7 - 2.9V) we saw massive overclocking at 295 MHz.
Now we increased voltage to 2.8V and 3.1V and 3.3V. More voltage does not help the overclocking much, but we did break the magic 300 MHz at 2.8V. Going beyond 3.1V did not net any performance or clock increase, so we left these tests out. Also running TCCx memory at such high voltages is not recommended.
The last test "JEDEC DDR-400A" is for comparison with a generic DDR module running at JEDEC standard timings.
<table width="640" border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable">
<tr>
<th colspan="9" style="font-size:larger">GSkill F1-4400DSU2-1GBFC</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th nowrap="nowrap">CPU Clock &<br />
Memory Ratio</th>
<th>Memory<br />
Speed</th>
<th>Memory<br />
Timings</th>
<th>Everest<br />
Read</th>
<th>Everest<br />
Write</th>
<th>Everest<br />
Latency</th>
<th>Quake 3<br />
Timedemo</th>
<th>3DMark<br />
2001SE</th>
<th>SuperPi<br />
Mod 1M</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>9 x 200 1:1</th>
<td>200 MHz</td>
<td>2.5-4-4-8 2.6V</td>
<td>5515 MB/s </td>
<td>1845 MB/s </td>
<td>53.5 ns </td>
<td>247.6 fps </td>
<td>19896</td>
<td>46.97 s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>9 x 295 1:1 </th>
<td>295 MHz</td>
<td>2.5-4-4-8 2.6V</td>
<td>7635 MB/s </td>
<td>3212 MB/s </td>
<td>37.0 ns </td>
<td>367.0 fps </td>
<td>27219</td>
<td>31.97 s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>9 x 300 1:1 </th>
<td>300 MHz</td>
<td>2.5-4-4-8 2.8V</td>
<td>7667 MB/s </td>
<td>3269 MB/s </td>
<td>35.4 ns </td>
<td>371.6 fps </td>
<td>27267</td>
<td>31.30 s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>9 x 300 1:1 </th>
<td>300 MHz</td>
<td>2.5-4-4-8 3.1V</td>
<td>7667 MB/s </td>
<td>3269 MB/s </td>
<td>35.4 ns </td>
<td>371.6 fps </td>
<td>27267</td>
<td>31.30 s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>9 x 200 1:1 </th>
<td>200 MHz</td>
<td>2-2-2-2 2.6V</td>
<td>5723 MB/s </td>
<td>2036 MB/s </td>
<td>48.5 ns </td>
<td>254.6 fps </td>
<td>20615</td>
<td>46.09 s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>9 x 222 1:1</th>
<td>222 MHz</td>
<td>2-2-2-2 2.9V</td>
<td>6272 MB/s </td>
<td>2174 MB/s </td>
<td>44.0 ns </td>
<td>281.0 fps </td>
<td>22438</td>
<td>41.61 s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>JEDEC DDR-400A</th>
<td>200 MHz</td>
<td>2.5-3-3-8 2.6V</td>
<td>5642 MB/s </td>
<td>2273 MB/s </td>
<td>49.8 ns </td>
<td>247.0 fps </td>
<td>20269</td>
<td>46.58 s </td>
</tr>
</table>
Running this memory at CL2 timings does not make much sense in my opinion, since your overclocks are rather limited there. You specifically buy TCCD memory for high clocks at less aggressive timings. If you want tight timings you should look at memory which uses Winbond's BH-5 chips.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/everestread.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/everestwrite.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/everestlatency.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/quake3.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/3dmark01.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/superpi.gif
For easier comparison with other modules, we set a maximum voltage of 3.1V and tested until we found the highest clock frequency and fastest timings for this memory. The benchmarks Everest Read, Everest Write and Quake 3 were run. We then calculated the performance increase in percent compared to some standard DDR-400 memory running at JEDEC standard timings (2.5-3-3-8). The average percentage of the three benchmarks is listed in following table:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/vsjedec.gif
[page=Value and Conclusion]
Value and Conclusion
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
You can find two 512MB modules for about $170 online. Other manufacturers ask $250 for similar performing memory.</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Awesome overclocking
Bargain price
Overclocks well, without any extra voltage
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Heat spreader does not make full contact with whole memory surface
Timings could be a bit tighter
</td></tr>
<tr>
<th>9.0</th>
<td>When I first held this memory in my hands I was surprised of its little weight. This is because the heatspreaders are not made from copper, but from a lighter metal. Unconsciously I thought to myself "if it's not heavy, it can't be good"... Seeing how the heatspreaders were attached to the 4400DSU2-1GBFC, added to the initial impression.<br />
But once I actually started using this memory all these worries were gone. The memory performs great and brings good overclocking potential, even at the standard DDR voltage of 2.6V.<br />
G.SKILL guarantees that the memory runs at 275 MHz, we got 300 Mhz out of it - really nice. Other manufacturers would make a new 300 MHz product out of that and charge extra for it.<br />
Last but not least the price makes this memory even more attractive, especially since it's below the magical $200 mark.</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/editorschoice.gif</td></tr>
</table>
Introduction
I would like to thank G.SKILL (http://www.gskill.com) for providing us with the reviewed memory.
