Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/1483




Several weeks ago, OCZ introduced a new PC4000 Gold Rev. 2. The new revision was very interesting, since it carried the high performance Gold name, but was priced about 25% lower than other OCZ DDR500 memory. It was our plan to review the DDR500 to see how it compared.

As we completed testing of OCZ 4000 Gold Rev. 2, we were told by OCZ that yields were so good with the new Hynix memory chips, they had decided to use the same memory chips in their new 3700 Gold Rev. 3. This means that the current 3700 Gold Rev. 3 and the 4000 Gold Rev. 2 are the exact same DIMMs for the time being. This could always change in the future, if yields do not maintain the same high levels that OCZ is currently seeing, but for now, you can buy 3700 Gold Rev. 3 and be assured that you are receiving memory which has been binned for DDR500 performance. This certainly makes the 3700 Gold Rev. 3 a particularly good buy right now.

While the price of the OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 3/PC4000 Gold Rev. 2 appears a good value, the proof of value is in how the 3700/4000 performs compares to similarly rated memory. We have run the new Rev. 3 through our full benchmark suite on the standard Intel 875 memory test bed. We also ran the first complete series of memory tests on a new Athlon 64 memory test bed. So, how does the OCZ 700 Gold Rev. 3 compare?




OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3

OCZ produces a complete line of memory from value-priced memory to some of the fastest enthusiast memory that we have tested. While their memory products may be the best known to most, they also produce heatsink/fans, thermal compound, the recently introduced power supply line, and an innovative DDR voltage booster.

3700 Gold has been a very well-known memory product for OCZ, as you can see in our earlier reviews of the original 3700 Gold and 3700 Gold Rev 2. The first two generations of 3700 Gold earned quite a reputation for outstanding overclocked performance, but they were also premium-priced DIMMs. This latest Revision 3 is the first 3700 Gold to be marketed by OCZ as a value DIMM.



Test DIMMs were a pair of OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3 in a 1GB kit (2x512MB modules). PC3700 Gold Rev. 3 is available as a 512MB kit (2x256MB DIMMs), a 1GB kit (2x512MB), and as individual 256MB and 512MB DIMMs. The 3700 Gold Rev. 3 is shipped in the new Orange OCZ package.



OCZ uses trademark gold colored heat spreaders on the 3700 Gold, which should not come as a surprise to anybody. SPD timings are specified on the label. OCZ tells us that the memory chips for 3700 Gold Rev. 3 are manufactured by Hynix. A quick check showed the Hynix chips to be the recent DT-D5 chips.

OCZ 3700 Gold Rev 3 Specifications

 OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3 Memory Specifications
Number of DIMMs & Banks 2 DS
DIMM Size
Total Memory
512 Mb
1 GB
Rated Timings 2.5-3-3-8 at DDR466
SPD (Auto) Timings 2.5-3-3-8
Rated Voltage 2.8V (3.15V Maximum)

Voltage is specified as 2.8V at the rated DDR466. We found that much voltage worked fine at lower memory speeds. OCZ specifies the highest recommended voltage as 3.15V, which certainly allows for even higher overclocking on the few boards that support this memory voltage. This also provides some headroom if you choose to use the OCZ DDR Booster.




Intel Performance Test Configuration

We tested the OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3 in our standard Intel Pentium 4 Memory test bed. The hardware for evaluating the Ultra X memory is the same used in our earlier reviews of DDR400 and faster Memory.

All test conditions were as close as possible to those used in our earlier memory reviews. We have also eliminated from our charts any memory that has been discontinued, including Winbond BH5 and BH6 versions from several vendors and earlier versions of several current memory products.

