Date: April 20th, 2004
Article by: Nathan Glentworth
(Owner, Head Editor & Hardware Reviewer)
Product was donated by: OCZ Technology
Shop for the OCZ 1GB PC4400
DDR550 Performance Series Dual Channel Kit Here-->
CORPORATE PROFILE (From OCZ)
Entering the memory market in August 2000, OCZ Technology
was built around the determination to manufacture the best high speed
DDR and RDRAM. OCZ was founded by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts, and
our commitment to the end-user has not digressed. OCZ Technology has
been an innovator in many areas. We were the first manufacturer to make
Dual Channel optimized memory available to the public, which originally
took advantage of nVidia's Twinbank or Dual DDR architecture, found
in their nForce chipset. We have now taken that technology and tailored
it for the Canterwood, and Granite Bay chipset's. OCZ developed and
was the first to implement ULN technology, which has been a critical
element in our manufacturing process for some time. We at OCZ diligently
work to improve communication with CPU and motherboard chipset manufacturers
prior to the release of their products. Only in this manner can we fine-tune
our memory's SPD settings, ensuring a synergistic relationship between
the memory module, memory controller, and microprocessor. In today’s
rapidly evolving semiconductor industry, such communication is not simply
research, but a necessary component of our manufacturing process.
PRODUCT INTRODUCTION
The sweet science of computer overclocking is a combination
of two equal, yet important factors. The first is the ability to manipulate
increased performance with little or no cost to the user. The second
is the danger element to add some spice to the experience. Although
in most cases physical danger is something you shouldn't worry about,
the actual danger is to the life of your components.
Pushing your components faster than they are rated (AKA
overclocking) will contribute to an overall system performance increase,
but, if done improperly or excessively will force your components to
fail altogether. As I have said time and time again, educate yourself
on overclocking and don't just start manipulating BIOS settings aimlessly,
render your system useless, then run to your favorite forum to bitch
and moan on how bad your system's components are. It's not their fault
you don't know what the hell you are doing. ;)
Today I will be reviewing a product from OCZ that is meant,
built and engineered for the overclocker. As anyone with a recent Intel
Springdale/Canterwood based system will know, the key to overclocking
the Intel Pentium 4C is fast and capable memory. With a locked multiplier,
the Front Side Bus is the only way you are going to advance the speed
of the processor.
The PC4400 memory specification is created for one and
one reason only, to overclock your Pentium 4 without having to use your
memory dividers. When you keep your memory at its' stock 1:1 divider,
you will be starting your overclocking from DDR400. When you use the
5:4 divider, you will start from DDR320 and last but not least the 3:2
divider will have you starting your overclocking at a measly DDR266.
The dividers allow you to overclock your CPU without hitting the rated
ceiling of the ram.
At PC4400, there isn't much of a ceiling.....
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