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Intel's Second Generation Core processors, based on the Sandy Bridge architecture, include a number of improvements over the previous generation's Nehalem architecture. We’ll be testing one specific area today: the improved memory controller. Current Sandy Bridge based processors officially support up to DDR3-1333 memory. Unfortunately, due to changes in the architecture, using faster rated memory (or overclocking memory) on Sandy Bridge via raising the base clock is extremely limited. Luckily, there are additional memory multipliers that support DDR3-1600, DDR3-1866, and DDR3-2133 memory. Some motherboards include support for even higher memory multipliers, but we’ll confine our investigations to DDR3-2133 and below.

Since Sandy Bridge is rated for up to DDR3-1333 memory, we will start there and work our way up to DDR3-2133 memory. We'll also be testing a variety of common CAS latency options for these memory speeds. Our purpose is to show how higher bandwidth memory affects performance on Sandy Bridge, and how latency changes—or doesn’t change—the picture. More specifically, we’ll be looking at the impact of memory speed on application and gaming performance, with some synthetic memory tests thrown into the mix. We’ll also test some overclocked configurations. So how much difference will lowering the CAS latency make, and does memory performance scale with processor clock speed? Read on to find out.

Congrats to AnandTech reader: awkward for winning G.Skill's 8GB DDR3-1600 memory kit in our last giveaway. Respond to my email to claim your prize! There's still one more chance to win memory, this time we've got a 16GB DDR3-2133 kit from G.Skill. The kit comes with four 4GB DDR3-2133 modules rated at 9-11-9-28 @ 1.65V. The four modules even come with their own fan cooling kit for the aggressive overclockers out there.

Read on for details on how to enter!

Remember our Antec soundscience giveaway? reckert and OMGkragnor were the first two winners, however Antec was so pleased with the number of entries that it gave us an additional two units to give away! Silent_Rage and elessar25 were our two extra winners. Make sure you two respond to my email to claim your prize if you haven't already!

If you didn't win last time, never fear – it's contest time again. G.Skill is back with another pair of giveaways. Today we're giving away a G.Skill Sniper DDR3-1600 memory kit. G.Skill sent an 8GB kit (4GB x 2) rated for 9-9-9-24 operation at a low 1.25V. The kit is ideal for P55/P67 platforms:

Read on for entry rules!

STORAGE VENDOR Texas Memory Systems (TMS) has launched a 1U rackmount 5TB flash-based SAN unit that boasts data transfer speeds of up to 5GB/s.

TMS has been producing flashed based storage area network (SAN) boxes for some time, however the Ramsan-710 is the first in which it has used single layer cell (SLC) flash in a 1U server pizza box to reach the capacity of 5TB. With a claimed transfer speed of 5GBps, the Ramsan-710 can saturate its four 8Gb/s Infiniband interfaces.

To populate the Ramsan-710, TMS uses 32nm SLC NAND flash chips from Toshiba with FPGA controllers from Xilinx and an embedded PowerPC chip that controls the whole lot. As the Ramsan-710 costs a little bit more than your standard solid state disk (SSD) drive, the PowerPC chip is there not only to correct errors but also to provide monitoring information.

As flash memory is still a relatively new technology, questions over its longevity are still being asked, and since customers will shell out tens of thousands of dollars for a Ramsan-710, TMS is keen to predict an expected lifespan of 10 years. The use of more expensive but higher performance and more durable SLC NAND flash memory chips helps support this claim.

Mark Peters, senior analyst at the Enterprise Strategy Group said, “Flash storage is no longer just a tool for those in the rarified IT atmosphere, but is rapidly becoming a standard real-world enabler of both better performance and improved economics.” Peters’ reference to improved economics is not just from raw performance of SSD based SANs but the lower power and heat requirements of flash-based SSD storage media compared to their rotating mechanical platter counterparts.

TMS cites a delivery time of four to eight weeks for the Ramsan-710, but did not mention a price. Frankly, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. µ

EVEN WITH the somewhat slow – due to lack of capacity need – switch to 2Gbit memory chips that enable 4GB DIMMs, the memory module scene wasn’t exactly exciting this past half year. There were no major performance breakthroughs in bandwidth or latency, and the Intel Sandy Bridge processor line still uses basically the same memory frequencies as its predecessors. Also, many of the real high speed choices, like the Geil Evo modules used in my initial Sandy Bridge review, were the 2GB DIMM grade, not 4GB. So, you could choose just speed or capacity, but not both.

