X-bit labs

DDR2 vs. DDR: Revenge Gained (page 8)

Category: Memory

by Ilya Gavrichenkov

[ 12/17/2004 | 01:46 PM ]

GeIL PC2-5300

GeIL also responded to our request and offered us a pair of their 512MB PC2-5300 modules. According to the manufacturer’s website, these modules are intended for 667MHz frequency with 4-4-4-12 timings and 1.9v voltage. These sticks are also claimed to be based on a special PCB that features a low level of electromagnetic interference.

The modules are covered with an aluminum heat-spreader that carries the company’s logo and a sticker with their model number. The heatsinks are glued up with a special sticky heat-conductive pad. GeIL equips some of its modules with a sticker that indicates the temperature of the heat-spreader, but our PC2-5300 sample came without such a sticker.

The modules’ SPD is more informative than the one of Corsair’s modules, but GeIL still does not tell the production date. According to SPD, these modules are operational at 533MHz with 4-4-4-12 timings and at 667MHz with 5-4-4-15 timings. These are somewhat worse parameters compared to those GeIL includes into the specification. Our practical tests revealed that the SPD chip was correct and the manufacturer’s website was wrong. That is, GeIL’s PC2-5300 memory cannot work at 667MHz with 4-4-4-12 timings.

OCZ PC2 4300

OCZ have been very aggressive in the market lately, so we have two pairs of modules from this manufacturer in our labs. The first pair is called OCZ PC2 4300. These modules aren’t anything exceptional, as they are intended to work at 266MHz frequency with 4-4-4-12 timings at the standard voltage of 1.8v. Still, these pair is made according to the traditions of OCZ Technology (manual testing to comply with the specification plus a lifetime warranty).

OCZ PC2 4300 are equipped with two mirror-polished copper heat-spreaders fastened with two steel clips.

These modules do not differ in their parameters from the majority of DDR2-533 memory available, and their “eliteness” doesn’t show up in their SPD: they can work at 533MHz with 4-4-4-11 timings as well as with “weaker” 5-4-4-11 timings.

Well, the noble pedigree of these sticks should have told somewhere and they proved to be exceptionally universal during our tests, supporting a huge number of various operational modes.