 INTEL 875P Performance Test Configuration
Processor(s): Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz (800MHz FSB)
RAM: 2 x 512MB OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 3 (DS)
2 x 512MB Geil PC3200 Ultra X (DS)
2 x 512MB Crucial Ballistix PC3200 (DS)
2 x 512MB Kingston HyperX PC3200 L-L (DS)
2 x 512MB Mushkin PC3200 Level II V2 (DS)
2 x 512MB OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 (DS)
2 x 512MB Corsair 3200XL PRO (DS)
2 x 256MB Samsung PC4000 (SS)
2 x 512MB Buffalo FireStix PC4000 (DS)
2 x 512MB Shika XRAM PC4400 (DS)
2 x 512MB OCZ PC4400 EL Gold (DS)
2 x 512MB OCZ 3700EB (DS)
2 x 512MB OCZ 3500EB (DS)
2 x 512MB Mushkin 2-2-2 Special (DS)
2 x 512MB PMI4200 Gold (DDR533 DS)
4 x 256MB Samsung PC3700 (DDR466 SS)
2 x 512MB Kingmax DDR500 Hardcore Series (DS)
2 x 512MB Kingmax DDR466 Hardcore Series (DS)
2 x 512MB Corsair XMS4400v1.1 TwinX (DS)
2 x 512MB OCZ PC4400 DC Kit (DS)
2 x 512MB OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 2 (DS)
2 x 512MB OCZ 4200EL(DS)
2 x 512MB Mushkin PC4000 High Performance (DS)
2 x 512MB Corsair TwinX4000 PRO (DS)
2 x 256MB Adata DDR450 (SS)
2 x 512MB Adata PC4000 (DS)
2 x 512MB Corsair PC4000 (DS)
2 x 512MB Geil PC4000 (DS)
2 x 512MB OCZ PC4000 (DS)
Hard Drives 2 Western Digital Raptor Serial ATA 36.7GB 10,000RPM drives in an Intel ICH5R RAID configuration
PCI/AGP Speed Fixed at 33/66
Bus Master Drivers: 875P Intel INF Update v5.00.1012, SATA RAID drivers installed, but IAA not installed
Video Card(s): ATI 9800 PRO 128MB, 128MB aperture, 1024x768x32
Video Drivers: ATI Catalyst 4.9
Power Supply: Vantec Stealth 470 Watt Aluminum
Operating System(s): Windows XP Professional SP1
Motherboards: Asus P4C800-E (875) with 1016 Release BIOS

We have found the fastest performance on Intel 865/875 to be achieved at Cycle Time or tRAS of 5, or the fastest tRAS setting that is stable with the tested memory. Intel platform benchmarks were therefore run with the fastest stable tRAS timings that we could achieve with the Geil Ultra X.

Test Settings

We ran our standard suite of memory performance benchmarks. The following settings were tested with the OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3 memories:
  1. 800FSB/DDR400 - the highest stock speed supported on 875/865 and K8T800/nF3/SiS755 motherboards.
  2. 866FSB/DDR433 - a speed rating that we have used in testing other low-latency DDR400 memory.
  3. 933FSB/DDR466 - the rated speed of OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3.
  4. 1000FSB/DDR500 - a standard memory speed used in testing other high-speed memory and the rated speed of OCZ PC4000 Gold Rev. 2.
  5. 1066FSB/DDR533 - a standard memory speed included for comparison.
  6. Highest Stable Overclock - the highest settings we could achieve with this memory and other memory that we have tested.
These are the same general settings used in benchmarking other DDR memory in the past year. DDR400, DDR500 and Highest Memory Speed have been used for all benchmarking. DDR433 and 466 were also used for testing other DDR400 2-2-2 modules, so we also ran benchmarks at these timings for comparisons. We also included test results at DDR533 for those memories that reached that speed and beyond.




Intel Test Results: OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 3

To be considered stable for test purposes, Quake3 benchmark, UT2003 Demo, Super PI, Aquamark 3, and Comanche 4 had to complete without incident. Any of these, and in particular Super PI, will crash a less than stable memory configuration. We have also included results for RCW-ET using the Radar benchmark.

OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3 (DDR466) - 2 x 512Mb Double-Bank
Speed Memory Timings
& Voltage
Quake3
fps
Sandra UNBuffered Sandra Standard
Buffered
Super PI 2M places
(time in sec)
Wolfenstein - Radar - Enemy Territory
fps
400DDR
800FSB
2-3-3-5
2.5V
329.7 INT 2744
FLT 2760
INT 4442
FLT 4443
132 70.4
433DDR
866FSB
2-3-3-5
2.65V
357.5 INT 3082
FLT 2985
INT 4833
FLT 4838
122 76.5
466DDR
933FSB
2.5-3-3-6
2.75V
382.6 INT 3213
FLT 3212
INT 5196
FLT 5190
114 81.5
500DDR
1000FSB
2.5-3-3-6
2.75V
406.3 INT 3376
FLT 3358
INT 5562
FLT 5572
106 87.4
533DDR
1066FSB
3-3-4-6
2.75V
425.2 INT 3521
FLT 3456
INT 5924
FLT 5950
100 92.1
538DDR
1122FSB
3-3-4-8
2.85V
425.8 INT 3712
FLT 3500
INT 5941
FLT 5922
99 92.6

OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3 is a bit slower at DDR400 than the top-performing 2-2-2 DIMMs based on Samsung and Micron chips. However, performance at DDR400 is still reasonably competitive with 2-2-2 timings. In the range from 450 to 533, the 3700 Gold R3/4000 Gold R2 are very competitive, performing as well as the top DIMMs that we have tested in that memory speed range.




Intel Performance Comparisons

Performance of the OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3 was compared to all of the memory recently tested on the Intel 875 memory test bed in:

Geil PC3200 Ultra X: High Speed & Record Bandwidth
=F-A-S-T= DDR Memory: 2-2-2 Roars on the Scene
Buffalo FireStix: Red Hot Name for a New High-End Memory
New DDR Highs: Shikatronics, OCZ, and the Fastest Memory Yet
The Return of 2-2-2: Corsair 3200XL & Samsung PC4000
OCZ 3700EB: Making Hay with Athlon 64
OCZ 3500EB: The Importance of Balanced Memory Timings
Mushkin PC3200 2-2-2 Special: Last of a Legend
PMI DDR533: A New Name in High-Performance Memory
Samsung PC3700: DDR466 Memory for the Masses
Kingmax Hardcore Memory: Tiny BGA Reaches For Top Speed
New Memory Highs: Corsair and OCZ Introduce DDR550
OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 2: The Universal Soldier
OCZ 4200EL: Tops in Memory Performance
Mushkin PC4000 High Performance: DDR500 PLUS
Corsair TwinX1024-4000 PRO: Improving DDR500 Performance
Mushkin & Adata: 2 for the Fast-Timings Lane
Searching for the Memory Holy Grail - Part 2

Memory performance was compared at DDR400, DDR433, DDR466, DDR500, DDR533 (where possible), and the highest stable overclock we could achieve that would run Quake 3, UT2003, and Super PI to 2MM places.

All discontinued products have been removed from benchmark comparisons.

Results are compared for Quake 3, Sandra UNBufferred Memory Test, and Super PI. SiSoft Sandra 2004 reports 2 results for each memory test - an Integer value and a Float value. Results reported in our charts are the result of averaging the INT and FLOAT scores, which are normally close in value. In other words, INT and FLOAT scores were added and divided by 2 for our reported score.




DDR400 Performance


DDR400 Gaming Performance

DDR400 UNBuffered Memory Test

DDR400 Standard (Buffered) Memory Test

DDR400 Calculation Performance




DDR433 Performance


DDR433 Gaming Performance

DDR433 UNBuffered Memory Test

DDR433 Calculation Performance




DDR466 Performance


DDR 466 Gaming Performance

DDR 466 UNBuffered Memory Test

DDR 466 Calculation Performance




DDR500 Performance


DDR500 Gaming Performance

DDR500 UNBuffered Memory Test

DDR500 Calculation Performance




DDR533 Performance


DDR533 Gaming Performance

DDR533 UNBuffered Sandra Memory Test

DDR533 Calculation Performance




Highest Memory Speed Performance


HIGHEST Memory Overclock at 1:1

HIGHEST Memory Speed Gaming Performance

HIGHEST Memory Speed UNBuffered Sandra Memory Test

HIGHEST Memory Speed Calculation Performance




AMD Performance Test Configuration

This memory test is the first benchmarking on the new Athlon 64 memory test bed. Since we have found DDR memory to perform very differently on the memory controller with Athlon 64 chips, we will be including Athlon 64 benchmarks in all future memory reviews.

