Product(s): Aeneon XTune 2GB DD3 1333 CL8 Memory
Provided By: Aeneon
Price: MSRP ~$400.00 USD

 

Now the name Aeneon might not be all that familiar to some, but chances are pretty good if you've followed the computer memory market for a while you've heard of Qimonda memory, and Aeneon is just the newest sub-company from Qimonda, and is aimed to be a high-end enthusiast aimed line of memory.

Qimonda has been around for quite some time, and their brand of Aeneon XTune memory is marketed to be high-quality memory for high-end systems, let's see how this memory works in our testing and if it can live up to those promises...

 

First Impressions:

Well, this memory looks pretty much like any other memory on the market, and really, who cares about looks anyways? If it's good memory most people could care less what it looked like, its all about the performance. But if you're worried about how it looks, you won't be disappointed, this memory has a nice black heatspreader on it and looks nice and classy.

 

Aeneon Xtune DDR3 1333 - Installed

 

Lets move on to the testing.

 

Aeneon XTune 2GB DDR3 1333 Memory Specifications:

Specifications are taken from Aeneon.com

Product: AXH760UD00-13G

128M x 64-bit DDR3-1333 based on 16 components 64M x 8-bit DDR3 FBGA components.

The single module is tested to run at DDR3-1333 at a latency timing of 8-8-8-15 at the standard DDR3 voltage
value of 1.5 V.

The Dual Channel Kit is coming with two identical modules tested together in DUAL CHANNEL MODE at
DDR3-1333 at a latency timing of 8-8-8-15 on several platforms.

 

Features:

• 2 x 1GB Memory Modules in Dual Channel Kit
• 240-Pin Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) with Gold Contact
• Highest Quality Heat Spreader for preventing critical operating temperatures

 

Specification:

Parameter	Standard
Average Clock Period tCK with CL=8; CWL=7	1.5 ns (min.) / 1.875 ns (max.)
Activate to read/write delay tRCD	12 ns (min.)
Row cycle time tRC	48 ns (min.)
Refresh row cycle time tRFC	90 ns (min.)
Row active time tRAS	36 ns (min.) / 70200 ns (max.)
Single power supply VDD = VDDQ	1.5 V ± 0.075 V
Module dimensions	L x W x H 133.35 mm x 30.0 mm x 4.0 mm (max.)

 

 

 

Aeneon XTune 2GB DDR3 1333 Mhz Memory - Test Setup:

In this section we will have the setup of the system for our testing. I have provided separate configurations for each of the speeds we have tested the Aeneon XTune 2GB 1333 Mhz Memory kit at (1066, 1200, 1333, 1600 Mhz). It is important to note that in order to achieve some of these speeds it required overclocking the FSB, which in turn increases our CPU clock speeds. For all my testing I allowed the Asus Maximus Extreme motherboard to determine the timings that each test was run at.

 

Test System:

 

• Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (2.93Ghz) - Provided by Memory Express
• Asus Maximus Extreme Motherboard - Provided by Memory Express
• ATI HD 2600 Video Card- Provided by Memory Express
• 2 GB Kit of Aeneon XTune DDR3 1333 Memory - Provided by Aeneon
• Western Digital 250 gig (16 MB Cache)
• Enermax Liberty 500W Modular Power Supply

 

 

Aeneon XTune 2GB DDR3 1333 Mhz Memory - Test Setup (1066Mhz Testing) 

For our testing at 1066 Mhz we have left our FSB and CPU Core at stock speeds, and have been able to tighten up the timings a little (7-7-7-20). For current generation CPU's this is probably the speeds you will be running your memory at (1066 Mhz).

 

Aeneon Xtune DDR3 1333 - CPU Settings @ 1066 Mhz Testing

Aeneon Xtune DDR3 1333 - Memory Settings @ 1066 Mhz Testing

 

Aeneon XTune 2GB DDR3 1333 Mhz Memory - Test Setup (1200 Mhz Testing):

For the 1200 Mhz testing we have taken the FSB from 267 Mhz up a little to 300 Mhz, and as a result the core speed has been increased by about 10%. This is a pretty conservative FSB increase for our system, and the timings have been set at 8-8-8-24. The rated speeds are 8-8-8-15, however the Asus Maximus Extreme motherboard liked to automatically set it to 8-8-8-24, for my testing I left it at the automatic settings that the Asus board wanted it at.

