[Review] - GeIL EVO One meets nVidia 780i

[ncsa]

Now what better to start off a New Year but with some new Hardware and so from the Year of The Rat’s pouch comes the start of the reviews, a big thanks to Cathy and Katy at Team GeIL for making all this possible.

It’s of no surprise (given the title) that this review covers the recently introduced (Nov ’07) GeIL EVO One modules, in the 4Gb (2x2Gb) PC2-6400 800MHz C4 flavour – GE24GB800C4DC C4-4-4-12 2.0v to be precise, these comfortably nestled alongside, the also new nVidia 780i chipset – actually a bit of a hybrid one, as it is an eVGA motherboard but running the XFX P03 BIOS.

Module specifications and available options are listed below .. something for everyone, well nearly everyone.



But first some background on GeIL – an extract.

GeIL - Golden Emperor International Ltd Established in 1993, GeIL becomes one of the most professional memory module houses in Taiwan that has been concentrating in memory modules design and manufacturing. Our heritage in memory module design and manufacturing began in 1997 and succeeded creating high-end brand modules of GL2000 and Golden GeIL in 1999 which are now a vogue of the time in Asia. Currently, our manufacturing facilities employ over 200 people and produce a wide variety of modules with distribution in over 50 countries. Our diverse product line includes the memory modules of desktop, laptop, server system, and workstation. In order to produce this wide range of performance products, GeIL has implemented a stringent, company-wide, quality control standard of excellence. Only after a module meets or exceeds the GeIL’s rigid requirements for quality and performance, is it then entered into production. At GeIL, our management philosophy is designed to ensure customer satisfaction and to maintain our long-lasting commitment to excellence. We understand the needs of our customers and the importance of delivering high-quality memory modules you can trust. By combining our strict quality standards with the use of state-of-the-art technology, we are able to produce some of the most advanced designs and modules available. This in turn allows us to ensure that every GeIL customer receives all of the quality, performance and dependability they deserve.

And what of this MTCD Technology featured on the GeIL EVO One modules?

Well the modules themselves look impressive, very tall (which may only cause an issue if the CPU Heat Sink overhangs the memory slots), with nice shiny fins in the centre. And on reading GeIL’s design philosophy behind the MTCD Technology, all seems logical… of course proof is always in the pudding.





Let’s have a closer look at the modules.



With the modules securely housed in clear plastic, the external cardboard packaging is simple but effective with a hint peaking out of what lays inside.



The aluminium heat spreaders have a nice black satin finish and as you can see when the light hits them, they sparkle much like having a metallic paint job on your car or motorcycle. They interlock and the fins are protected nicely by the supporting aluminium bar running overhead which also creates a window for the air to flow through taking whatever heat the chips generate easily away.



On the rear of each module is a label clearly showing their ratings and SKU number. While at the other end (not shown here) is a Part Number (P/N 3712) and Serial Number which you will need if ever making a claim during their Lifetime Warranty. Also note the Black 8-layer PCB finishing off an overall great package.



They stand nice’n’tall when placed in the slots, so what about clearance between the slots?



As expected the heat spreaders do not occupy that much space, so there are no issues for dual operation. And for those who need (or must have) the maximum amount of memory installed - no problem there either.

Ok they look great and fit well in their slots so let’s see how they perform.

These modules will be utilised under different Chipsets, CPUs which will cover 780i, P35 and X38, maybe even on P965.. all time permitting. First up though is the new 780i Chipset being the eVGA motherboard which just happened to be delivered with an XFX BIOS ROM and was subsequently upgraded to 2.053.B2 (XFX P03).

What is being used in this system?

Memory: GeIL 4Gb 2x2GB GE24GB800C4DC C4-4-4-12
CPU: Intel Q6600 G0 / QX9650
Mobo: eVGA 780i (BIOS P03)
GPU: 2x nVidia 8800 GTS 512 G92 in SLI / HD 3870 X2
PSU: Silverstone Zeus 750W / Olympus OP1000
Display: Benq 202W 20.1” DVI port
Cooling: Igor Water / Single Stage VapoChill LS [AC]
(Igor is made up of many parts including Asetek WaterChill Extreme pump, Swiftech CPU Block, AlphaCool Radiator, plenty of fans and a ThermalTake Backplate)
Case: None, however the Ambient Temps are 28C (82.4F) and 60% humidity – lucky its winter
OS: XP Pro SP2 / Vista x64 Ultimate

Testing Applications:

The Synthetic suite from FutureMark – 3DMark 01 through to 3DMark 06, PCMark 05 and PC Mark Vantage and when 3DMark Vantage is released these results will be added to the Vista runs.
XtremeSystems Pi MOD 1.5 along with a nice utility, HyperPi by vbo, a front end to
SuperPi which allows multiple runs be easily executed on each CPU Core available.
Lavalys Everest Ultimate Edition 4.20
Memtest86+ v2.00b15 – a welcome revival to a great tool and fully working for most of the new Chipsets, just some minor issues with the 780i to be worked out.

