A first look
The question is, does 2GB of system RAM prove worthwhile in a consumer setup?. That's what we'll try to answer during the course of this review.
It's expensive stuff, especially with current DRAM pricing still way above what it was a couple of months ago, so OCZ's packaging needs to be good. Each module sits inside a plastic shell that only provides adequate protection at best. It's designed for retail display, and online vendors will need to be attentive to packaging when dispatching it.
OCZ continues to use copper heatspreaders that should eliminate DRAM hot spots and look tasty into the bargain. The sheer weight of each module gives it an ostentatious feel. Each heatspreader is attached to the DRAM chips underneath via some rather sticky thermal tape. 'Spreaders from both sides then clamp together at the top to provide a second affixing and securing method. The shinyness of each module's 'spreader can be seen in this shot.
From a performance perspective, OCZ's PC3200 2GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit isn't going to break any pure benchmarking records, so the Performance Series nomenclature is a misnomer. Latencies of 3-3-3-8 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS, respectively) will dent probable performance, but 1GB DRAMs, due to their internal density, will help limit the loss to, say, low-latency 2-3-2-6 memory.
Each module features 16 chips (64Mx8) that are arranged with 8 on each side. What's important to note here is that it's regular DDR400 unbuffered non-ECC memory that will work in a wide range of modern motherboards. Most 1GB sticks are usually registered, use ECC, or both. Think of the various consumer-level chipsets from VIA, Intel, SiS, NVIDIA and ATI that support DDR400 memory. OCZ's memory is designed to work in every one. With two equal DRAM modules making up a pack, OCZ also markets it as a dual-channel pack, that is, guaranteed to work in chipsets that run 2 memory channels.
Official specifications
It's pretty much what you would expect. Huge capacity that's wrapped inside a couple of good-looking heatspreaders.