The A64 test bed includes components that have been proven in Socket 939 Athlon 64 benchmarking, such as the Gold Editors Choice MSI K8N Neo2, the completely unlocked Socket 939 FX53, and the OCZ Power Stream 520 Power Supply. Since the Athlon 64 tests represent a new series of DDR testing, we have chosen the current generation nVidia 6800 Ultra video card for benchmarking. We have found the 6800 Ultra to be a particularly good match to nVidia nForce3 Ultra motherboards.

All other basic test conditions attempted to mirror those used in our earlier Intel memory reviews. However, test results are not directly comparable to tests performed on the Intel test bed.


AMD nForce3 Ultra Performance Test Configuration
Processor(s): AMD FX53 Athlon 64
(2.4GHz, Socket 939, Dual Channel, 1000HT)
RAM: 2 x 512MB OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 3 (DS)
Hard Drives Seagate 120GB PATA (IDE) 7200RPM 8MB Cache
PCI/AGP Speed Fixed at 33/66
Bus Master Drivers: nVidia nForce Platform Driver 4.24 (5-10-2004)
Video Card(s): nVidia 6800 Ultra 256MB, 256MB aperture, 1024x768x32
Video Drivers: nVidia Forceware 61.77
Power Supply: OCZ Power Stream 520W
Operating System(s): Windows XP Professional SP1
Motherboards: MSI K8N Neo2

We have found the fastest performance on AMD Athlon 64 chipsets (nForce3, VIA K8T800 PRO) to be achieved at Cycle Time or tRAS of 10. Athlon 64 platform benchmarks were therefore run with the tRAS timing of 10 for all A64 benchmarks.

Test Settings

The FX53 is completely unlocked, something not currently available with Intel processors. This allowed a different approach to memory testing which truly measures performance differences in memory speed alone. All tests were run with CPU speed as close to the specified 2.4GHz of the FX53 as possible, with CPU speed/Memory Speed increased at lower multipliers to achieve 2.4Ghz. This approach allows the true measurement of the impact of higher memory speed and timings on performance, since CPU speed is fixed.

The following settings were tested with the OCZ 3700 Gold Rev 3 on Athlon 64:
  1. 12x200/DDR400 - the highest stock memory speed supported on 875/865 and K8T800/nF3/SiS755 motherboards
  2. 11x218/DDR436 - a ratio near the standard DDR533 speed
  3. 10x240/DDR480 - a memory speed near the rating of OCZ 3700 Gold Rev 3
  4. 9x267/DDR533 - a standard memory speed used in testing other high-speed memory
  5. 8x300/DDR600 - a standard for future memory speed testing. Few if any current memories will reach this speed
  6. Highest Stable Overclock - the highest settings we could achieve with this memory and other memory we have tested
We ran our standard suite of memory performance benchmarks - Quake 3, Return to Castle Wolfenstein-Enemy Territory-Radar, Super Pi 2M, and Sandra 2004 Standard and UnBuffered.



AMD Test Results: OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 3

To be considered stable for test purposes Quake3 benchmark, UT2003 Demo, Super PI, Aquamark 3, and RTCW had to complete without incident. ANY of these, and in particular Super PI and Return to Castle Wolfenstein, will crash a less-than stable memory configuration.

OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3 (DDR466) - 2 x 512Mb Double-Bank
CPU Ratio at 2.4GHz Memory Speed Memory Timings
& Voltage
Quake3
fps
Sandra UNBuffered Sandra Standard
Buffered
Super PI 2M places
(time in sec)
Wolfenstein - Radar - Enemy Territory
fps
12x200 400 DDR 2-3-3-10
2.5V
503.3 INT 2577
FLT 2673
INT 6063
FLT 6014
82 109.0
11.5x209 400.4* 2-3-3-10
2.6V
500.4 INT 2506
FLT 2660
INT 6023
FLT 5982
82 108.2
11x218 438 DDR 2-3-3-10
2.8V
510.0 INT 2687
FLT 2845
INT 6413
FLT 6350
81 109.8
10.5x229 437.2* 2.5-3-3-10
2.6V
506.5 INT 2639
FLT 2801
INT 6435
FLT 6343
81 109.5
10x240 480 DDR 2.5-3-3-10
2.6V
517.6 INT 2814
FLT 2985
INT 6659
FLT 6551
80 111.2
9.5x253 480.6* 2.5-3-3-10
2.6V
519.7 INT 2866
FLT 3020
INT 6662
FLT 6584
80 111.5
9x267 533 DDR 3-3-3-10
2.7V
524.9 INT 3013
FLT 3234
INT 6959
FLT 6871
79 112.5
8.5x282 533* 3-3-3-10
2.75V
524.9 INT 3036
FLT 3218
INT 6926
FLT 6838
79 112.5
8.5x290
(2.46GHz)
HIGHEST
548* DDR
3-3-3-10
2.85V
539.6 INT 3112
FLT 3310
INT 7130
FLT 7044
78 115.5
9x273
(2.46GHz)
HIGHEST
546 DDR
3-3-3-10
2.85V
536.2 INT 3071
FLT 3298
INT 7110
FLT 7002
77 115.1

*During testing, we discovered that while half-ratios do reflect CPU settings accurately, they are not really linear for memory speed. Memory speeds at full ratios are reported accurately. The asterisk values are the actual memory speeds at half ratios - not the reported memory speeds. Special thanks to Oskar Wu of DFI for his help in determining true half ratio memory speeds.

We have become accustomed to memory often reaching much lower overclocks on Athlon 64 than what we have found on the Intel 478 platform. It was, therefore, a pleasant surprise to find the OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3 actually performing slightly faster on the Athlon 64 Dual Channel 939 board than what we found on the Intel platform. OCZ claims that the 3700 Gold Rev. 3 performs equally well on A64 and Northwood/Prescott, and we were certainly able to confirm that claim in our memory tests.




Final Words

OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 3 brings some real value to the high-speed arena. On the Intel DDR 478 boards, there are faster 2-2-2 memories from most vendors at DDR400, but the 3700 Gold R3 is still competitive with the fastest memories that you can buy. In the range from DDR450 to DDR533 - the primary operating range of PC3700 Gold Rev. 3 - the new R3 competes well with anything else that we have tested. Overall, the 3700 Gold R3 brings very good value to those using Intel processors on an Intel 865/875 chipset. The Rev. 3 is a decent value on the Intel platform, and the performance is competitive, but it is not a standout memory unless you take price into consideration.

Where 3700 Gold Rev. 3 stands out is the Athlon 64 Dual-Channel platform. Many recent memories that have performed quite well on Intel boards have done much poorer on the dual-channel A64. We were very pleased to see that the R3 matched the Intel performance on our new Athlon 64 test bed. In fact, it actually went a bit higher on the MSI K8N Neo2 compared to what it achieved on the excellent Asus P4C800-E. Athlon 64 shoppers looking for a more reasonably priced high speed memory for Socket 939 Athlon 64 boards will find the 3700 Gold Rev. 3 to be a very good choice. On this platform, the value is extremely good.

While the new Rev. 3 is not the standout performer of the earlier Rev. 2 that it replaces, the memory does perform well over a very wide range of memory speeds. It is also one of the few memories to deliver 2.5-3-3 timings at DDR500 at a reasonable voltage. You will like the OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3 on your Intel motherboard.

On an AMD Athlon 64, you will absolutely love this memory. It is a standout performer on Socket 939 Athlon 64 at a price that is much easier to handle than some other memory that has performed well on Athlon 64. Athlon 64 shoppers in particular would do well to add OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3 to their memory shopping list.

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