Some Results .. firstly we will jump straight in and look at the Overclocking of these modules. Given the target audience who will look at this information bringing the Overclocking part up front helps those who are inclined to push their systems.

As for Stock, yes these results will also be listed as well but rest assure they perform according to GeIL’s rated specifications, and for the sake of interest below is a shot of these running stock on a P35 chipset/QX9650 and the modules at rated voltages – 2.0v … DDR816, they also booted at 1.8v as well which is good for those BIOS which have a low default vDimm.

NOTE: The standard disclaimer - that Overclocking any component a personal risk and may/can cause damage to that component, doing so also voids any warranty and I and any forum take no responsibility for your own choices.



It takes a while to run a Memtest loop on 4Gb….

DDR 907 C4-3-3-8 2T BIOS Settings
CPUz Validation - http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=307927

eVGA/XFX 780i BIOS Template

eVGA/XFX 780i BIOS Settings

Advance Chipset Features

System Clocks

** Frequency Setting **
CPU Multiplier - x9
PCIe x16_3, MHz - 120
SSP<->MCP Ref Clock, MHZ - 250.0

** HT Multiplier **
nforce SPP --> nForce MCP 4 x
nforce SPP <-- nForce MCP 4 x

** Spread Spectrun Setting **
x CPU Spread Spectrun - Disabled
x HT Spread Spectrun - Disabled
x PCIe Spread Spectrun(MCP) - Disabled
x SATA Spread Spectrun - Disabled

FSB & Memory Config

FSB - Memory Clock Mode - Unlinked
x FSB - Memory Ratio - Auto
FSB (QDR), MHz - 1700
MEM (DDR), MHz - 907

Memory Timing Setting

Memory Timing Setting - Expert
tCL (CAS Latency) - 4
tRCD - 3
tRO - 3
tRAS - 8
Command Per Clock (CMD) - 2T

** Advance Memory Settings **
tRRD - Auto(4) (4)
tRC - Auto(26) (26)
tWR - Auto(6) (6)
tWTR - Auto(10) (9)
tREF - Auto (7.8uS)

CPU Configuration

Limit CPUID MaxVal - Disabled
Intel SpeedStep - Disabled
PPM Mode - Native Mode
CPU Thermal Control - Disabled
C1E Enhanced Halt State - Disabled
Excute Disable Bit - Disabled
Virtualization Technology - Disabled
CPU Core 0 - Enabled
CPU Core 1 - Enabled
CPU Core 2 - Enabled
CPU Core 3 - Enabled

System Voltages

CPU Core - 1.60000 (1.52v)
CPU FSB - Auto (1.4v)
Memory - 2.200v ( 2.200v)
nForce SPP - Auto (1.40v)
nForce MCP - Auto (1.500v)

GTLVREF Lane 0 - Auto (+00mv)
GTLVREF Lane 1 - Auto (+95mv)
GTLVREF Lane 2 - Auto (+00mv)
GTLVREF Lane 3 - Auto (+00mv)

HPET Function - Disabled

Intergrated Peripherials

RAID Config
IEEE1394 controller - Disabled
HD Audio - Disabled
IDE HDD Block Mode - Enabled
Onboard FDC Controller - Enabled
Onboard Serial Port 1 - Disabled

PnP/PCI Configurations
Init Display First - PCIEx
Reset Configuration - Disabled
Resources Controlled By - Auto(ESCD)

PCI/VGA Palette Snoop - Disabled
PCI Latency Timer(CLK) - 32

** PCI Express relative items **
Maximum Payload Size - 4096

Everest Bandwidth



SuperPi 32M - Dual and Quad runs







Futuremark Benchmarks
3DMark 01
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=9330380



3DMark03
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=5718392



3DMark05
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=3975801



3DMark06
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=5058635



Plenty more to come, C5 & Vista results.. also still getting the 780i fully up and running and need to work around travel commitments and what after that .. well there is the GeIL SO-DIMM for your laptops, then hopefully some DDR3 too.. so many options so little time

Lastly post up any particular tests you would like to see and we will try to accommodate them the best we can

[ncsa]

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[ncsa]

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[eva2000]

Moved to DDR2 forum... nice results so far.. anymore memory oc'ing ?

[ncsa]

Sorry .. been on the road and going back again ... will run more tests once I get back to the rigs again, maybe with some new toys too

The GeIL 2x2Gb (4Gb) in my laptop is running a treat esp. with Vista ... nice one GeIL

[H[]R3NDUS]

Wow Nice review so many screenies