The Basics:
Below you can see the memory modules after they were removed from the packaging. They arrived undamaged and as you can see the XTC heatspreader is similar to other
OCZ Technology memory modules. I took a close look at the heatspreaders to make sure they were making full contact with the chips and I did not find any gaps where the XTC heatspreader had pulled away from the modules.
Each module includes a sticker on one side that details the model information and the basics of the memory's timings. As you can see here the part number is OCZ22N10662GK, and is rated PC2-8500, 2GB Dual Channel, with 5-5-5-15 timings. OCZ Technology also offers this memory in a PC2-7200 (900MHz) version.
Testing:
To test the performance of the
OCZ Technology PC2-8500 Platinum SLI-Ready Dual Channel DDR2 2GB kit I installed it in a system with the following components:
» AMD X2 4200 AM2 processor
» Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe
» 2x eVGA 7900GTO cards in SLI
» Tagan TurboJet 1100W Power Supply
» 2x 80 GB Hitachi Deskstar SATA 3 Gbps hard drive in RAID 0
» 1x 120 GB Seagate 7200.9 SATA 3 Gbps hard drive
» Memorex DVD/CDRW
» 10-in-1 Media Card reader
» Cooler Master CoolDrive IV
» Fans: 2x120mm LED
Before I began any testing I verified the BIOS was reporting the correct default timings of 5-5-5-15 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS) @ 800MHz. The Asus BIOS was reporting the correct default settings, but I did notice that the modules were being supplied less voltage than specified, so I adjusted the setting to 2.1V. However, at stock speeds the voltage had no affect on the RAM and it ran fine with less. I did need to make one adjustment to my BIOS which was to enable the nVidia SLI enhanced EPP. Also, the Asus M2N32-SLI is not capable of running this memory at full speed, it is being underclocked from the base 1066MHz to 800MHz.
I also used Everest Ultimate Edition 2006 Memory Benchmark to verify the BIOS was reporting the speed correctly (prior to enabling EPP). As you can see here, Everest reported the same speed as the BIOS, but you should notice that once I enable EPP, Everest reports the EPP settings (which does over-ride settings in the BIOS). As you can see here, the EPP setting has overclocked the memory for me. The RAM is running at DDR2-1066 speeds with 5-5-5-15 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS) timings! EPP even overvolted the memory from the forced 2.1V to 2.3V.
