OCZ 3700 Gold Rev. 3: DDR500 Value for Athlon 64 & Intel 478

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.