More memory slower performance ????

tyler811

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2002
5,385
0
71
First I know the are synthetic benchmarks and not real world but the results none the less surprised me.

Windows XP Pro 32 bit. one test with 2 gigs of memory and one test with four gigs of memory. Test was done Sandra SIS but if there is a better FREE one please let me know and I will try it.

Am I reading these reports right where the system with 2 gigs of memory ran faster then the with 4 gigs?

2 Gigs of memory
Code:
SiSoftware Sandra
Benchmark Results
Cache/Memory Bandwidth : 12.55GB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Speed Factor : 46.30
Results Interpretation : Lower scores are better.
Cache Information
Integrated Data Cache : 59GB/s
L2 On-board Cache : 28GB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Performance vs. Speed
Cache/Memory Bandwidth : 4.15MB/s/MHz
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Performance vs. Power
Processor(s)/Chipset(s)/Memory Power : 106.83W
Cache/Memory Bandwidth : 120.30MB/s/W
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Float iSSE2 Cache/Memory Results Breakdown
Data Item Size : 16bytes
Buffering Used : No
Offset Displacement : Yes
Detailed Benchmark Results
2kB Blocks : 136.8GB/s
4kB Blocks : 43.66GB/s
8kB Blocks : 45.51GB/s
16kB Blocks : 45.88GB/s
32kB Blocks : 44.89GB/s
64kB Blocks : 37.43GB/s
128kB Blocks : 34.56GB/s
256kB Blocks : 37.25GB/s
512kB Blocks : 18.83GB/s
1MB Blocks : 18.52GB/s
4MB Blocks : 3GB/s
16MB Blocks : 3GB/s
64MB Blocks : 3GB/s
256MB Blocks : 3GB/s
Performance Test Status
Result ID : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ (2C, 3.1GHz, 3.1GHz IMC, 2x 512kB L2); nVidia GeForce 8200 (MCP78S) Memory Controller; 2x 1GB OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G DIMM DDR2 (620MHz) PC2-8500 (5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3)
Platform Compliance : x86
Total Memory : 2GB
NUMA Support : No
SMP (Multi-Processor) Benchmark : No
Total Test Threads : 2
Multi-Core Test : Yes
SMT (Multi-Threaded) Benchmark : No
Processor Affinity : P0C0T0 P0C1T0 
System Timer : 3.1GHz
Page Size : 4kB
Use Large Memory Pages : No
Processor
Model : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+
Speed : 3.1GHz
Peak Processing Performance (PPP) : 24.8GFLOPS
Adjusted Peak Performance (APP) : 7.44WG
Cores per Processor : 2 Unit(s)
Type : Dual-Core
Integrated Data Cache : 2x 64kB, Synchronous, Write-Back, 2-way, Exclusive, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 512kB, ECC, Synchronous, Write-Back, 16-way, Exclusive, 64 byte line size
Memory Controller
Integrated in Processor : Yes
Speed : 3.1GHz
Features
SSE Technology : Yes
SSE2 Technology : Yes
SSE3 Technology : Yes
Supplemental SSE3 Technology : No
SSE4.1 Technology : No
SSE4.2 Technology : No
AVX - Advanced Vector eXtensions : No
FMA - Fused Multiply/Add eXtensions : No
SSE4A Technology : No
FMA4 - 4 Operands Fused Multiply/Add eXtensions : No
HTT - Hyper-Threading Technology : No
Chipset
Model : AMD Athlon 64 / Opteron HT Hub
Revision : A1
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 1GHz (2GHz)
In/Out Width : 16-bit / 16-bit
Maximum Bus Bandwidth : 7.81GB/s
Logical/Chipset Memory Banks
Bank 0 : 1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 1T
Bank 1 : 1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 1T
Channels : 2
Bank Interleave : 2-way
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 310MHz (620MHz)
Multiplier : 1/10x
Width : 64-bit
Integrated in Processor : Yes
Cores per Memory Controller : 2 Unit(s)
Maximum Memory Bus Bandwidth : 9.69GB/s
Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-8500U DDR2-1066 (5-4-4-15 3-18-5-3)
Memory Module : OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-8500U DDR2-1066 (5-4-4-15 3-18-5-3)

