OCZ’s 2GB PC2-8000 Memory Kit Reviewed

Does 1GHz Memory Improve Performance?

by Anton Shilov

[ 04/19/2006 | 03:43 PM ]

The competition in the market of high-performance memory is exceptionally intense these days as customers who want to have the fastest computers possible are eager to pay not only for the fastest processors or top-of-the-range graphics cards, but also for the highest-speed memory modules.

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Recently a number of memory stick producers, including such well-known as Corsair and OCZ Technology, unveiled their 1GHz memory module kits with 2GB capacities. While the 1000MHz speed-bin has been available for DDR2 memory for more than a year already, it was achievable only by 512MB memory modules, whereas 1GB sticks surpassed the milestone only about a month and half ago.

Hexus.net web-site has reviewed OCZ’s DDR2 PC2-8000 Platinum XTC Extreme Edition modules – a 2GB kit running at 1GHz speed. The author compared the 1000MHz modules with CL4 5-4-15 latency settings against 667MHz modules with CL3 2-2-8 timings to reveal whether extreme clock-speeds actually matter.

It turned out that while in synthetic benchmarks the 1000MHz modules were noticeably faster compared to their 667MHz brethren, in games like Doom III or Far Cry the performance delta was negligible on a system equipped with Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 955 processor overclocked to 3504MHz and ATI Radeon X1800 XL graphics card.

“…It’s aimed at enthusiasts who want to clock the absolute living daylights out of their systems and still have lots bandwidth on tap. We've said this before but it bears reiterating: OCZ's PC2-8000 Platinum XTC Extreme Edition is a very niche product for a niche market that make up a small proportion of users. […] Summing it up in a word is easy enough. That word is extreme,” Hexus.net concluded.

• Hexus.net: OCZ Technology DDR2 PC2-8000 Platinum XTC Extreme Edition.