Centon Advanced A2X1GS3200LLE 2GB Dual Channel Kit -

Introduction

Centon may be a new player in the enthusiast crowd, but they have been a leading OEM supplier for countless years. Our previous experience with the Centon Advanced line was very pleasing. Being a newcomer to the enthusiast crowd, their TCCD based memory overclocked very well and outperformed many of the more familiar names. The only problem behind the Advanced PC3200 TCCD memory was its availability and the aesthetics. I must say that it is quite ugly. The heatspreaders were bland and unappealing to the eye. It would actually have been better if the memory was left bare. Of course, physical appearance has no bearing whatsoever on memory performance, but it does say a lot about the focus of the company as a whole. If the memory is well presented, then that may indicate that the company is really in tune to what enthusiasts want and need. The first impression from the company’s package can be very crucial, especially for me. Anyway, Centon seems to have put in a lot of time developing their new Advanced line and has come up with some great looking modules.

Centon’s makeover has not only changed the overall look of their Advanced line, but it has also added a few new models into their series. One such model is their PC3200 2GB solution. With so many leading memory companies already pumping out great overclocking 2GB kits, the new kid on the block will have heavy competition. Or will they?

Test System and Overclocking

Test System:

• AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice
• DFI LANParty UT nF4 Ultra-D
• 2 x 1GB Centon Advanced PC3200 2GB
• ATI Radeon X800XT
• Arctic Cooling Freezer 64
• Thermaltake PurePower 680W
• BIOS 623-3 and orange slots

Overclocking:

Keep in mind that during overclocking, the latencies are as follows: CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS

I began the overclocking process by making sure the memory can run at the rated speeds and timings. All memory should be able to run the rated speeds and timings if your system hardware is capable. At 200MHz and latencies of 2-3-2-5, the memory was rock solid at a voltage of 2.7v. Bumping up the HTT megahertz, the memory halted at 205MHz. It was not all that impressive for the first run, but that is understandable given the tight timings. I loosened TRP to 3 and managed to squeeze an extra 5MHz out of the memory, to 210MHz. With average latencies of 2.5-3-3-7, the memory skipped along well to 225MHz. I was a little disappointed since the Patriot PC3200LLK 2GB with the same Infineon BE-5 chips was able to hit 255MHz. But as I mentioned before, overclocking results with the Infineon BE-5 chips are inconsistent. The majority of them will top out at 220MHz-230MHz with average timings. I then tried timings of 3-3-3-8 and 3-4-3-8 and both provided no help. It was only with 3-4-4-8 that I was able to max out the memory at 230MHz. All of this was done with just 2.7v. Increased voltage did not help and in some cases even caused unnecessary errors. The overclocking results were not all that exciting.

Overclocking Results:

• 200MHz 2.0-3-2-5 1T 2.7v
• 205MHz 2.0-3-2-5 1T 2.7v
• 210MHz 2.0-3-3-6 1T 2.7v
• 225MHz 2.5-3-3-7 1T 2.7v
• 230MHz 3.0-4-4-8 1T 2.7v

Results

A series of memory intensive benchmarks will be run to test the performance of our sample. The other tests will be based on common benchmark programs, such as 3DMark and PCMark. Real life performance differences will be tested through current games, such as Far Cry and UT2004. Memory bandwidth benchmarks will be based off of SiSoft Sandra and Everest Home Edition. Super PI and PiFast will also be used to test memory performance, as the benchmark benefits largely from FSB increases.

SiSoft Sandra Memory Bandwidth

SiSoft Sandra is the most widely used memory bandwidth test. It can tell you the increase in performance from just lowering the latency timings.

Everest Home Edition

Much like Sandra, Everest Home Edition tests the memory’s ability to read and write data in large chunks. The results show that the lower latencies seem to help just a little with performance.

3DMark2001SE

3DMark is likely the overclocker’s favorite benchmark. Unlike 3DMark2003, which stresses mainly the video card, 3DMark2001SE tests all of the system’s main components. Increasing the CPU speed, memory speed, and video card speeds will result in higher results in the final score.

Results Continued

Far Cry

Since Far Cry is a game, the performance results will be very similar to 3dMark2001. I ran the benchmark at 640x480, so the benchmark would not be too GPU dependent. The tests under 1024x768 and 1280x1024 are an approximation of what kind of frames you’ll be getting. While the results are similar to 3dMark2001 in performance, this benchmark will give more significant results, because Far Cry is a lot more demanding.

Unreal Tournament 2004

Unreal Tournament is another popular game engine to test overall system performance. Here, we can see the same results as Far Cry and 3dMark2001. Like Far Cry, UT2004 was also run at 640x480 to limit GPU dependency. The other resolutions provide an approximation of actual game play performance.

PCMark2002

PCMark is another benchmark created by Futuremark. It tests the memory compression and decompression speeds in small to large chunks of data.

Super PI

Since the value of PI is an infinite value, Super PI is a speed test to find the digit you’re looking for. In this case, we chose the millionth digit. Super PI benefits greatly from higher FSB, as well as low latencies.

PiFast

PiFast is similar to Super PI. The results can be greatly affected by a slight adjustment to the memory megahertz and latency.

Conclusion and Thoughts

The newly revamped Centon Advanced memory went through some major plastic surgery and is now as sexy as Elisha Cuthbert. Aesthetics are not the major selling points when it comes to buying memory, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. The performance of the Advanced PC3200 2GB is above average, but the overclocking headroom is nothing extraordinary. One of the reasons behind the release of the Advanced PC3200 2GB solution is the price. The price tag of the memory is supposed to be extremely affordable and compete closely with Patriot. The Advanced PC3200 2GB is not meant for overclocking. I have received word that Centon is currently working on having an Advanced PC4000 2GB part designed for overclocking enthusiasts. I can hardly wait to see what they have up their sleeves.

We would like to thank Centon for providing us the sample. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to hit us up in the forums. You can also check out more of our latest reviews on the front page.