OCZ EL PC4000 Gold Edition Memory Kit (2GB)

I speak softly and carry a big stick

The OCZ EL-DDR PC4000 Gold Edition Kit comes packed in a traditional see through plastic package.  Opening things up, you immediately can tell that this is no bargain memory.  Each stick weighs in at 80 grams.  The gold color you see is just that, real gold.  The copper heatspreaders are layered with a thin plating of gold to enhance thermal dissipation.  And you thought gold was just for wedding bands and tooth caps!

Each DIMM has a sticker on one side identifying what it is and of what the stick's memory timing.  As you can see, our test unit is the PC4000 flavor with 3-4-4-8 timings at a command rate of 1T.  I do want to point out a discrepancy we ran into.  The OCZ website lists the memory timings on these units as being 3-4-3-8 but the sticker physically in front of us says 3-4-4-8.  No end of the world type of thing but I want to be crystal clear on these details. 

  

Centered on both sides of the heatspreader are OCZ's company logo in black and silver.  Trendy while not overpowering.

Is beauty skin deep?

Getting past the pretty package, we cracked things open to have a look see.  A quick note to avoid issues later; all of our testing was done prior to my ripping the units apart.  This is done so that we are testing the DIMMs exactly as they come off the factory floor. 

The copper heatspreaders are comprised of two individual sections.  Each has a gray thermal pad running its length to ensure that heat transfer is as efficient as possible.  Between the thermal pad and the memory chips is a strip of ultra thin thermal tape as a redundancy measure so that proper contact is kept between the IC and the heatspreader.

  

OCZ Technology has chosen some very nice Samsung chips to be the heart of their PC4000 (DDR500) package.  The K4H510838C-UCCC chip's full data dump is available here at the Samsung website.  These chips are actually designed to run DDR400 at CAS 3, tRCD 3, tRP 3 settings.  By loosening up the timings, OCZ is able to offer their unit at DDR500.  I'd say they are fairly confident in their product because it comes with a lifetime warranty that is valid even with the memory being over volted up to VDIMM of 3V ± 5%.

A few other notables before we fire up the grill.  OCZ Technology also incorporates two of its technologies into the PC4000 2GB Kit.  These are their EVP and ULN technologies.  EVP stands for extended voltage protection.  Here's a snip off the OCZ site.

(extended voltage protection) a novel OCZ voltage protection feature that allows modules to handle higher voltages. OCZ EVP® protected modules can tolerate VDIMM voltages up to 3.0V ± 5%. All EVP® protected modules are covered under OCZ's Lifetime Warranty if overvolted within EVP® tolerances.

The other is ULN technology.  Again, here's a copy/paste explanation off the OCZ site.

(ultra low noise) a technology that uses various printed circuit board (PCB) techniques to reduce the amount of electrical noise that is present in all high-speed ICs. This results in faster and more stable memory.

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