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Test Setup

For this review, we again chose the best performing Intel 975X motherboard we had in house, our excellent Asus P5W DH, and paired it with an Intel Quad Core QX6700!  Needless to say, this should prove extremely interesting, interesting indeed.

Benchmarks

Software used during testing consisted of the following:

• Windows XP Professional
• NVIDIA ForceWare 94.19 graphics drivers 
• RightMark Memory Analyzer
• SiSoft Sandra 2007
• WinRAR
• Doom 3

In order to keep the testing as fair as possible, we will use the following test platform:

• Intel Core 2 Quad QX6700 (Kentsfield) 2.66GHZ 1066MHZ FSB 8MB L2
• Asus P5W DH Deluxe motherboard
• Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC2-8000 memory
• Corsair PC2-8500 memory
• SuperTalent low latency PC-6400 2GB memory 
• G.Skill PC2-6400 4-4-3-5 memory (the memory being reviewed today)
• XFX GeForce 7800 GT video card
• Corsair HX620W modular power supply

As normal, we'll discuss our overclocking adventures at the end of the article. However, for the results you'll see in the following pages we include overclocked benchmarks to show you what gains you could expect if you also achieved similar overclocks - our test sytems were all stable at the settings shown with air cooling, thanks to our Noctua NH-U 12 CPU cooler. The chart labels incorporate a lot of information about the test configuration. The first line shows the socket type and the model of the processor. Since all the processors shown are dual/quad core devices, we did not specify that on the charts, but simply the processor type for reader reference.

The second line shows the "FSB/HT clock rate" x "CPU multiplier" and the effective DDR memory speed. Please note that all DDR2 tests were run at 4-4-4-12 timings where possible.

Methodology

As usual, I will be concentrating on seeing how far I can push the G.SKILL PC6400 memory compared to these other  DIMM's at 4-4-4-12, and once I know the maximum speed, what the best timing it can manage is.

Ok, enough talking... let's get on with the testing!