OCZ Gold 1GB PC2-5400

What the PC2-5400 1GB has to offer..

Obviously what's unique to this kit is the XTC heatspreader. The honeycomb pattern is supposed to aide in heat dissipation and chances are it does. I don't have a way to test for memory temperatures, but I wouldn't rely on a 'special' heatspreader to help anything, really. If you have a nice big fan pointing at your modules, then that's probably the best cooling you can get. I can't wait for the day when memory water cooling is an everyday product!

 

These modules are rated for DDR2-667MHz at 4-4-4-12 timings. I found the timings a little odd, because the previous version of these modules with the standard heatspreader had timings of 4-4-4-8. I have been told that both kits use the same memory chips, so I am unsure why the TRAS has been raised. I will of course be testing to see whether a TRAS of 8 is still possible with these, but I'm sure it will be no problem. 4-4-4 is on par with other similar modules on the market, but we'll also see if we can at least handle a CAS 3.

The rated voltage for these modules are 1.9v, as you'd expect. As with all other OCZ modules, these ones include EVP, or Extra Voltage Protection. This means that you are able to use a VDIMM of 2.2 ±5% without voiding your warranty. This is an awesome feature for those who wish to overclock them right away, it gives you some lenience. It also goes to show that OCZ have much faith in their modules.

 

The chips used in these modules are Aenion, a variant of Infineon. Aenion is not really known for overclock-ability, so I am interested to see how much I can muster out of them.

Intel System

• CPU: Pentium D 820 @ 2.8 GHz - 3.85GHz on AIR
• Motherboard: ASUS P5WD2 Premium w/ 0606 BIOS
• Memory: OCZ 1GB Gold PC2-5400 XTC 4-4-4-12
• Video: eVGA 7800GT 256MB PCI-E @ 490/1.15
• Sound: Realtek HD Audio (Onboard)
• Storage: WD 200GB 7200 8MB
• Odds and Ends: External WD 200GB 7200 8MB via USB2.0
• Etcetera: Windows XP Professional SP2, Windows x64 Professional SP1, NVIDIA 81.98 Drivers

 

Before I attempted to overclock anything, I ran MemTest 1.65 overnight to make sure there were no errors at stock. When I find a new setting I want to test, I load up MemTest again. To make sure my current setting is stable, I run MemTest's #5 test in a loop of 3 and it's test #8 in a loop of 2. Once that's done, I consider it a stable overclock and continue up the ladder. My highest overclock is one that still uses a stock CAS setting. Here are my results:

• FSB 200 (DDR2-667) - 4-4-4-12 (1.9v)
• FSB 200 (DDR2-667) - 3-4-3-8 (1.9v)
• FSB 220 (DDR2-733) - 3-4-3-8 (1.9v)
• FSB 240 (DDR2-800) - 4-4-4-8 (2.0v)
• FSB 267 (DDR2-800) - 4-4-4-8 (2.0v)
• FSB 275 (DDR2-733) - 4-4-4-8 (2.1v)
• FSB 275 (DDR2-825) - 4-5-5-10 (2.1v)