Mushkin & Adata: 2 for the Fast-Timings Lane
by Wesley Fink on September 1, 2003 11:18 PM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Mushkin PC 3500 Level II
Mushkin has built an enviable reputation for dependability as a memory supplier. However, they have not been a particularly active player in the recent increases in DDR memory speeds. Mushkin PC3500 Level II 2-2-2 is the fastest memory currently available from Mushkin. We have been told that this is about to change since Mushkin will soon be introducing DDR500 memory based on a unique design.
Click image to view a larger picture.
Mushkin uses Winbond BH5 chips in PC3500 Level II. BH5 is an almost legendary memory chip that has recently been discontinued, but Mushkin assures us they have sufficient stock to continue manufacture of Level II modules for many months. It was the chip used in many of the very best low-latency modules in recent months, and replacement chips have not been able to achieve the same aggressive timings at DDR400 we have seen in the past.
There were surprises on two fronts with PC3500 Level II. First, with an advertised rating of 2-2-2 at DDR433, we wondered why the SPD was programmed at 2-4-4-8. Mushkin explained that this was done for maximum compatibility. Since we have also seen the same type of SPD programming on competing memory modules, we will accept this explanation. However, this Mushkin is not a memory that can be used with SPD timings for best performance. You must set manual SPD timings to get the most from this memory.
Second, we found the 2-2-2 rating at DDR433 a bit optimistic on the Intel 875 test platform. Mushkin explained that 2-2-2 at 433 was based on a single module in the nForce2 platforms, and we can confirm that 2-2-2 is a valid rating on the nForce 2 platform at DDR433. In fact, 2-2-2 is a fair rating in Dual-Channel mode on the nForce2 Ultra 400. In Dual-Channel mode on 875/865 motherboards, we find that 2-2-3 is the true speed rating. Mushkin has indicated they will be making changes to their web descriptions to describe better the performance of the PC3500 Level II.
Despite these concerns, Mushkin does achieve the fastest memory timings we have seen from current memory at DDR400 to DDR433. In its performance range, Mushkin PC3500 Level II is one of the fastest memories you can put in your machine.
| Mushkin PC3500 Level II (DDR433) — 2 x 512MB DS Dimms Intel 875P Performance |
||||||
| Memory Speed, Voltage, Timings | Quake3 fps |
UT2003 Flyby fps |
UT2003 Botmatch fps |
Sandra UNBuffered | Sandra Standard Buffered |
Super PI 2M places (time in sec) |
| 400@2.55V 2-2-2-6 |
328.3 | 198.34 | 70.25 | INT 3091 FLT 3145 |
INT 4942 FLT 4901 |
126s |
| 433@2.65V 2-2-3-6 |
335.5 | 202.63 | 72.68 | INT 3042 FLT 3097 |
INT 5111 FLT 5118 |
122s |
| 458@2.85V 2.5-2-3-7 |
350.6 | 211.91 | 77.0 | INT 3159 FLT 3154 |
INT 5405 FLT 5424 |
115s |
| Mushkin PC3500 Level II (DDR433) — 2 x 512MB DS Dimms AMD nForce2 Ultra 400 Performance |
||||||
| Memory Speed, Voltage, Timings | Quake3 fps |
UT2003 Flyby fps |
UT2003 Botmatch fps |
Sandra UNBuffered | Sandra Standard Buffered |
Super PI 2M places (time in sec) |
| 333@2.55V 2-2-2-4 |
297.87 | 203.99 | 74.83 | INT 1260 FLT 1363 |
INT 2572 FLT 2437 |
120s |
| 400@2.55V 2-2-2-4 |
353.03 | 238.18 | 89.55 | INT 1475 FLT 1589 |
INT 3073 FLT 2905 |
101s |
| 433@2.65V 2-2-2-5 |
379.5 | 252.31 | 96.51 | INT 1593 FLT 1714 |
INT 3315 FLT 3136 |
94s |
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17 Comments
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Anonymous User - Monday, September 8, 2003 - link
Wes, thanks for the great review!! It answered all of my questions and now I can make my purchase of the Mushkin 3500 Level II with confidence.Cheers,
Wiley
Anonymous User - Sunday, September 7, 2003 - link
Hrmm sorry for interrupting but i am running 2 pieces of pc3200 2-2-2 before i swtich to 3500 level 2.those are good rams.
there is nothing like it in the market.
