OCZ EL DDR PC-4000 1024MB Gold Edition Dual Channel (2GB)

I remember it clear last year, after Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 were released. I remember all the whining and complaining because the games didn’t work that great with only 512MB of memory. Of course, the obvious choice was to upgrade, and even a minor upgrade to 1GB made a world of difference.

Now we are seeing games like Battlefield 2 and upcoming games like FEAR that are testing your PC’s limits once again. If felt like deja vu after BF2 was released, because many users had to upgrade their memory to 1.5GB and 2GB just to get smooth gameplay. In fact, in our eVGA 7800GT review, we noted some findings with our look at FEAR. Increasing the system memory to 2GB made an immense difference, compared to even 1GB. You can see those findings here. For a further look at 1GBvs2GB, stay tuned to the site next month ;)

These modules are built just like all their others.. very well. Just holding a module in your hand will allow you to feel the quality. The heatsink is far from cheaply made.. it is heavy and durable.. not to mention shiny. The OCZ logo finishes off the great look.

There are a couple additions to this memory that makes them special. OCZ offers a Lifetime Warranty on all their modules, which can leave you with a peace of mind. Also included in the warranty is EVP, extra voltage protection. They allow you to use up to 3.1 ± 5% on the modules without voiding your warranty. This goes to show how confident they are with their memory.. good stuff. Lastly, they use special techniques on the PCB to lower the electrical noise (ULN, Ultra Low Noise), to aide with the performance and stability of the modules.

There are a couple reasons that some do not want to make the jump to 2GB, though. With 4 512MB modules, you are forced to slower 2T timings, and even with 2 1024MB modules, it can still prove much slower than a simple 2 * 512MB. This may not be such a big case now as it once was though, due to tighter timings and better chips.

Here are the complete specifications of the modules we are looking at today.

• 500MHz DDR
• CL 3-4-4-8 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)
• Unbuffered
• Gold Layered Copper Heatspreader
• Lifetime Warranty
• 2.8 Volts
• 184 Pin DIMM

• EVP
• ULN
• Part #: 2GB (2×1024) OCZ5002048ELGE-K

If you are used to 2 * 512MB, don’t be scared off by the higher timings. It doesn’t matter as much when we get into the larger densities. It’s just not very possible to run 1GB sticks (at these speeds) at 2-2-2 timings, sadly. Maybe in the future if manufacturers can find a way, we may eventually see much tighter timings.