Enter the stratosphere
DDR3-1,800 (PC3-14,400)
2GB kits (2x 1GB)
Crucial
Ballistix DDR3 PC3-14400
- 8-8-8-24 latencies - Ballistix heatspreaders - EPP - 1.9V
- £93.14
@ Crucial (£119.91, £90.34)
4GB kits (2x
2GB)
OCZ
Platinum PC3-1440
- 8-8-8-27 latencies - XTC heatspreaders - 1.9V
- £173.36
@ Crucial.co.uk (£230.39, £186.34)
Value is not an adjective that we'll be attaching to DDR3-1,800 memory
any time soon. Prices have come down, but at £173 for a 4GB
kit, it's difficult to recommend.
DDR3-2,000 (PC3-16,000)
DDR3-2,000 remains the domain of the enthusiast that, well, isn't motivated by value for money. The super-niche product is validated for NVIDIA's nForce 790i Ultra chipset (EPP2.0) and used to promote the ability of the manufacturer to keep up with the latest technology.
We may still see a handful of Core i7 kits released but don't hold your breath
2GB kits (2x 1GB)
OCZ
Platinum - 9-9-9-28 latencies - 1.8V - EPP2.0 - XTC
heatspreaders - £101.60
@ MemoryC (£88.92, £122.96)
4GB kits (2x
2GB)
OCZ
Platinum - 9-9-9-28 latencies - 1.8V - XTC heatspreaders -
EPP2.0 - £176.41
@ MemoryC (£241.51, £224.18)
It's interesting to note that OCZ kits are significantly cheaper than
other vendors', available from MemoryC.
No Core i7 kits means that it's highly improbable we'll be
seeing
DDR3-2,000MHz+ with 1.65V: the chips just aren't there in volume.
Again, these modules are hard to recommend to anyone other than a very
select niche of users who value - or not, as the case may be - the last
ounce of performance.
Summary
We've also seen the emergence of 8GB kits in the last three
months, although, for the most part, they're simply four
2GB modules packaged together, rather than two 4GB sticks.
The 4GB Crucial DDR3-1,066 CL7 is good value at
£79.34, and
you could purchase a total of eight sticks, for 8GB of DDR3 RAM, for
around £160.
Following on from the advice in November, as it stands, even now, the
speed benefits of DDR3 are still outweighed
by the
cost; we'd rather but the extra money towards a larger hard drive or
better graphics card, unless, that is, you really need some Core i7
lovin' in your box.
