OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3: DDR500 Value for Athlon 64 & Intel 478
by Wesley Fink on September 22, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
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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Rags - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - link
I was debating between this and the Crucial Ballistix 3200 for my new machine. Which you guys think I should go with? Hope the October high end buyer's guide comes out soon...KrazyDawg - Sunday, September 26, 2004 - link
Can someone recommend me a cheap pair of 1GB RAM capable of running at 250? The charts on here aren't clear as to exactly what module I should purchase. If I were to cross reference it with newegg, you would see different names and prices and that doesn't help me. The deal time search engine on here only shows some memory prices and they're only for 512MB.Pumpkinierre - Saturday, September 25, 2004 - link
Why does the dual channel a64 have a lower unbuffered Sandra score than the intel when its buffered score is clearly much higher (up to 40% higher). SSE2 implementation on K8 was supposed to be not all that good from early reviews, so you'd expect a worse buffered result. Maybe the real world meaning of these tests should be revisited for the different cpus.Anemone - Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - link
Well the Ballistix 4000 is cheaper so that makes it a "better buy" in terms of price. It certainly clocks fairly high in the tests, and at rather tight timings. The 3700 EB while rated 3700 vs the 4000 seems to clock quite high but at looser timings. I have, maybe just due to people talking about the newer 4000, been reading more high clock success stories (A64's) with the 4000 than I have read about the 3700EB. Maybe OCZ will grace us with 4000EB or 4200EB? Maybe but probably they would have if they could have.Anand will clear us all up soon with some kind of a grand review of memories on the A64 I hope. This article did have that new A64 testbed up and running so there is hope!
Right now a tie between the 4000 cheaper but slightly lower clocks but always seems to clock that well vs the 3700EB which is more expensive and seems to "usually" get a higher possible clock at looser timings than the 4000.
Thus, a tie.
saechaka - Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - link
so which would be the better buy right now for an abit AI7 the crucial ballistix or ocx 3700 eb? thanksOCedHrt - Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - link
Oops! Wow blank post. Anyways, doesn't the Crucial Ballistix already cost less? Crucial sells their 512 PC4000 stick at 144.99.OCedHrt - Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - link
ciwell - Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - link
Wondering the same thing as #2...Can't wait for a "Value" RAM Roundup.
Anemone - Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - link
It has become rather important since am building a system now to see that Athlon 64 memory review you've mentioned was coming :)3700EB is the old standby but it seems that like this 3700, and the Ballistix 4000, there are some memories out lately that do particularly well at 500-550 speeds on the A64's.
As always this article was a very good read and I learned yet another memory of interest.
Now I'd like to see them all layed out and compared so I can refine my choices to go with a nice FX-55 :)
Ty!
mkruer - Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - link
I want to know if its better to get one gig of "cheep" 2.5,3,3,7 DDR400 (2x512) ram vs a smaller (2x256) of high prefromance DDR533 with ram.