OCZ PC3200 Gold GX XTC Memory Kit (2GB)

Our first graph is of the integer and float buffered values in megabytes/second as calculated by SiSoft Sandra 2005 Pro's memory bandwidth benchmark for each of these speeds.

This same benchmark also provides an estimated maximum memory bus bandwidth speed in megabytes/second.  Below is a graph of these across our three points.

To put this in some perspective of performance, let's revisit each of these speeds with a run through Super Pi.  Super Pi calculates the value of Pi to a user defined number of digits.  Today we are calculating Pi to the two millionth digit and recording the time it takes to do so.

Conclusion

OCZ's PC3200 Gold Edition GX XTC memory kit shows us it packs very good performance and isn't just a novelty item.  The XTC heatspreaders seem to get the job done allowing in part for taking the OCZ memory from its stock DDR400 speed up to a maximum overclock of DDR552.  OCZ's honey comb design certainly has some merit and also begs the question of shouldn't it work better with active cooling?  Having some type of fan blowing directly on the units should increase the design's efficiency that much more.

When you cut through all the fun stuff it comes down to performance and OCZ's PC3200 Gold GX XTC units certainly put out.  The modules behave like many DDR500 kits do, offering great DDR400 performance with the reach of DDR500 at loose timings.  While the OCZ timings of 2-3-3-8 1T at DDR400 are not the super low latency settings we've seen in the past elsewhere, I just noticed that OCZ is offering their PC3200 GX XTC memory in a EL kit as well which is the same physical look but the memory timings at DDR400 are 2-2-2-5 1T.  But that will have to be another review.  For this one, OCZ scores for performance, a reasonable pricing schedule for a two meg kit and double points for innovation. 

Pros

• Gold layered XTC Heatspreaders

• Very good performance

• Lifetime warranty

• Reasonably priced

• Two gigs always rocks

• Nice 2-3-3-8 1T timings

Cons

• Timings of 2-3-3-8 1T are nice but not great

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