At its highest setting, Ultra quality, texture
sizes pass the 500MB mark which means even tomorrow's videocards will have a
hard time running everything. The frame rates in the game itself are locked at
60 fps so anything above that point is wasted. Each test is run three times with
the third run being recorded.
| Doom 3 |
| LQ 640x480 |
FPS |
Ranking |
| 2x 1024MB Super Talent T800UX2GC4 (200/800) |
184.1 |
   |
| 2x 1024MB Patriot PDC22G800+XBLK (200/800) |
183.8 |
|
| 2x 1024MB Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4 (200/800) |
183.7 |
|
| 2x 1024MB Corsair CM2X1024-6400C3 (200/800) |
184.6 |
|
| 2x 512MB SyncMAX PC2-5300 Express (200/667) |
169.4 |
   |
| 2x 512MB SyncMAX PC2-5300 Express (210/840) |
178.7 |
|
Doom 3 numbers at stock settings rests at 169FPS, down from 184FPS
for the rest. Still it would be difficult for a gamer to tell the difference
between the systems when caught up in an intense frag match.
Quake 4 is the latest shooter from ID and is based
on the Doom 3 engine. Tweaked to for more eye candy, Quake 4 promises to be
tougher on videocards and systems than its predecessor was. Quake 4 also does
not have a 60 fps limiter like Doom 3, with the Ultra setting, graphic textures
can surpass the 500MB mark!
| Quake 4 |
| LQ 640x480 Custom Demo |
FPS |
Ranking |
| 2x 1024MB Super Talent T800UX2GC4 (200/800) |
182.8 |
|
| 2x 1024MB Patriot PDC22G800+XBLK (200/800) |
183.2 |
|
| 2x 1024MB Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4 (200/800) |
184.1 |
|
| 2x 1024MB Corsair CM2X1024-6400C3 (200/800) |
187.1 |
|
| 2x 512MB SyncMAX PC2-5300 Express (200/667) |
173.6 |
|
| 2x 512MB SyncMAX PC2-5300 Express (210/840) |
180.6 |
|
Quake 4 reacts the same way as Doom 3 does, not surprising since both games
are based on the same engine.
In Battlefield 2, players will choose to fight for
one of three military superpowers: the United States, the Chinese, or the newly
formed Middle East Coalition. Armed with the latest modern weaponry, players can
take control of any of the games 30+ vehicles to engage in major conflicts with
over 64 players in some of the largest online battles on the PC. Test is run
five times, which will then be averaged with the highest and
lowest runs disregarded, settings are high quality at 1024x768.
| Battlefield 2 |
| HQ 1024x768: |
FPS |
Ranking |
| 2x 1024MB Super Talent T800UX2GC4 (200/800) |
362.148 |
|
| 2x 1024MB Patriot PDC22G800+XBLK (200/800) |
371.478 |
|
| 2x 1024MB Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4 (200/800) |
375.636 |
|
| 2x 1024MB Corsair CM2X1024-6400C3 (200/800) |
378.415 |
|
| 2x 512MB SyncMAX PC2-5300 Express (200/667) |
288.475 |
|
| 2x 512MB SyncMAX PC2-5300 Express (210/840) |
322.843 |
|
Battlefield 2 is very memory size sensitive, that's why even when overclocked the
1GB SyncMAX kit cannot reach the same framerates as the 2GB DDR sets.
Overclocking slightly does allow the system to increase performance nicely.
Max OC Chart
It's great to see how individual memory stacks up
against the competition under stock configurations, but we're also going to show
how it compares when overclocked. With performance in mind, we're going to
compare the maximum overclocked results of the various DDR2 DIMMs we've tested
in the past which are listed below. Remember, just because memory is clocked
fast doesn't mean it's the best thing for a computer. Timings are also
important, and getting the right ratio of both is the real key to performance
based overclocking!
It was rather surprising to see the budget SyncMAX
PC2-5300 Express memory crack the DDR2-800 mark with relatively tight 4-4-4-10
timings! Not bad at all for entry level memory, loosening things up allows the
memory to clock up just a bit higher.
Good all around budget
memory?
For the
computer hardware enthusiast, high prices on premium components are just part of
the game. Things in the mainstream world are definitely a lot more affordable
and if you're looking to upgrade a work horse type machine, now is an excellent
time.
The general rule in computers is that you can never have
enough memory and when you can get yourself a 1GB set of PC2-5300 memory for
just $100 CDN ($90 US, £49 GBP) , life is
pretty sweet. The name SyncMAX might not be as recognizable as say Corsair, Mushkin or OCZ but when it comes to value, SyncMAX had done things pretty well.
The SyncMAX PC2-5300 Express that passed through the
PCSTATS test labs today were good if you keep the target audience in mind.
At stock speeds the memory performed slower than the enthusiast class DDR2-800 DIMMs, but that is expected. Its benchmark figures were not that far behind in workstation style tasks like email, word processing or spreadsheets.
The
SyncMAX PC2-5300 Express handled the 3D applications well, which just goes
to show you enthusiast grade memory really needs to be used with enthusiast level systems to yield a significant gain. For the most part the games we tested this memory with do not require a huge pool of bandwidth, so the SyncMAX PC2-5300 Express can keep the higher speed memory modules within sight. In Doom 3, Quake 4 and 3DMark05 you'd have a difficult time noticing the difference.
SyncMAX only offers a one year warranty on its parts,
and we would have liked to have seen a longer period offered than
that. Should problems aris SyncMAX does have telephone support although it's not toll free. Still a tech support phone line can go a long way to solving potential headaches. SyncMAX might not set the world on fire with the speed of its PC2-5300 Express memory, but it does offer good value for mainstream consumers.
Find out about this and many other reviews by joining the Weekly PCstats.com Newsletter today!
Catch all of PCSTATS latest reviews right here.
Related Articles
Here are a few other articles that you
might enjoy as well...
- Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C4 Memory Review
- Buffalo FireStix FSX1000D2C-K2G PC2-8000 DDR-2 Memory
Review
- Patriot Memory PDC22G8000+XBLK Rev.2 DDR2-1000 Memory
Review
- Patriot Memory PDC2G4000ELK 2GB Memory Kit Review
- Patriot Memory PDC22G8000ELK PC2-8000 DDR2 Memory
Review
Doom 3
RSS Newsletter
