OCZ Blade 3x2GB PC3-16000 CL7 Memory Review

Extreme Overclocking & Benching

Test Platform:
Memory:	OCZ Blade 3x2GB PC3-16000 7-8-7-20 (OCZ3B2000LV6GK)
Motherboard:	EVGA X58 3X SLI Classified
Processor:	Intel i7 920 D0 (3845B026) Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition (3843A687 ES)
Processor Cooling:	Chilly1 single stage phase change MMouse Rev 3 CU Pot w/Liquid Nitrogen
Thermal Paste:	Arctic Silver Ceramique
North Bridge Cooling:	Stock
South Bridge Cooling:	Stock
PWM Cooling:	Stock
Power Supply:	Corsair HX1000W Ultra X-Pro 750W
Video Card:	ATI PCI Mach64 EVGA GTX 295 (NVIDIA GeForce 185.85 WHQL) 4 x XFX 4890 1GB (ATI CCC 9.5)
Video Card Cooling:	Stock Stock 3 x Stock, 1 x Thermalright HR03 RevA
Additional Fans:	Scythe Ultra Kaze 120MM 3000RPM 133.6CFM (DFS123812H-3000)
Hard Drives:	Seagate 7200.9 80GB SATAII 8MB cache
OS:	Windows Vista SP1 / Windows XP Pro SP2
Ambient Temperature:	23C ~ 25C

I obviously have quite a list of hardware above and that is because this memory has been working non-stop since it landed here in Canada. The Classified setup is reserved for sub-zero work with the CPU under either a single stage phase change cooler or liquid nitrogen. This OCZ Blade memory has quickly become my top benching kit and thus has participated in pretty much every sub-zero session in the last month. There is plenty to cover so enough chit-chat...time to show what this kit is really designed to do, bench at a world class level. We start with some 2D action, primarily SuperPi 32M, but with a 1M tucked in there for good measure. Currently this kit has powered a top 10 globally ranked HWBot.org 32M with the i7 975 processor in addition to absolutely shattering my previous i7 920 32M record. Those screen shots can be seen below:

SuperPi 1M click for full size... OCZ Blade @ 1059 7-8-7-20 1T

SuperPi 32M click for full size... OCZ Blade @ 1035 7-7-6-20 1T Top 10 Globally @ HWBot.org

SuperPi 32M click for full size... OCZ Blade @ 1010 7-7-6-20 1T i7 920 32M World Record

A couple of these benchmarks were originally shown here at Hardware Canucks in our i7 975 overclocking article. In fact, you can see plenty more impressive results from this memory in our Summer Road Trip With the Intel Core i7 975 EE. This memory was also put through its paces for SuperPi 32M stability in a forum OC Report. That OC Report can be found in the HardwareCanucks.com Forums. Here is the chart of the final results from that OC Report of this OCZ Blade PC3-16000 kit:

As we can see, this kit excels at single 32M SuperPi stability. Cracking 110MHz at 7-8-7 isn't exactly common place and almost reaching 32M stability at DDR3-1000 with 6-7-6 timings is something very few kits can claim. That is the best part about a kit of memory like the PC3-16000 OCZ Blades, our sample is a benchmarkers dream kit of memory in addition to holding their own in the world of 24/7 overclocking as we saw earlier.

Single 32M @ 6-7-6 click for full size...

Single 32M @ 7-7-6 click for full size...

Single 32M @ 7-8-7 click for full size...

The screen shots just above are from the OC Report with the best result from the three timing sets tested. The rest of the screen shots can be seen in the OC Report itself.

Let's wrap up this impressive Extreme Overclocking & Benching section with the last of our results with this kit. This time with in the 3D world of things showing off what 4x4890's or a single GTX 295 can do at high CPU clocks and a killer kit of memory.

3DMark 05 - Single GTX 295 click for full size... OCZ Blade @ 1107 7-8-7-20 1T

3DMark 05 - 4 x 4890 click for full size... OCZ Blade @ 1077 7-8-7-20 1T Top 20 Globally @ HWBot.org

3DMark 06 - 4 x 4890 click for full size... OCZ Blade @ 1035 7-8-7-20 1T Top 25 Globally @ HWBot.org

This is just the tip of the iceberg with this memory. As mentioned, I will be using these OCZ Blade sticks for all my future benching as they are far and away the best kit I have had the pleasure of laying my hands on. They won't be ran 24/7, that would be like driving a Formula 1 car on city streets...it belongs on the track, as do these PC3-16000 OCZ Blades.