Same test with 4 gigs
Code:
SiSoftware Sandra
Benchmark Results
Cache/Memory Bandwidth : 12.86GB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Speed Factor : 62.80
Results Interpretation : Lower scores are better.
Cache Information
Integrated Data Cache : 74.25GB/s
L2 On-board Cache : 20.5GB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Performance vs. Speed
Cache/Memory Bandwidth : 4.25MB/s/MHz
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Performance vs. Power
Processor(s)/Chipset(s)/Memory Power : 109.62W
Cache/Memory Bandwidth : 120.11MB/s/W
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Float iSSE2 Cache/Memory Results Breakdown
Data Item Size : 16bytes
Buffering Used : No
Offset Displacement : Yes
Detailed Benchmark Results
2kB Blocks : 44.2GB/s
4kB Blocks : 43.48GB/s
8kB Blocks : 45.52GB/s
16kB Blocks : 200.9GB/s
32kB Blocks : 74.32GB/s
64kB Blocks : 37GB/s
128kB Blocks : 34.46GB/s
256kB Blocks : 22.5GB/s
512kB Blocks : 18.5GB/s
1MB Blocks : 11.12GB/s
4MB Blocks : 3.4GB/s
16MB Blocks : 3.23GB/s
64MB Blocks : 3.2GB/s
256MB Blocks : 3.24GB/s
Performance Test Status
Result ID : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ (2C, 3.1GHz, 3.1GHz IMC, 2x 512kB L2); nVidia GeForce 8200 (MCP78S) Memory Controller; 2x 2GB OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G DIMM DDR2 (620MHz) PC2-8500 (5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3)
Platform Compliance : x86
Total Memory : 3.25GB
NUMA Support : No
SMP (Multi-Processor) Benchmark : No
Total Test Threads : 2
Multi-Core Test : Yes
SMT (Multi-Threaded) Benchmark : No
Processor Affinity : P0C0T0 P0C1T0 
System Timer : 3.1GHz
Page Size : 4kB
Use Large Memory Pages : No
Processor
Model : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+
Speed : 3.1GHz
Peak Processing Performance (PPP) : 24.8GFLOPS
Adjusted Peak Performance (APP) : 7.44WG
Cores per Processor : 2 Unit(s)
Type : Dual-Core
Integrated Data Cache : 2x 64kB, Synchronous, Write-Back, 2-way, Exclusive, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 512kB, ECC, Synchronous, Write-Back, 16-way, Exclusive, 64 byte line size
Memory Controller
Integrated in Processor : Yes
Speed : 3.1GHz
Features
SSE Technology : Yes
SSE2 Technology : Yes
SSE3 Technology : Yes
Supplemental SSE3 Technology : No
SSE4.1 Technology : No
SSE4.2 Technology : No
AVX - Advanced Vector eXtensions : No
FMA - Fused Multiply/Add eXtensions : No
SSE4A Technology : No
FMA4 - 4 Operands Fused Multiply/Add eXtensions : No
HTT - Hyper-Threading Technology : No
Chipset
Model : AMD Athlon 64 / Opteron HT Hub
Revision : A1
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 1GHz (2GHz)
In/Out Width : 16-bit / 16-bit
Maximum Bus Bandwidth : 7.81GB/s
Logical/Chipset Memory Banks
Bank 0 : 1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 2T
Bank 1 : 1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 2T
Bank 2 : 1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 2T
Bank 3 : 1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 2T
Channels : 2
Bank Interleave : 4-way
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 310MHz (620MHz)
Multiplier : 1/10x
Width : 64-bit
Integrated in Processor : Yes
Cores per Memory Controller : 2 Unit(s)
Maximum Memory Bus Bandwidth : 9.69GB/s
Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-8500U DDR2-1066 (5-4-4-15 3-18-5-3)
Memory Module : OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-8500U DDR2-1066 (5-4-4-15 3-18-5-3)
Memory Module : OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-8500U DDR2-1066 (5-4-4-15 3-18-5-3)
Memory Module : OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-8500U DDR2-1066 (5-4-4-15 3-18-5-3)

Different benchmark with 2 gigs
Code:
SiSoftware Sandra
Benchmark Results
Aggregate Memory Performance : 114.48GB/s
Integer Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 5.83GB/s
Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 223.12GB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Performance vs. Speed
Aggregate Memory Performance : 189.08MB/s/MHz
Integer Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 9.64MB/s/MHz
Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 368.51MB/s/MHz
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Performance vs. Power
Chipset(s)/Memory Power : 20.13W
Aggregate Memory Performance : 5823.50MB/s/W
Integer Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 296.82MB/s/W
Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 11350.17MB/s/W
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Capacity vs Power
Memory Capacity : 102MB/W
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Integer Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth
Assignment : 6.15GB/s
Scaling : 6GB/s
Addition : 5.57GB/s
Triad : 5.53GB/s
Data Item Size : 16bytes
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 60.23%
Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth
Assignment : 314.28GB/s
Scaling : 550.36GB/s
Addition : 14GB/s
Triad : 14GB/s
Data Item Size : 16bytes
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 2303.22%
Performance Test Status
Result ID : nVidia GeForce 8200 (MCP78S) Memory Controller; 2x 1GB OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G DIMM DDR2 (620MHz) PC2-8500 (5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3)
Platform Compliance : x86
Total Memory : 2GB
Memory Used by Test : 256MB
NUMA Support : No
SMP (Multi-Processor) Benchmark : No
Total Test Threads : 2
Multi-Core Test : Yes
SMT (Multi-Threaded) Benchmark : No
Processor Affinity : P0C0T0 P0C1T0 
System Timer : 3.1GHz
Page Size : 4kB
Use Large Memory Pages : No
Features
SSE Technology : Yes
SSE2 Technology : Yes
SSE3 Technology : Yes
Supplemental SSE3 Technology : No
SSE4.1 Technology : No
SSE4.2 Technology : No
AVX - Advanced Vector eXtensions : No
FMA - Fused Multiply/Add eXtensions : No
SSE4A Technology : No
FMA4 - 4 Operands Fused Multiply/Add eXtensions : No
HTT - Hyper-Threading Technology : No
Chipset
Model : AMD Athlon 64 / Opteron HT Hub
Revision : A1
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 1GHz (2GHz)
In/Out Width : 16-bit / 16-bit
Maximum Bus Bandwidth : 7.81GB/s
Logical/Chipset Memory Banks
Bank 0 : 1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 1T
Bank 1 : 1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 1T
Channels : 2
Bank Interleave : 2-way
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 310MHz (620MHz)
Multiplier : 1/10x
Width : 64-bit
Integrated in Processor : Yes
Cores per Memory Controller : 2 Unit(s)
Maximum Memory Bus Bandwidth : 9.69GB/s
Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-8500U DDR2-1066 (5-4-4-15 3-18-5-3)
Memory Module : OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-8500U DDR2-1066 (5-4-4-15 3-18-5-3)