From the Manufacturer:
Package : 1024MB kit (2x512MB) dual channel pack
IC Spec : Samsung TCC5 or TCCD
CAS Latency : 2.5-4-4-8 (PC4400)
Test Voltage : 2.7~2.9 V
PCB Board : 6 Layers PCB
Speed : DDR 550 MHz (PC4400)
Type : 184-pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking : Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered : Unbuffered
Quality Control : Comprehensive rigorously tested in pair at dual channel environment
Warranty : Lifetime
Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/package1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/package1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/package2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/package2.jpg)
The Blister Pack from G.SKILL can be easily opened without a knife, so there is no risk of injuries. The plastic feels a bit soft, I think a bit stronger plastic might be a good improvement to reduce the risk of shipping damage.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/booklet_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/booklet.jpg)
The "background" paper in the blister pack can be folded open and reveals some info about G.SKILL, their testing methods and a contact address.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/sticker_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/sticker.jpg)
Each module has a sticker on it, which gives the rated speed and the stock timings.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/memory_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/memory.jpg)
The heatspreaders are golden color, but they seem to be made from a very light-weight metal, certainly not copper.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/contact_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/contact.jpg)
Also the area where contact is made with the memory is rather small, so I doubt the heatspreaders contribute to the memory's performance. At least they help protect against breaking off any small components when installing/uninstalling the memory.
[page=Performance & Overclocking]
Test Setup
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="systable">
<tr><th colspan="2" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System</th></tr>
<tr>
<th width="100">CPU:</th>
<td>AMD Athlon64 3000+ Venice</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Motherboard:</th>
<td>DFI LanParty NF4 UT</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Memory:</th>
<td>2x 512 MB G.SKILL F1-4400DSU2-1GBFC</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Video Card:</th>
<td>ATI Radeon X850 Pro PCI-E</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Harddisk:</th>
<td>Maxtor Diamondmax 160GB</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Power Supply:</th>
<td>HEC PurePower 475</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>Software:</th>
<td>Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.10</td>
</tr>
</table>
We will be testing this memory at 1T timing only, because that's what enthusiasts are using to get maximum performance out of their memory.
Performance
The first test we did, was test how the memory performs at a stock frequency of 200 FSB. We tested both 2-2-2-5 and 2.5-4-4-8 timings. Here you can clearly see how big the performance difference between both timings is.
After this, we tested how far we could overclock the memory at 2.6V. Even at 0.1V below the recommended voltage (GSkill recommends 2.7 - 2.9V) we saw massive overclocking at 295 MHz.
Now we increased voltage to 2.8V and 3.1V and 3.3V. More voltage does not help the overclocking much, but we did break the magic 300 MHz at 2.8V. Going beyond 3.1V did not net any performance or clock increase, so we left these tests out. Also running TCCx memory at such high voltages is not recommended.
The last test "JEDEC DDR-400A" is for comparison with a generic DDR module running at JEDEC standard timings.