Anonymous User - Sunday, September 7, 2003 - link
Hey Wes, what do you think of the Mushkin PC3200 Level 2 Black? I'm seriously contemplating buying 2x512mb of that stuff.Anonymous User - Saturday, September 6, 2003 - link
Wow! I clicked Post Comment only once folks! Honest!Anonymous User - Saturday, September 6, 2003 - link
Great article! I don't OC much at all and I love the Mushkin PC3500 Lvl II Black. As you can see from the system information below I run 4x512mb modules of it and love it!My benchmark numbers are:
6136 3Dmark03s
3129 Sandra Unbuffered Int
3184 Sandra Unbuffered Float
5002 Sandra Buffered Int
5006 Sandra Buffered Float
System:
P4 3Ghz/800Mhz FSB (OC'd to 3.12Ghz/832Mhz), Gigabyte 8KNXP Motherboard w/DPS2 REMOVED (F6 Bios), 4x512mb Mushkin PC3500 Level II Black RAM (2-2-2-5@DDR416), ATI 9800 Pro 256mb (OC'd to 414/356), SB Audigy 2 Platinum, 2x WD Raptor 10kRPM SATA150 Game Drives in RAID0 off of ICH5R, IBM Deskstar GXP180 System Drive, 2x Samsung DVD/CDRW, Mitsumi Floppy, Lian-Li PC65 Window Case w/Alien Head & Blue Cold Cathode Light, Enermax 550W v1.2 PSU, Thermalright SLK-900U HSF w/AS3 and Antec 92mm Fan, 4x Sunon 39cfm 80mm Fans (2 Front Intake, 1 Rear & 1 TopExhaust), 1 PCI Slot Exhaust Fan, Vantec Fan Controller, Sony F520 21" CRT & Samsung 191T LCD Monitors, WinXP Pro SP1 w/No Paging File, DirectX 9.0b, ATI Catalyst 3.7 & Stock SB2 Drivers
Anonymous User - Saturday, September 6, 2003 - link
Great article! I don't OC much at all and I love the Mushkin PC3500 Lvl II Black. As you can see from the system information below I run 4x512mb modules of it and love it!My benchmark numbers are:
6136 3Dmark03s
3129 Sandra Unbuffered Int
3184 Sandra Unbuffered Float
5002 Sandra Buffered Int
5006 Sandra Buffered Float
System:
P4 3Ghz/800Mhz FSB (OC'd to 3.12Ghz/832Mhz), Gigabyte 8KNXP Motherboard w/DPS2 REMOVED (F6 Bios), 4x512mb Mushkin PC3500 Level II Black RAM (2-2-2-5@DDR416), ATI 9800 Pro 256mb (OC'd to 414/356), SB Audigy 2 Platinum, 2x WD Raptor 10kRPM SATA150 Game Drives in RAID0 off of ICH5R, IBM Deskstar GXP180 System Drive, 2x Samsung DVD/CDRW, Mitsumi Floppy, Lian-Li PC65 Window Case w/Alien Head & Blue Cold Cathode Light, Enermax 550W v1.2 PSU, Thermalright SLK-900U HSF w/AS3 and Antec 92mm Fan, 4x Sunon 39cfm 80mm Fans (2 Front Intake, 1 Rear & 1 TopExhaust), 1 PCI Slot Exhaust Fan, Vantec Fan Controller, Sony F520 21" CRT & Samsung 191T LCD Monitors, WinXP Pro SP1 w/No Paging File, DirectX 9.0b, ATI Catalyst 3.7 & Stock SB2 Drivers
Anonymous User - Saturday, September 6, 2003 - link
Great article! I don't OC much at all and I love the Mushkin PC3500 Lvl II Black. As you can see from the system information below I run 4x512mb modules of it and love it!My benchmark numbers are:
6136 3Dmark03s
3129 Sandra Unbuffered Int
3184 Sandra Unbuffered Float
5002 Sandra Buffered Int
5006 Sandra Buffered Float
System:
