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OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Gold GX XTC Memory |
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Contributed by Ronald
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Dec 30, 2005 at 12:00 AM |
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OCZ Technology is one of the choice memory provides when it boils down
to performance. They have been providing memory products for quite a
while now and have a strong reputation. Their memory is ideal for
gaming enthusiasts as well as those looking for that extra performance
boost from their computer system. OCZ Technology also tailors their
products to consumers on a budget as well no matter if you're looking
for a simple memory upgrade or not. No matter which product you
choose, you know you are getting your money's worth.
The OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Gold GX XTC Memory may seem like just seem like a fancy title at first, but there's more to it than just a simple memory upgrade. With its new heat spreader design as well as the very tight 2-2-2 timings, you have some memory that is attractive towards enthusiasts looking for quality DDR 400 memory.
The packaging is nothing fancy, but gets the job done. The product sat in a clear plastic container with the actual memory showing at the front. The packaging does emphasize the important things to expect from OCZ Technology and their products. This product has a lifetime warranty and has been vigorously tested for quality. Not to mention, there is also free technical support. Free technical support is something graciously accepted, but most users will probably not have to use it since it is mostly used only in cases where the memory is not working. Besides the free support, what is the most important of all that makes OCZ what it is today is the performance of the product.
The product received was a total of 1 Gigabyte of memory with 512 MB of memory on each stick. This memory is capable of operating in dual channel mode which effectively provide twice the bandwidth. In addition, this is the PC-3200 (DDR 400) version of the product.
The 'XTC' abbreviation stands for Xtreme Thermal Convection and is basically the name for the newly redesigned heat spreaders. Typical memory with heat spreaders are composed of thin solid pieces of aluminum placed right on the memory chips. The new Xtreme Thermal Convection design is not a plain heat spreader. It is composed of a honeycomb design which create very tiny holes. This supposedly provides better airflow between the heat spreader and the actual memory chip resulting in better heat dissipation. At the center of the heat sink is the 'Z' logo representing the 'Z' in the OCZ name.
When the memory is installed, in my case, they were placed together barely fitting right next to each other. Notice the extremely small gap between both memory modules.
The installation procedure of this memory will vary depending on the type of motherboard you have. In order for dual channel mode to be active, both memory modules need to be in the right slots on your motherboard. In some cases, the memory will be installed back-to-back right next to each. There are also cases where there may be an empty slot in between the memory modules. You will need to refer to the documentation of your motherboard to verify the correct slots to use to ensure the memory will be recognized and have dual channel enabled.
Being able to take advantage of the full specifications of the memory will depend on the quality of your motherboard as well as the type of BIOS it has. This memory requires a voltage of 2.8V, which is a bit higher than your typical standard memory that you put in your computer. In addition, not all motherboards support the tight memory timings of 2-2-2-5. In order to meet the required voltage, it is recommended to have a motherboard whose BIOS can modify the voltage being used for the memory. In addition, you want to be sure the motherboard does support timings of 2-2-2-5.
I tested the memory on my test system composed of a 3500+ AMD Venice core processor with an ASRock 939 Dual SATA2 motherboard. I first tested the performance of the memory using Sisoft Sandra and it showed a solid performance. The performance was very comparable to an Intel chipset using much faster DDR2 memory. This definitely shows how the on-chip memory controller on the AMD 64 processor can have a big impact on the performance. The results showed a high bandwidth efficiency of 75%.
The more important question some may wonder is whether the tighter memory timings have a great impact on performance? I re-ran the Sisoft Sandra test and the benchmark results showed very little difference compared with the previous benchmark. This is true since memory timings involve how long it takes to access the memory and does not involve the bandwidth of the memory.
With a PowerColor X800 Pro, I used the 3DMark03 benchmark. The results showed a competent score of 10258.
Conclusion
The OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 memory is a nice change from the typical look of heat sinks on memory modules. Even thought the heat sinks are very warm to the touch, it seems to help because my system is still running stable and efficiently with the memory. The lifetime warranty of the memory also gives peace of mind to those since memory is still considered quite a bit of an investment in terms of price. I looked at the price of the memory at TigerDirect.com and this memory seels for about $85 for 512 MB. Considering that this is performance memory and that memory is one of most important components in a computer system, this price is still very reasonable. This memory performed very well and I look forward to OCZ's next memory offerings.
I rate this 8/10.
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Last Updated ( Dec 14, 2006 at 01:58 AM )
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