Gskill, one of the Taiwanese memory vendors that focused on utmost performance from the early days, is also among the first to launch a module kit that combines both speed and capacity, in addition to Sandy Bridge generation matching. Here I had a quick look at its RipjawsX 8GB PC17000 DDR3-2133 memory kit.

With red coloured heat spreaders, a shiny sticker and slight fins above, the modules look just like any other gaming DIMMs, there’s nothing to really differentiate them in any way. The fins are, luckily, not too high, so the modules can easily fit, even under heat sinks or in more cramped configurations. With the declared 9-11-9-28 latency settings, this RipjawsX edition has timings that would already be considered quite decent for a 4GB two DIMM kit, but are top of the class for any 8GB dual DIMM kit.

I ran the modules on a Gigabyte P67-UD5 mainboard, the variety with the ‘old’ chipset without the SATA fix, and using the Intel Core i7 2600K Sandy Bridge processor. This initial run focused on the memory bandwidth and latency using the Sisoft Sandra 2011 benchmark suite, and was already run before using the Geil Evo kits for the Sandy Bridge review.

Here are the results at 1600MHz and 2133MHz frequencies.

Integer GB/sec            20.8  21.7
Floating-point GB/sec   20.9  21.8
Latency random          52ns 56ns

As you can see, at both 1600 and 2133 speed settings, the numbers are impressive, matching those of top grade 4GB kits. I managed to run the modules at the 1600 setting using 6-7-6-18 latency, again marvellous and the first time it’s been seen on a kit using 4GB modules, as usually these would be at CL8-8-8 or such latencies. At the 2133 frequency, I could still do 9-10-9-26, a little better than the default, while staying at 1.65 volts. Even dropping the DIMM voltage to 1.63 volts kept the same settings stable, but not any voltage below that.

You could argue that having this much memory even in a high end PC isn’t really useful, however there are many usage scenarios these days that do benefit from lots of RAM. Even games are increasingly becoming 64-bit, coded for larger memory support, so it’s not just for multimedia, engineering and such.

In Short
This edition of Gskill RipjawsX memory is the first DIMM we’ve seen to combine high capacity and top performance, both in bandwidth and good latency, enabling 16GB of very high bandwidth RAM on the current quad core Sandy Bridge, and 32GB on the quad channel octo core Sandy Bridge socket 2011 processors coming later in the year. And, if you then have two of those in a dual CPU setup, how about up to 64GB of DDR3-2133 RAM across eight channels on a single board? With these and similar modules, you can. µ

The Good
Combining the best of speed and capacity in one solution.

The Bad
If you want four modules and 16GB of ultrafast RAM like this, it’s going to cost you dearly.

The Ugly
If you get eight of these for 32GB with the coming octo-core chips, it’ll cost as much as the CPU itself.

Bartender’s Score
8/10

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OCZ sent us a 850W power supply to give away and today we've got a winner: LKO. Respond to my email to claim your prize. Now let's give away some memory shall we?

We've been giving away a lot of 4GB kits for AMD and LGA-1156 Intel platforms, but where's all the X58 love? That changes today. G.Skill sent over a 6GB kit, the F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI to be specific. This DDR3-1600 kit is intended for X58 use so if you've got a Gulftown or Nehalem, get ready to enter.

Read on for contest entry details!

It started off as a simple enough memory review, but somewhere along the way we decided to dramatically expand  the scope of our discussion and avoid the monotony of a typical memory piece. The end result? An in-depth look at some of the more fundamental aspects of SDRAM operation. If you'd like to expand your understanding of memory transaction minutia while learning more about which key performance factors need to be tuned and why, then have we got the article for you! Set some good time aside, grab a tall mug of your favorite, frosty beverage, and prepare for an exercise in reasoning. You're not going to want to miss what we have to share.

The giveaways are back! Our previous contest was for a 4GB G.Skill memory kit. The winner? donebu. Check your email and respond to claim your prize

Thanks to G.Skill we have even more memory to give away. Today we've got another 2GB DDR3-1066 SO-DIMM for your notebook. It's the F3-8500CL7S-2GBSQ, you can find the full specs on it here (note that page has multiple products on it, we're giving away the F3-8500CL7S-2GBSQ). You can check out Newegg's listing here.

Read on for details on how to enter.