We tested every module pair using the following components:
| Component | Base Settings |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo E8600, (3.33 GHz, 6.0 MB Cache) Overclocked to 4.00 GHz, FSB-1600 |
| Motherboard | Asus P5Q Deluxe Rev 1.03G P45 Express Chipset, BIOS 1406 (10/07/2008) |
| Graphics | Gigabyte GV-R487-512H-B HD 4870 GPU (750 MHz), GDDR5-3600 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital WD5000AAKS, 500 GB 7,200 RPM, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16 MB cache |
| Sound | Integrated HD Audio |
| Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking |
| Power | Coolermaster RS850-EMBA (850W, ATX12V v2.2) |
| Software and Drivers | |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 |
| Graphics Driver | ATI Catalyst 8.9 |
| Onboard Device Drivers | Motherboard Driver DVD |
Notice that we overclocked our motherboard and processor to FSB-1,600. A combination of this setting and the “400 MHz Boot Strap” allowed us to test our modules at 800, 1066, and 1200 MHz data rates without changing CPU speed. Configuring FSB-1,600 was easy with the overclock-friendly Core 2 Duo E8600 processor, as the resulting 4.00 GHz clock speed accelerated testing without incurring instability.
Because modules that use the same capacity, speed, and timings have identical performance, today’s tests will concentrate solely on the capabilities of each module to achieve high frequencies and/or low latencies at various voltage levels. We used MemTest86 v1.70 to verify stability for each setting.
