Test Setup & Methodologies
Test Setup & Methodologies
Test Platform:
Testing will occur on a Highspeed PC Standard Top Deck Tech Station, and not in a traditional case. This allows easier access to the motherboard for the constant poking and prodding that is required during the reviewing process. The setup remained as pictured during the duration of the benchmarking and stability overclocking process.
Overclocking Methodology
Although the OCZ3P1600LV6GK is not marketed as a overclocking-oriented product, the fact that it has such tight timings hints at the possibility of much higher clock speeds with looser timings. We are definitely going to find out what this low latency triple channel DDR3 memory kit is truly capable of. The overclocking section is the part of our reviews that we take the most pride in, and we spend an
excessive number of hours testing, tweaking, failing, and succeeding in order to give you the best possible insight into each product's overclocking capabilities. After all, if you are anything like us, the overclocking section is the first (and often last!) part that you read when checking out a product review.
For the purposes of this review, our overclocking efforts will primarily focus on four different timings configurations (7-7-7/8-8-8/9-9-9/10-10-10) and three different voltage settings (1.55V-1.65V-1.75V). The QPI/DRAM voltage was kept at a relatively high 1.4875V BIOS (1.45V measured) throughout our tests in order to ensure as best as possible that the integrated memory controller would not be a bottleneck. The CPU frequency was kept as close as possible to the stock 3200Mhz, while the Uncore and QPI Link near 3200Mhz and 6400Mhz, respectively.
During our overclocking adventures we put an emphasis on stability. While the question “What is stable?” could be debated endlessly, we have devised a methodology that combines a wide range of programs that test the stability of the entire system.
Here is the suite of applications that will be run in order to validate each of the overclocks:
- Eight 32MB runs of SuperPi Mod 1.5 (ran at the same time)
- 1+ hours of Eight-Threaded Prime 95 v25.7 using the Stress Testing Blend
- 3+ hours of Quad HCI MemTest in Windows using all available memory
- Multiple loops of 3DMark 06 (30 minutes of looping the full tests each)
- 1 hour of game play in Team Fortress 2 & Crysis @ 1680x1050
Altogether, the above suite should provide enough stress testing to ensure a completely stable overclock, however we are always up for new suggestions. As always, no two systems are ever alike, so your results may vary. Also, <b>overclock at your own risk!</b> The Core i7 platform is brand new, and if you try to mimic our results there is always the possibility that you could damage any and all of your components. If you aren’t fully confident in what you are doing, feel free to stop by
our forums and our helpful community will be glad to offer some assistance.
Benchmark Methodology
For this review, our benchmarking section will focus solely on the OCZ kit, in stock and overclocked configurations. The reasoning behind this approach is that there is an infinitesimal clock-for-clock performance difference between two memory kits that are equally-clocked and with identical timings, thus declaring one product a winner based on a 1% performance advantages seems pointless to us. Since the Core i7 platform and triple-channel memory kits are quite new, we have decided to test the memory at various clock speeds and timings in order to demonstrate the effect they have on overall system performance.
We have outlined the four setups in the sample graph above. The glowing
red results will indicate the performance at the default timings. For the DDR3-1600 7/8/9 setups, the CPU is running at stock 3.2Ghz (24 x 133), while the Uncore and QPI Link remained at 3200Mhz and 6400Mhz, respectively. For the DDR3-1922 result, the CPU is clocked at 3.28Ghz (24 x 137), and we used the 2:14 memory multiplier to achieve the higher memory speed. Due multiplier limitations, when running at DDR3-1922 the lowest selectable Uncore/Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) speed was 3844Mhz, so that is what we used throughout our testing.
As was mentioned in the overclocking section, we used Everest bandwidth benchmarks and a few other performance tests to determine which settings were ultimately faster, not just higher. For all of the benchmarks, appropriate lengths are taken to ensure an equal comparison through methodical setup, installation, and testing. The following outlines our testing methodology:
A) Windows is installed using a full format.
B) Intel Chipset drivers and accessory hardware drivers (audio, network, GPU) are installed followed by a defragment and a reboot.
C) Programs and games are then installed followed by another defragment.
D) Windows updates are then completed installing all available updates followed by a defragment.
E) Benchmarks are each ran three times after a clean reboot for every iteration of the benchmark unless otherwise stated, the results are then averaged.
We have listed the benchmark versions on each graph as results can vary between updates. That is about all you need to know methodology wise, so let's see what kind of numbers this memory kit has achieved in our overclocking section and in our benchmarking suite.