<table width="640" border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable">
<tr>
<th colspan="9" style="font-size:larger">GSkill F1-4400DSU2-1GBFC</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th nowrap="nowrap">CPU Clock &<br />
Memory Ratio</th>
<th>Memory<br />
Speed</th>
<th>Memory<br />
Timings</th>
<th>Everest<br />
Read</th>
<th>Everest<br />
Write</th>
<th>Everest<br />
Latency</th>
<th>Quake 3<br />
Timedemo</th>
<th>3DMark<br />
2001SE</th>
<th>SuperPi<br />
Mod 1M</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>9 x 200 1:1</th>
<td>200 MHz</td>
<td>2.5-4-4-8 2.6V</td>
<td>5515 MB/s </td>
<td>1845 MB/s </td>
<td>53.5 ns </td>
<td>247.6 fps </td>
<td>19896</td>
<td>46.97 s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>9 x 295 1:1 </th>
<td>295 MHz</td>
<td>2.5-4-4-8 2.6V</td>
<td>7635 MB/s </td>
<td>3212 MB/s </td>
<td>37.0 ns </td>
<td>367.0 fps </td>
<td>27219</td>
<td>31.97 s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>9 x 300 1:1 </th>
<td>300 MHz</td>
<td>2.5-4-4-8 2.8V</td>
<td>7667 MB/s </td>
<td>3269 MB/s </td>
<td>35.4 ns </td>
<td>371.6 fps </td>
<td>27267</td>
<td>31.30 s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>9 x 300 1:1 </th>
<td>300 MHz</td>
<td>2.5-4-4-8 3.1V</td>
<td>7667 MB/s </td>
<td>3269 MB/s </td>
<td>35.4 ns </td>
<td>371.6 fps </td>
<td>27267</td>
<td>31.30 s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>9 x 200 1:1 </th>
<td>200 MHz</td>
<td>2-2-2-2 2.6V</td>
<td>5723 MB/s </td>
<td>2036 MB/s </td>
<td>48.5 ns </td>
<td>254.6 fps </td>
<td>20615</td>
<td>46.09 s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>9 x 222 1:1</th>
<td>222 MHz</td>
<td>2-2-2-2 2.9V</td>
<td>6272 MB/s </td>
<td>2174 MB/s </td>
<td>44.0 ns </td>
<td>281.0 fps </td>
<td>22438</td>
<td>41.61 s </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>JEDEC DDR-400A</th>
<td>200 MHz</td>
<td>2.5-3-3-8 2.6V</td>
<td>5642 MB/s </td>
<td>2273 MB/s </td>
<td>49.8 ns </td>
<td>247.0 fps </td>
<td>20269</td>
<td>46.58 s </td>
</tr>
</table>
Running this memory at CL2 timings does not make much sense in my opinion, since your overclocks are rather limited there. You specifically buy TCCD memory for high clocks at less aggressive timings. If you want tight timings you should look at memory which uses Winbond's BH-5 chips.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/everestread.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/everestwrite.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/everestlatency.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/quake3.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/3dmark01.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/superpi.gif
For easier comparison with other modules, we set a maximum voltage of 3.1V and tested until we found the highest clock frequency and fastest timings for this memory. The benchmarks Everest Read, Everest Write and Quake 3 were run. We then calculated the performance increase in percent compared to some standard DDR-400 memory running at JEDEC standard timings (2.5-3-3-8). The average percentage of the three benchmarks is listed in following table:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/4400-1GBFC/images/vsjedec.gif
[page=Value and Conclusion]
Value and Conclusion
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
You can find two 512MB modules for about $170 online. Other manufacturers ask $250 for similar performing memory.</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Awesome overclocking
Bargain price
Overclocks well, without any extra voltage
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Heat spreader does not make full contact with whole memory surface
Timings could be a bit tighter
</td></tr>
<tr>
<th>9.0</th>
<td>When I first held this memory in my hands I was surprised of its little weight. This is because the heatspreaders are not made from copper, but from a lighter metal. Unconsciously I thought to myself "if it's not heavy, it can't be good"... Seeing how the heatspreaders were attached to the 4400DSU2-1GBFC, added to the initial impression.<br />
But once I actually started using this memory all these worries were gone. The memory performs great and brings good overclocking potential, even at the standard DDR voltage of 2.6V.<br />
G.SKILL guarantees that the memory runs at 275 MHz, we got 300 Mhz out of it - really nice. Other manufacturers would make a new 300 MHz product out of that and charge extra for it.<br />
Last but not least the price makes this memory even more attractive, especially since it's below the magical $200 mark.</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/editorschoice.gif</td></tr>
</table>