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Buffalo Firestix FSX5000V DDR Memory Review
Buffalo Firestix FSX5000V DDR Memory Review - PCSTATS
Buffalo Technology is gearing up for some tough competition in the high-end memory market, and their secret weapons are the Firestix.
 78% Rating:   
Filed under: Memory Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: Buffalo Technology Aug 05 2004   C. Sun  
Home > Reviews > Memory > Buffalo Technology Firestix FSX5000V

System Spec's and Benchmarks

Memory Test Methodology
PCstats tests DDR memory on two major CPU platforms - the AMD Athlon64 and the Intel Pentium 4 - because RAM behaves differently with each processor architecture. For instance, Intel users tend to run their memory at high speeds with high latency settings, and in general that works quite well for Intel-based computers. It would be detrimental to system performance if you were to run the same DDR memory settings on an AMD Athlon64 system, since latency plays a much larger role in system performance. Because much of our audience is made up of enthusiasts, PCstats also runs overclocking tests so you can get an idea on how far the memory will go.

On both Intel and AMD test PCs, we're only interested in seeing how high we can go with the memory running 1:1, as running with other dividers puts the overclocking bottleneck elsewhere, and not with the system memory. On the Pentium 4 test system we sometimes use higher latencies in our tests, as latency is not as important. With the AMD Athlon64 test system, the DDR RAM latency must run at 2-2-2-5, or the memory's tightest possible timings, as quick access is more important to the CPU design.

PCStats Test System Specs:
system 1 system 2
processor:

amd athlon64 3200+

intel pentium 4 2.4c

clock speed:

12 x 200 mhz = 2.4 ghz
11.5 x 214 mhz = 2.46 ghz

12 x 200 mhz = 2.4 ghz
12 x 261 mhz = 2.89 ghz
motherboards:

asus k8v-dlx, k8t800

abit ic7-max3, i875p

videocard:

asus radeon 9800xt

ati radeon 9800xt

memory:

2x 512mb corsair twinx 4200pt
2x 512mb ocz pc3200 plat ltd ed.*
2x 512mb corsair twinx 3200 xl*
2x 512mb buffalo firestix fsx5000v

2x 512mb corsair twinx 4200pt
2x 512mb ocz pc3200 plat ltd ed.*
2x 512mb corsair twinx 3200 xl*
2x 512mb buffalo firestix fsx5000v

hard drive: 40gb wd special ed 20gb wd hdd
cdrom: msi x48 cd-rw/dvd-rom nec 52x cd-rom
powersupply: vantec stealth 470w pc p&c turbocool 510w
software setup

windowsxp build 2600
via 4in1 4.51
catalyst 4.6

windowsxp build 2600
intel inf 6.10.1000
catalyst 4.6

benchmarks

business winstone 2002
sisoft sandra 2004
pcmark2002
pcmark04
3dmark2001se
ut2003

Winstone 2002 Source: Zdnet

Business Winstone 2002 is a system-level, application-based benchmark that measures a PC's overall performance when running today's top-selling Windows-based 32-bit applications on Windows 98, Windows 2000 (SP6 or later), Windows Me, or Windows XP. Business Winstone doesn't mimic what these packages do; it runs real applications through a series of scripted activities and uses the time a PC takes to complete those activities to produce its performance scores.

Business Winstone 2002 Benchmark Results

Memory

Points Ranking

AMD Athlon64 System Results

2x 512MB Corsair TwinX4400PT (200/400) 39.6
2x 512MB OCZ PC3200 Plat LTD Ed (200/400) 41.6

2x 512MB Corsair TwinX3200XL (200/400)

41.6

2x 512MB Buffalo Firestix FSX5000V (200/400)

39.4

2x 512MB Buffalo Firestix FSX5000V (212/424)

40.2

Intel Pentium 4 System Results

2x 512MB Corsair TwinX4400PT (200/400) 33.1
2x 512MB OCZ PC3200 Plat LTD Ed (200/400)

34.2

2x 512MB Corsair TwinX3200XL (200/400)

34.4

2x 512MB Buffalo Firestix FSX5000V (200/400)

33.6

2x 512MB Buffalo Firestix FSX5000V (261/522)

37.8

At stock speeds the Buffalo Firestix FXS5000V RAM is slightly slower than the OCZ and Corsair DIMM's that can run tight timings, but performs the same as the Corsair TwinX4400PT. Overclocking on the P4 system boosts scores nicely.

SiSoft Sandra 2004 Source: Sandra

Sandra is designed to test the theoretical power of a complete system and individual components. The numbers taken though are again, purely theoretical and may not represent real world performance. Higher numbers represent better performance.

Sisoft Sandra 2004 Benchmark Results
Memory Integer SSE2: Float SSE2:

AMD Athlon64 System Results

2x 512MB Corsair TwinX1024-4000 (200/400) 3028 3024
2x 512MB OCZ PC3200 Plat LTD Ed (200/400) 3015 3033
2x 512MB Corsair TwinX1024-3200XL (200/400) 3025 3029
2x 512MB Buffalo Firestix FSX5000V (200/400) 3025 3029
2x 512MB Buffalo Firestix FSX5000V (212/424) 3096 3096

Intel Pentium 4 System Results

2x 512MB Corsair TwinX1024-4000 (200/400) 4858 4859
2x 512MB OCZ PC3200 Plat LTD Ed (200/400) 4836 4833
2x 512MB Corsair TwinX1024-3200XL (200/400) 4863 4863
2x 512MB Buffalo Firestix FSX5000V (200/400) 4847 4847
2x 512MB Buffalo Firestix FSX5000V (261/522) 5958 5847

Memory bandwidth is in line with what we'd expect, it shouldn't be any surprise that the overclocked Pentium 4 has the most bandwidth available to it.

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Contents of Article: Buffalo Technology Firestix FSX5000V
 Pg 1.  Buffalo Firestix FSX5000V DDR Memory Review
 Pg 2.  — System Spec's and Benchmarks
 Pg 3.  Benchmarks: PCMark2002, PCMark04
 Pg 4.  Benchmarks: 3DMark2001, X2: The Threat
 Pg 5.  Benchmarks: UT2003, Memory comparison, Conclusion
 Pg 6.  Maximum DDR Overclocking Tests

 
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