bit-tech dropped in to see OCZ today in the luxurious Grand Hyatt Hotel, here in the centre of Taipei and just a stones throw from the tallest building in the world.
We grabbed a very informative sit down with Tony Leach, resident overclocking and tweaking guru from OCZ and The Tech Repository, for an education in memory. He kindly informed bit-tech that memory timings are not about getting the 2s, 3s and 4s you saw back in the days of DDR and DDR2, it's about memory access latency.
Obviously low latency is better, but couple bandwidth with low access times in the memory controller hub (MCH), or northbridge to the rest of us, with synchronised memory and a low chipset strap to force the internal clock speed higher, and you get an optimal performance. This will invariably kill your overclocking FSB limit, so those of you with low multiplier locked processors will be out of luck, but you do get a far better memory performance.
Using Everest access latency benchmark, a 975X chipset (specifically an Intel Bad Axe 2) should provide an optimal 40ns access, while P965 is 45-50ns and P35 is 50-80ns because the BIOS' aren’t as mature and the chipset straps are higher meaning a lower internal frequency.
It's still early days for DDR3 chipsets and more importantly, BIOS', but OCZ is confident its upcoming range of DDR3 will cover much more ground. At 7-7-7-20, the Platinum Z3 memory lacks the extravagance of FlexXLC or Reaper modules, but should still clock to the heavens, providing you can afford it.
Finally have you run out of USB ports or find it's just too slow to transfer files? OCZ has its own Firewire memory stick (aptly and mistakenly dubbed Firefly, by Hugh Chappell, MD of bit-tech and TrustedReviews), and plan to have it on the market by the end of Q3. Quoted transfer rates are higher than what USB pen drives can achieve, the stick will require no additional drivers and we can't wait to get our hands on one.
Think you've also nailed memory performance? Can't wait for Firewire memory sticks? Let us know in the forums.
We grabbed a very informative sit down with Tony Leach, resident overclocking and tweaking guru from OCZ and The Tech Repository, for an education in memory. He kindly informed bit-tech that memory timings are not about getting the 2s, 3s and 4s you saw back in the days of DDR and DDR2, it's about memory access latency.
Obviously low latency is better, but couple bandwidth with low access times in the memory controller hub (MCH), or northbridge to the rest of us, with synchronised memory and a low chipset strap to force the internal clock speed higher, and you get an optimal performance. This will invariably kill your overclocking FSB limit, so those of you with low multiplier locked processors will be out of luck, but you do get a far better memory performance.
Using Everest access latency benchmark, a 975X chipset (specifically an Intel Bad Axe 2) should provide an optimal 40ns access, while P965 is 45-50ns and P35 is 50-80ns because the BIOS' aren’t as mature and the chipset straps are higher meaning a lower internal frequency.
It's still early days for DDR3 chipsets and more importantly, BIOS', but OCZ is confident its upcoming range of DDR3 will cover much more ground. At 7-7-7-20, the Platinum Z3 memory lacks the extravagance of FlexXLC or Reaper modules, but should still clock to the heavens, providing you can afford it.
Finally have you run out of USB ports or find it's just too slow to transfer files? OCZ has its own Firewire memory stick (aptly and mistakenly dubbed Firefly, by Hugh Chappell, MD of bit-tech and TrustedReviews), and plan to have it on the market by the end of Q3. Quoted transfer rates are higher than what USB pen drives can achieve, the stick will require no additional drivers and we can't wait to get our hands on one.
Think you've also nailed memory performance? Can't wait for Firewire memory sticks? Let us know in the forums.
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