P4 3Ghz/800Mhz FSB (OC'd to 3.12Ghz/832Mhz), Gigabyte 8KNXP Motherboard w/DPS2 REMOVED (F6 Bios), 4x512mb Mushkin PC3500 Level II Black RAM (2-2-2-5@DDR416), ATI 9800 Pro 256mb (OC'd to 414/356), SB Audigy 2 Platinum, 2x WD Raptor 10kRPM SATA150 Game Drives in RAID0 off of ICH5R, IBM Deskstar GXP180 System Drive, 2x Samsung DVD/CDRW, Mitsumi Floppy, Lian-Li PC65 Window Case w/Alien Head & Blue Cold Cathode Light, Enermax 550W v1.2 PSU, Thermalright SLK-900U HSF w/AS3 and Antec 92mm Fan, 4x Sunon 39cfm 80mm Fans (2 Front Intake, 1 Rear & 1 TopExhaust), 1 PCI Slot Exhaust Fan, Vantec Fan Controller, Sony F520 21" CRT & Samsung 191T LCD Monitors, WinXP Pro SP1 w/No Paging File, DirectX 9.0b, ATI Catalyst 3.7 & Stock SB2 Drivers
Anonymous User - Saturday, September 6, 2003 - link
Great article! I don't OC much at all and I love the Mushkin PC3500 Lvl II Black. As you can see from the system information below I run 4x512mb modules of it and love it!My benchmark numbers are:
6136 3Dmark03s
3129 Sandra Unbuffered Int
3184 Sandra Unbuffered Float
5002 Sandra Buffered Int
5006 Sandra Buffered Float
System:
P4 3Ghz/800Mhz FSB (OC'd to 3.12Ghz/832Mhz), Gigabyte 8KNXP Motherboard w/DPS2 REMOVED (F6 Bios), 4x512mb Mushkin PC3500 Level II Black RAM (2-2-2-5@DDR416), ATI 9800 Pro 256mb (OC'd to 414/356), SB Audigy 2 Platinum, 2x WD Raptor 10kRPM SATA150 Game Drives in RAID0 off of ICH5R, IBM Deskstar GXP180 System Drive, 2x Samsung DVD/CDRW, Mitsumi Floppy, Lian-Li PC65 Window Case w/Alien Head & Blue Cold Cathode Light, Enermax 550W v1.2 PSU, Thermalright SLK-900U HSF w/AS3 and Antec 92mm Fan, 4x Sunon 39cfm 80mm Fans (2 Front Intake, 1 Rear & 1 TopExhaust), 1 PCI Slot Exhaust Fan, Vantec Fan Controller, Sony F520 21" CRT & Samsung 191T LCD Monitors, WinXP Pro SP1 w/No Paging File, DirectX 9.0b, ATI Catalyst 3.7 & Stock SB2 Drivers
Anonymous User - Saturday, September 6, 2003 - link
Great article! I don't OC much at all and I love the Mushkin PC3500 Lvl II Black. As you can see from the system information below I run 4x512mb modules of it and love it!My benchmark numbers are:
6136 3Dmark03s
3129 Sandra Unbuffered Int
3184 Sandra Unbuffered Float
5002 Sandra Buffered Int
5006 Sandra Buffered Float
System:
P4 3Ghz/800Mhz FSB (OC'd to 3.12Ghz/832Mhz), Gigabyte 8KNXP Motherboard w/DPS2 REMOVED (F6 Bios), 4x512mb Mushkin PC3500 Level II Black RAM (2-2-2-5@DDR416), ATI 9800 Pro 256mb (OC'd to 414/356), SB Audigy 2 Platinum, 2x WD Raptor 10kRPM SATA150 Game Drives in RAID0 off of ICH5R, IBM Deskstar GXP180 System Drive, 2x Samsung DVD/CDRW, Mitsumi Floppy, Lian-Li PC65 Window Case w/Alien Head & Blue Cold Cathode Light, Enermax 550W v1.2 PSU, Thermalright SLK-900U HSF w/AS3 and Antec 92mm Fan, 4x Sunon 39cfm 80mm Fans (2 Front Intake, 1 Rear & 1 TopExhaust), 1 PCI Slot Exhaust Fan, Vantec Fan Controller, Sony F520 21" CRT & Samsung 191T LCD Monitors, WinXP Pro SP1 w/No Paging File, DirectX 9.0b, ATI Catalyst 3.7 & Stock SB2 Drivers
retrospooty - Tuesday, September 2, 2003 - link
Cool, Thanks. I take back what I took back , and give it up to you ! :DRetrospooty