Same benchmark with 4 gigs
Code:
SiSoftware Sandra
Benchmark Results
Aggregate Memory Performance : 40GB/s
Integer Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 74GB/s
Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 6GB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Performance vs. Speed
Aggregate Memory Performance : 65.95MB/s/MHz
Integer Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 122.10MB/s/MHz
Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 9.80MB/s/MHz
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Performance vs. Power
Chipset(s)/Memory Power : 22.92W
Aggregate Memory Performance : 1784.03MB/s/W
Integer Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 3302.92MB/s/W
Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 265.14MB/s/W
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Capacity vs Power
Memory Capacity : 179MB/W
Results Interpretation : Higher scores are better.
Integer Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth
Assignment : 261.28GB/s
Scaling : 6.38GB/s
Addition : 14GB/s
Triad : 14GB/s
Data Item Size : 16bytes
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 763.14%
Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth
Assignment : 6.23GB/s
Scaling : 6.23GB/s
Addition : 5.61GB/s
Triad : 5.66GB/s
Data Item Size : 16bytes
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 61.26%
Performance Test Status
Result ID : nVidia GeForce 8200 (MCP78S) Memory Controller; 2x 2GB OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G DIMM DDR2 (620MHz) PC2-8500 (5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3)
Platform Compliance : x86
Total Memory : 3.25GB
Memory Used by Test : 256MB
NUMA Support : No
SMP (Multi-Processor) Benchmark : No
Total Test Threads : 2
Multi-Core Test : Yes
SMT (Multi-Threaded) Benchmark : No
Processor Affinity : P0C0T0 P0C1T0 
System Timer : 3.1GHz
Page Size : 4kB
Use Large Memory Pages : No
Features
SSE Technology : Yes
SSE2 Technology : Yes
SSE3 Technology : Yes
Supplemental SSE3 Technology : No
SSE4.1 Technology : No
SSE4.2 Technology : No
AVX - Advanced Vector eXtensions : No
FMA - Fused Multiply/Add eXtensions : No
SSE4A Technology : No
FMA4 - 4 Operands Fused Multiply/Add eXtensions : No
HTT - Hyper-Threading Technology : No
Chipset
Model : AMD Athlon 64 / Opteron HT Hub
Revision : A1
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 1GHz (2GHz)
In/Out Width : 16-bit / 16-bit
Maximum Bus Bandwidth : 7.81GB/s
Logical/Chipset Memory Banks
Bank 0 : 1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 2T
Bank 1 : 1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 2T
Bank 2 : 1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 2T
Bank 3 : 1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 2T
Channels : 2
Bank Interleave : 4-way
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 310MHz (620MHz)
Multiplier : 1/10x
Width : 64-bit
Integrated in Processor : Yes
Cores per Memory Controller : 2 Unit(s)
Maximum Memory Bus Bandwidth : 9.69GB/s
Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-8500U DDR2-1066 (5-4-4-15 3-18-5-3)
Memory Module : OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-8500U DDR2-1066 (5-4-4-15 3-18-5-3)
Memory Module : OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-8500U DDR2-1066 (5-4-4-15 3-18-5-3)
Memory Module : OCZ OCZ2N1066SR1G 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-8500U DDR2-1066 (5-4-4-15 3-18-5-3)
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
1: you changed from:
2x1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 1T
to:
4x1GB DIMM DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-19-5-3 2T

2T is slower than 1T... however, at the 4x1 config you have improved a lot of the underlying speed. Most tests (largely to do with bandwidth) have improved. A few tests went down (largely due to dropping to 2T... you probably can't get it stable at 1T with all 4 though).

This is actually a little unexpected, it is generally known that having more sticks will result in slower ram... however do keep in mind:
1. your changes are infinitesimal.
2. a MAJOR change in ram speed still has infinitesimal effect on the performance of the computer (unless it is a bottleneck, but home usage and your kind of ram this isn't an issue)
3. an increase of ram amount has a major improvement in the performance of the machine...

Conclusions:
1. you seem to be reading it wrong, because to me it clearly seems that while some aspects of the ram are now slower, most are faster.
2. even if it is a little "slower", the computer will be faster with the 4gb then with the 2gb