DDR3-2200+ with Core i7 860/870 processor - Performance

Memory Read test

Okay so we are back at synthetic testing. Here we have the read performance of the memory at that amazing 2200 MHz clock frequency and then overclocked at 2350 MHz as well (!) The two top dog results all done thanks to the Core i7 870 processor and it's extended memory ratio. Now as you can see, overclocked (dual-channel memory!) we notice performance over 20.500 MB/sec.

At 'standard' 2200 MHz we push roughly 19.500 MB/sec of bandwidth. And that is just stunning in a dual-channel configuration, yes absolutely stunning.

Memory Write test

Write performance then -- A Phenom II processor would perform roughly in-between 6500 and 7000 MB/sec -- with sharp timings you'd take it over 8000 MB/sec.

Intel's latest Core i5 and I7 offerings will offer roughly 10.000 MB/sec at JEDEC 1333 MHz at Dual-channel configuration.

Core i7 Bloomfield Nehalem processors with triple channel will vary a little depending on model/QPI but maxes out at roughly 14.000 MB/sec again based on JEDEC timings and frequency of 1333 MHz -- overclocked or with fast DIMMS these would rock out as well.

A-DATA in dual-channel mode reaches roughly 14.500 ~ 15.200 MB/sec at either 2200 MHz or respectively verclocked to 2350 MHz. That's pron for geeks man.

Resident Evil 5 (DirectX 10)

A new addition to our benchmark suite is Resident Evil 5. Capcom's newly released game ensures you a survival horror sequel that will let you bust up some zombies on your hard drive. Resident Evil 5 PC will support DirectX 9 and 10 along with ultra-high resolutions.

So here's where the review will get very subjective again, though this test is much more realiable when we look at pure CPU processing power versus JEDEC timings and and ubertacked 2200 MHz memory.

Here's the thing. If we set in motion the XMP profile it also activates a different base clock of the processor in order to reach the high 2200 MHz memory frequency, and to compensate it will lower the multiplier. However, performance wise the difference is in fact very close comparing to the default Core i7 870 at 2.93 GHz. See, the Core i7 870 2.93 GHz will clock itself  to 3200~3400 MHz thanks to it's enabled Turbo mode. The system with the XMP memory profile enabled will see a base clock of 183x18= ~3300 MHz.

So here we landed in a situation where the memory is clocked much faster than the JEDEC standard, and the processor is in fact equal, towards a little slower, but check it out, performance is just massively higher with that A-Data memory running at that blistering 2200 MHz,

Now obviously that's not just a result of the memory alone, due to the increased 183 MHz baseclock the QPI is running faster as well. Still, the result is what it is, and surely does not suck, eh?

Far Cry 2

Throw your memory back to the year 2004 and the release of the innovative Far Cry on PC. Developer Crytek managed to fashion one of the most convincing and striking locales in all of gaming, and satisfied gamers with the freedom to pass through the landscape and tackle enemies in almost any way they saw fit. You surely remember Jack Carver and that things were about to get seriously messed up for you? Well, tough luck. You are no longer at that deserted tropical island but hop into a jeep and arrive at the sandy savannah surroundings of Africa. And that's a change... as much as you'll no longer run into any mutants, aliens, or any superpowers or psychic powers. Also - you are no longer Jack Carver, you assume the role of one of nine different mercenaries who are embedded in the midst of a brutal civil war which rages in an imaginary African nation.
Everything that goes down is involved in a dirty little bush war in central Africa and you'll have to use a rusty AK-47 and whatever bits of scavenged land mine you can duct-tape together. Two factions struggle for supremacy: the United Front for Liberation and Labour and the Alliance for Popular Resistance, and both are known for blood and control.

Far Cry 2 I like very much. Not so much for the gameplay anymore, yet the rendered environment and how the game can react to it. We are in high-quality DX10 mode with 4x AA (anti-aliasing) and 16x AF (anisotropic filtering).

Here you can see that the title is a little more GPU bound, none the less the A-Data 2200 MHZ C8 / Core i7 870 XMP enabled leads significantly over a fairly similar clocked default setup with the DDR3 memory clocked at 1333 MHz. But sure, it again remains a little subjective.

3DMark Vantage (DirectX 10)

3DMark Vantage focuses on the two areas most critical to gaming performance: the CPU and the GPU. With the emergence of multi-package and multi-core configurations on both the CPU and GPU side, the performance scale of these areas has widened, and the visual and game-play effects made possible by these configurations are accordingly wide-ranging.

In 3Dmark vantage exactly the same logic applies, take a look at the standard PC non-overclocked with the memory in dual-channel at 1333 C9, and then the massive XMP profile activated at 2200 MHz DDR3. The end result is an increase of nearly 1000 points with just a flick of a button in the BIOS.