Test System Setup

Processor(s): Intel Pentium 4 2.8Ghz "C" (Supplied by Altech Computers)

Motherboard: ABIT IC7 Canterwood (Supplied by Altech Computers)

Memory: 2x 512MB Kingmax DDR-433 (Supplied by Kingmax Technology)

Video card(s): PowerColor Radeon 9800 Pro (Supplied by Altech Computers)

Hard Disk(s): Seagate 80GB 7200RPM ATA100

Operating System Used: Windows XP Professional SP1

Drivers Used: Catalyst 3.4

Software Used: SiSoft Sandra MAX 3, 3DMark 03, 3DMark 01, Comanche 4, Unreal Tournament 2003, Quake 3 and PCMark 2002

As far as testing goes we have chosen to use the memory portion of SiSoft's latest offering Sandra Max 3 as well as PC Mark 2002. We set the modules to run in Dual Channel mode and while these sticks aren't "officially" Dual Channel modules, we had no problem running them in this mode.

We are using a host of games as well as 3DMark 200 and 2003 to see how performance goes at the more playable 1024 X 768 resolution. Since the system is very similar to the one used in our original Dual Channel roundup, it may be worth having a look at the results we got from some of the other modules on the market for comparison purposes.

Synthetic Tests

SiSoft Sandra Max 3

SiSoft Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) Max 3 is a synthetic windows benchmark that features different tests used to evaluate different PC subsystems.

- Buffered

In the first test of the day we see that the memory bandwidth slowly moves up as we push the RAM higher and higher, even though we are using less aggressive timings each time we move up we still see an increase.

- Un-Buffered

200MHz and 217MHz show the memory being very close, it's not until we move up to 230MHz we see a big leap just under 10%.

PCMark 2002

PCMark2002 is a multipurpose benchmark, suited for benchmarking all kinds of PCs, from laptops to workstations, as well as across multiple Windows® operating systems. This easy-to-use benchmark makes professional strength benchmarking software available even to novice users. PCMark2002 consists of a series of tests that represent common tasks in home and office programs. PCMark2002 also covers many additional areas outside the scope of other MadOnion.com benchmarks.

Memory

As expected, when moving the memory speeds up the adjustment is quite noticeable. When moving into 230MHz we see that the Kingmax memory was able to break 10000 with great ease something that isn't seen with a lot of cheaper memory.