 

Aeneon Xtune DDR3 1333 - CPU Settings @ 1200 Mhz Testing

Aeneon Xtune DDR3 1333 - Memory Settings @ 1200 Mhz Testing

 

Aeneon XTune 2GB DDR3 1333 Mhz Memory - Test Setup (1333 Mhz Testing):

For the 1333 Mhz testing we have taken the FSB of the test system to 334 Mhz (Stock = 267 Mhz), and our CPU Core speed has been increased by about 20% as a result. The timings are set at stock speeds (8-8-8-24).

Aeneon Xtune DDR3 1333 - CPU Settings @ 1333 Mhz Testing

Aeneon Xtune DDR3 1333 - Memory Settings @ 1333 Mhz Testing

 

Aeneon XTune 2GB DDR3 1333 Mhz Memory - Test Setup (1600 Mhz Testing):

For the overclocking testing we have taken the FSB of the test rig up to 400 Mhz (Stock = 267 Mhz), which is quite a substantial overclock, and therefore we had to drop the Multiplier from 11 down to 8 to make this possible. The core speed is still a bit faster than stock, but still under 10% over stock speed. The timings of the memory have had to be increased from 8-8-8-24 up to 9-9-9-24 to run at this speed. It is also noteworthy that I did not have to increase the voltage to achieve this overclock, it remained at 1.5 volts.

 

Aeneon Xtune DDR3 1333 - CPU Settings @ 1600 Mhz Testing

Aeneon Xtune DDR3 1333 - Memory Settings @ 1600 Mhz Testing

 

 

Aeneon XTune 2GB DDR3 1333 Mhz Memory - Test Results:

For our testing I have used Sisoft Sandra XII Memory benchmarks, as well as the memory benchmarks from Everest Ultimate. Both of these benchmarking utilities should be pretty similar, and should give us a good indication what this memory can do. As you will be able to see in the charts we have tested this kit of memory at 4 different speeds (1066, 1200, 1333, 1600 Mhz), and it will be interesting to see the performance differences at different speeds.

 

Sisoft Sandra XII - All tests results in MB/s

 

Everest Ultimate - All test results in MB/s

 

Well, as you can see in our testing, this memory performed pretty well. Memory performance is a tough thing to put into a chart, as many benchmarks (3dmark06, PCMark Vantage, etc) test overall system performance, and with so many components performance being combined for a final score, it's tough to be able to tell what impact memory is having. In both our Everest and Sisoft testing we have used their memory tests and hopefully it gives a pretty good indication what this memory can do.

What do all these numbers mean in the end? Well, if you refer back to some of our older DDR2 reviews (Supertalent DDR2 1000 Kit for example) you will see that memory bandwidth is a bit higher, but the biggest increase you will see is when you are able to run your FSB at higher speeds, which in turn increases you CPU clock speeds, and in the end increases overall system performance significantly.

Aeneon XTune 2GB DDR3 1333 Mhz Memory - Final Thoughts:

Testing RAM and putting the results into a chart is pretty tough, performance between brands is tough to compare since most well-known tests are based heavily on CPU and Video, therefore making a memory choice is tough. As you saw in this review the Aeneon XTune memory performed very well, and I have no complaints, and was overall very impressed, and for our first time testing memory from Aeneon, we were happy with the results. This kit of memory that we have reviewed has a MSRP of ~$400.00 USD, and that price tag is very competitive when compared to other DDR3 brands. 

With the differences between memory brands being close and hard to put into concrete numbers telling you which is best, things such as overclocking ability, stability and quality become important, all of which the Aeneon had no problems with.

Overclocking was pretty surprising for me, I wasn't expecting to be able to take this kit up to 1600 Mhz (DDR3 14400), but I was able to with a bit of tweaking. Anything over 1600 Mhz started to cause some rebooting and crashing, but running at 1600 Mhz stable is pretty decent. Now not all systems will be able to get this kind of overclock, but with the right hardware this kit of memory should have no problem keeping up.

At the end of the day I can very easily give this kit of Aeneon XTune DDR3 1333 Mhz memory our "Top Pick" award, it ran great with no problems, performed very well, was extremely stable, and is a great choice if you're in the market for some new DDR3 memory.

 

Pros:

• Great Performance
• Good Overclocking
• MSRP is Competitively Priced

 

Cons:

• None

 

 

 

I'd like to thank Aeneon for letting us review the XTune 2GB DDR3 1333 kit. If you have any questions, comments, or general feedback, please leave it at the "Comments" link below.