Test Setup

Test System
CPU:	Intel E6300 Conroe 1.8 GHz, 2 MB Cache
Motherboard:	ASUS P5K3 Deluxe BIOS 0704
Video Card:	PowerColor X800XL Pro 16 PCI-E
Harddisk:	Samsung P80 80 GB
Power Supply:	Ultra V-Power 450W
Software:	Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 7.6

Performance & Overclocking

As soon as the memory was installed, CPU-Z was used to check the SPD programming and as it turns out, there are three somewhat exotic speeds present. The DIMM Kit is rated for 1600 MHz, but the maximum set is 1218 MHz. The CL rating is also advertised as 8-8-8-20, while the kit is programmed at 8-8-8-23.

The memory was first set to the intended setting of 1600 MHz CL8-8-8-20 at 1.8V. The FSB of the CPU was set to 400 MHz and the highest divider was used. To make sure that the Intel Core 2 Duo was not the bottleneck, the multiplier was lowered to 6 from the standard 7x. This setting was not changed while testing and the dividers were also kept at the same setting. This will give you a good idea as to how the CPU and memory scale with higher FSB. Only at 500 MHz did we use a unique divider to keep above 400 MHz FSB and thus 2400 MHz for the CPU.

The memory was tested at CL5-5-5-10, 6-6-6-12, 7-7-7-15 and 8-8-8-20. While it is possible to go higher with CL9 or CL10, it does not really serve any purpose, as such loose settings translate into slower performance. All milestones were benchmarked, as well as the highest possible at standard 1.5V or 2.0V - the maximum one should use for DDR3 with sufficient cooling. The Crucial Ballistix kit managed 1600 MHz at CL7-7-7-15 and just shy of 2 GHz at CL 8-8-8-20 with 1944 MHz. This is a very respectable setting, but 2.0V is required to reach this point. As you can see the FSB is fairly high as well with 486 MHz. From past tests we know that this CPU can easily go above 3 GHz and the board manages an FSB just shy of 500 MHz, so this is the limit of the memory.

Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1600 MHz CL8-8-8-20 2 GB Kit
CPU Clock Memory Ratio	Memory Speed	Memory Timings	Everest Read	Everest Write	Everest Latency	Quake 3 Timedemo	3DMark 2001SE	SuperPi Mod 1M
7 x 375 1:2	780 MHz	8-8-8-20 1.5V	8649 MB/s	6220 MB/s	60.6 ns	666.3 fps	27896	22.93 s
7 x 400 1:2	800 MHz	8-8-8-20 1.7V	8567 MB/s	6353 MB/s	61.5 ns	682.9 fps	28110	22.40 s
7 x 423 1:2	846 MHz	8-8-8-20 1.7V	9132 MB/s	6721 MB/s	58.2 ns	715.1 fps	29089	21.10 s
7 x 451 1:2	902 MHz	8-8-8-20 1.8V	9634 MB/s	7149 MB/s	54.6 ns	754.0 fps	29753	19.90 s
7 x 486 1:2	972 MHz	8-8-8-20 2.0V	10412 MB/s	7722 MB/s	50.6 ns	800.0 fps	30848	18.45 s
7 x 343 1:2	686 MHz	7-7-7-14 1.5V	7869 MB/s	5464 MB/s	65.8 ns	584.1 fps	26187	25.96 s
7 x 371 1:2	742 MHz	7-7-7-14 1.6V	8264 MB/s	5935 MB/s	63.4 ns	640.9 fps	27220	24.00 s
7 x 400 1:2	800 MHz	7-7-7-14 1.9V	8903 MB/s	6385 MB/s	58.9 ns	692.3 fps	28275	22.31 s
7 x 438 1:2	876 MHz	7-7-7-14 2.0V	9633 MB/s	6987 MB/s	53.7 ns	739.4 fps	29508	20.37 s
7 x 398 2:3	598 MHz	6-6-6-12 1.5V	7870 MB/s	6351 MB/s	67.3 ns	672.0 fps	27769	22.64 s
7 x 444 2:3	666 MHz	6-6-6-12 1.7V	8857 MB/s	7073 MB/s	60.4 ns	741.2 fps	29308	20.32 s
7 x 470 2:3	705 MHz	6-6-6-12 2.0V	9279 MB/s	7486 MB/s	57.1 ns	773.5 fps	30199	19.20 s
7 x 400 4:5	500 MHz	5-5-5-10 1.5V	7654 MB/s	6353 MB/s	68.4 ns	672.0 fps	27947	22.71 s
7 x 400 2:3	600 MHz	5-5-5-10 1.8V	8179 MB/s	6359 MB/s	64.1 ns	680.7 fps	28015	22.48 s
6 x 444 2:3	666 MHz	5-5-5-10 2.0V	9162 MB/s	7061 MB/s	57.8 ns	746.0 fps	29552	20.26 s
6 x 452 2:3	678 MHz	5-5-5-10 2.0V	9119 MB/s	7107 MB/s	57.4 ns	749.7 fps	29650	20.12 s

The voltage scaling graph shows some great properties. The Crucial DDR3 memory is very balanced, as both a higher CL setting and an increase in voltage result in a speed improvement. Only at CL6 do we see an invisible wall, which the memory did not seem to be able to break, no matter how much we set the voltage at or even though we set the divider to 1:2. Please note that each individual module overclocks different, the results here can only be seen as an indicator of performance.