Overclocking 9 Value-Priced DDR2-800 Kits

bgerber

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High memory prices have traditionally plagued budget overclockers, but the release of "industry standard" PC2-6400 is bringing some relief. How do the latest modules fare?
 

Phrozt

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ack... I wish you would have used the OCZ plat revision 2 :(.

This late in the game, I wasn't even considering OCZ gold, but the plat/titanium was something I was considering. Now, I don't think I'll do OCZ, but it's based off a review from a lower model...
 

smithule

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No Corsair, G.Skill or pqi but three different WINTEC and ADATA that isn't availabvle yet??? But I guess this is better than nothing at all. By the way on new egg the patriot is is $185 after rebate :D .
 

Phrozt

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No Corsair, G.Skill or pqi but three different WINTEC and ADATA that isn't availabvle yet??? But I guess this is better than nothing at all. By the way on new egg the patriot is is $185 after rebate :D .

What About The Rest?

The most common criticism in large comparisons is the lack of a few popular brands, but rest assured that I didn't drop the ball on this score. Four brands missed the review submission deadline due to such common occurrences as product line updates, marketing department changes or miscommunication.
 

tool_462

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Nice article, too bad the "four major companies" couldn't have shipped some modules.

The Patriot impressed me and is now a possible option when I upgrade in a month or so.
 

rdhood

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What is interesting is that all but one of these kits will overclock to >470Mhz at 2.1v , which is more than enough to run with an E6300 at 3GHZ (430Mhz FSB), and more than half of them will do it (at least 430Mhz) at 1.8v!

For us "modest" overclockers, that's good enough.

I do which they had taken off the spreaders and told us what ICs these kits were using.

Anyway, it reaffirms my decision to go with the "budget" Corsair kit that sold at newegg for $170AR. FedEx delivered my Gigabyte DS3 yesterday, and intend to move off the ECS board and OC that chip tonight.
 

memorymaster

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This review already confirms what I thought of Patriot, even though they do not have the fastest memory modules (like Corsair's PC10000), they are reasonably priced (unlike the $600 dollars you have to throw down for the Corsair).

The 2.4V is the most I would go with most of these modules, since heat is such a factor after the 2.4V threshold (even with the heatspreaders). Only additional cooling, such as a fan on top of the modules, would make these modules even more stable.

Plus, the other big companies would not accidentally miss the date for such a review site if they had the reasonably priced modules to back them up...
 

buckiller

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Ive always liked Patriot and OCZ. Looks like they are still the best RAM makers in price/performance. Im talking about OCZ Plat of course.
 

NoNeeD

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Plus, the other big companies would not accidentally miss the date for such a review site if they had the reasonably priced modules to back them up...

you have no idea how incompetent and lazy alot of people are.
 

Mondoman

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What is interesting is that all but one of these kits will overclock to >470Mhz at 2.1v , which is more than enough to run with an E6300 at 3GHZ (430Mhz FSB), and more than half of them will do it (at least 430Mhz) at 1.8v!

For us "modest" overclockers, that's good enough.
Important point!
 

Crashman

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Former Staff
No Corsair, G.Skill or pqi but three different WINTEC and ADATA that isn't availabvle yet??? But I guess this is better than nothing at all. By the way on new egg the patriot is is $185 after rebate :D .

What do you want to bet that the fourth holdout was Geil?
 

XMSYellowbeard

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Plus, the other big companies would not accidentally miss the date for such a review site if they had the reasonably priced modules to back them up...
I cannot speak for the other 3 absentees but, Corsair is actually making a product line up change that affects the modules that would qualify for this round up. That's all I can say on the matter but, it is logical why we are not in this review. It will be clear soon enough.
 

djplanet

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No Corsair, G.Skill or pqi but three different WINTEC and ADATA that isn't availabvle yet??? But I guess this is better than nothing at all. By the way on new egg the patriot is is $185 after rebate :D .

Finally! Tom's gives me a review I've been waiting for! Patriot looks like a winner.
 

Featherstone

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I don't get this... they call it "Value-Priced" ram and many of them are over $200 for 2 gigs...

Buffalo Firesticks (5-5-5-15) $240
Crucial Ballistics (4-4-4-12) $270
MushkinSP6400 (5-5-5-18) $233


You can get DDR2 800 4-4-3-5 G.Skill memory for $200 and 4-4-3-8 Supertalent memory for $210 ($189 after MIR)...

hmmmm....
 

Crashman

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Former Staff
Crucial Ballistix was left out of final contention (and even the title, notice this was ten kits in a nine-way shootout) because it exceeded the $250 budget breaker. PDP Patriot was $200 after rebate and forum members seem to be finding it for less today than it cost on the day the article was written.

I was kind of impressed with the Wintec AMPO for being designed for a lower market without any heat spreaders, too bad it wasn't cheaper.
 

palexo

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Hi.
I have somewhat different question.
Unfortunately I can't find a model of the Patriot Memory with the part number written in the article: PDC22G6400LLK
I only find models with the number:pDC21G6400LLK
It has a 21G instead of 22G :)
Is it the same?
And what is the case with the title: "PDP Patriot Extreme Performance" Should it aways be there? I can't see nowhere this "Patriot Extreme Performance" either (in german shops). On newegg the loud title is there but with another number: PEP21G6400LL.
I suppose that the "PEP" in front of it should be responsible for the "patriot extreme performance". And there comes the question about the other models which dont't have the PEP but a PDC instead. Are they also "extreme performance" or are they different? :lol:
 

Crashman

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Former Staff
That had to be bad stick of OCZ :eek:
OCZ that won't OC thats just crazy.

LMAO at YOU, it's par for the course with OCZ! The name OCZ means "we overclock our memory and sell it as faster stuff than it actually is, then charge more for it than the real stuff" This is OCZ tradition, I even had OCZ PC1066 RDRAM that turned out to be nothing more than re-badged Samsung PC800-40. I had to add a fan to the memory because it overheated at "stock" speed!
 

Crashman

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Former Staff
The stuff did overclock some, and I've seen it go dirt cheap. On any given day when it's the "cheapest" people will commit to it, and stand by that commitment. Many days of being cheapest gets many commited fans.
 

unsmart

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The OCZ 3400 EL Pl I have will do over 300mh at 2.5cl with just a small boost in Voltage, I never did find it's max. At the time it was one of the cheapest "OCing" ram out. I'm not a OCZ fan boy though it just one stick that did well, I'm now testing out G.skill. Just can't believe they got beat by wintec.
I see your from Michigan :)