OCZ Technology is well known for their high performance computer memory, and their reputation continues to grow with their vast line up of products. Reviews at Bigbruin.com have found their DDR memory to be quite impressive, and this is the first time we are taking a look at their DDR2 memory.
Up for review today are two 1024MB dual channel kits from the
OCZ Technology "XTC" line up. We will be looking at both the 2x 512MB PC2 5400 EL Gold Edition GX XTC DDR2 kit and the 2x 512MB PC2 5400 EL Platinum Edition XTC DDR2 kit. These kits have many features in common, and from reading the previous sentence you can only distinguish them by the precious metail coloring OCZ has assigned to them.
We will get into the similarities and differences of the two kits as we go through the review, and hopefully some of the OCZ specific acronyms will be cleared up too. Before we get into the heart of the review, let's see what OCZ has to say about each of these kits...
Specifications (taken from the OCZ Technology website):
Gold Specifications:
» 667MHz DDR2
» CL 4-4-4-12 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)
» Also available in a 512MB and 1GB module
» Unbuffered
» Gold Layered XTC Heatspreader*
» Lifetime Warranty
» 1.9 Volts
» 240 Pin DIMM
» EVP**
Platinum Specifications:
» 667MHz DDR2
» CL 3-3-3-15 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)
» Available 1GB(2x512)and 2GB(2x1024) Dual Channel Optimized Kits
» Unbuffered
» Platinum Mirrored XTC Heatspreader*
» Lifetime Warranty
» 2.1 Volts
» 240 Pin DIMM
» OCZ Enhanced Latency Technology
» EVP**
* XTC (Xtreme Thermal Convection) heatspreaders optimize the thermal management of memory modules by promoting greater airflow by means of micro-convection throughout what is usually the dead air space inside conventional heatspreader designs. In this manner, build-up of heat is avoided and thermal dissipation of the memory components is offloaded more efficiently through the honeycomb design. At the same time, mechanical stability is maintained.
**OCZ EVP (Extended Voltage Protection) is a feature that allows performance enthusiasts to use a VDIMM of 2.2V ± 5% without invalidating their OCZ Lifetime Warranty.
As you can see, the two sets are quite similar in most key areas. The main difference is the rated timings of 4-4-4-12 on the Gold and 3-3-3-15 on the Platinum. The Platinum timing appears to be a typo, as we will see later the actual modules say 12 instead of 15, and testing confirms that this is correct. The Gold series is rated for 1.9 Volts while the Platinum series is rated for 2.1 Volts, but both come with OCZ's Extended Voltage Protection (EVP), which allows for you to supply up to 2.2 Volts to either set without issues in reliability or warranty coverage.
