dBPowerAMP allows you to convert from one format to another and just about every audio type is supported: mp3, mp4, wma, and many others. For this testing I converted a 91MB WAV file to MP3. With this testing the lower the seconds the better since it is the amount of time it takes to complete. The DDR400 testing is identical with both GeIL and Corsair taking 27 seconds to finish the conversion. The GeIL memory at DDR500 was one seconds faster which isn’t much, but there is an improvement.
Comanche 4 is a helicopter flight simulator game and the demo has a built in benchmark. I ran all of the tests at 640×480 and left all of the other options at their default. No AA or AF were used during the testing and the Albatron PCX5750 was at its stock speed of (425/500). During the DDR500 testing the benchmark did fail even after trying it a few times. I increased all of the voltages that I could for the motherboard including the DDR, northbridge, and CPU none of these fixed the stability problem. While testing with other games and applications it was somewhat hit and miss. Most applications and games would work just fine while others might crash or lock up the computer.
Overclocking
Overclocking did not go any further than the rated PC4000 at least with the motherboard I was using. I was not able to push the memory any higher than 250MHz even with the DDR voltage maxed out and CPU voltage at 1.6v. I honestly can’t tell if this memory has more in it and the motherboard or processor was just hindering it or if PC4000 is all you are going to get out of it. I know there are more overclockable motherboard on the market than the one I used for testing so maybe those would be able to get more out of this RAM.
Conclusion
After finishing all of the testing and looking back on everything I am quite impressed with this memory. Though I was able to run the memory at the specified speed with little to no problems I wouldn’t say that everything went according to plan.
I was not able to get Comanche 4 to successfully complete even with my DDR voltage maxed out. I do feel that part of the problem in the overall equation was the motherboard being maxed out. I don’t think that my processor had anything to do with the problems since I was using an engineering sample and was able to lower the multiplier.
So with all of these things being taken into consideration I would say this memory stands up pretty well. It would have been nice to be able to run the memory with latencies of 2-2-2-5 at DDR400 however since their specifications say nothing about this I won’t knock it too much.
So I guess my one sentence summary of the memory would be as follows: If you have an overclockable Intel motherboard and processor and want to get your memory to 250MHz or faster this PC4000 from GeIL should do the job.
Since I am somewhat on the line with what the final score of this memory should be I am going to give it an 8/10. I would like to thank GeIL for sending this memory over for review.
Pros
- Very high bandwidth scores
- Works great for dual channel applications
- Heatspreaders with built in thermometers
- Nice packaging
Cons
- Would not run at 2-2-2-5 @ DDR400
- Was not able to push it over 250MHz
