OCZ PC2-5400 (DDR667) DDR2 Memory

Memory (DDR4/DDR5) and Storage (SSD/NVMe) 367 Page 9 of 9 Published by

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The Verdict.

OCZ's PC2-5400 Gold series have to be among the fastest and most tweakable available on the market. We gave it a pretty good run for it's money and basically we really worship  this memory, however our CPU simply halts at ~4 GHz or a 275+ FSB. The best way we could push our memory was to lower the multiplier of the CPU and then raise the FSB. On this Intel platform we then reached a memory bandwidth that was amazing. Quite snazzy considering the combo of a (4x200) 800 MHz FSB based CPU :)

We tried changing the timings a little more aggressively at a high FSB, yet the system would mostly fail therefore we left them as they were and decided to raise the FSB and fool around with the system multipliers and memory dividers. Don't get me wrong, the results where astonishingly good though. Basically what we tried to show you in this article is the extra performance you get purely based on faster clocked memory. Mind you that with most scores you saw the processor was running at 3.6 GHz except with the 275 MHz FSB frequency, with the help of a fine mainboard with tweakable BIOS settings (Voltages, multipliers, dividers) you have been able to see what gain you can get.

We maxed out at roughly 733 MHz for the memory as that's where our CPU and mainboard said: "okay Hilbert, here and not a single MegaHertz faster man!"

That was the level where we got issues with booting and Windows. Not even selecting the slowest timings would have gotten get us any further.

Keep one thing in mind though. Reviewing memory is a exceptionally difficult thing to do as every MHz you raise the FSB the CPU frequency will climb also. Obviously you have noticed small differences here and there in performance. But what you need to bare in mind (and I can't say this often enough) is that overclocking is not 'just' highly dependable on your memory, that goes for the majority of the parts and components used in your system. Overclocking simply is not an exact science, there are so many factors like the need for best components and let's not rule out this one ... you need a bit of luck. Our 'combo' for testing this memory is good. We have the ABIT AA8XE mainboard, a P4 that can coop 4 GHz, unlocked multiplier and high FSB capacity. The one thing I'm sure of is that the memory used today fits this little overclocking project quite well as we reached 4 GHz with a standard Intel air cooler on that Prescott Pentium 4.

Granted, the real world performance increase we can really show you is small. But really, look at the overall picture. A 100% fine-tuned overclocked PC will run way faster, the one thing you don't want is that memory being a bottleneck.

Now, all you non overclockers out there that simply want some good memory, go for it. This is 100% compatible, high performance and extreme stable memory, next tot hat

this memory is very competitive at its price level as you'll likely be able to run is as CAS 3 also. These gorgeous 2x512 MB memory modules with 4-4-4-8 timings can be bought at just 150 USD and that is just a beautiful price.

guru3d_edit_125_single_gold.jpgWhen it comes to memory,

timings and frequency my friends are vital, the faster the better. You can see that in titles like Doom 3, Half Life 2 and Halo will benefit from this increase in system memory bandwidth. The memory itself is well built, it has the nice flashy Gold heat spreader and a solid design. Backed up by a life-time warrantee (even with high voltage levels).

This RAM is dreadfully fast, very stable, and extremely overclockable with the right mobo and CPU. Highly recommended!

Product: EL DDR  PC-5400 Gold EditionType: DDR2 675 (4-4-4-8)
Manufacturer: OCZ Technology


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