We equipped our test systems with 2 GB of memory, with our budget set at a maximum of $95. Memory maker GEIL offers some excellent products in this price range. We finally settled on the DDR2-800 modules of the Black Dragon Edition with the designation GB22 GB6400C4DC, which are sold as a 2 GB set (2 x 1 GB).

Memory retail package

The back of the GEIL box.

Don't take those two red LEDs the wrong way - they aren't meant as a warning; they're more of a fashion statement. In our test, we were able to overclock GEIL's modules to remarkable heights.

Red eyes for the fashion-conscious overclocker.

GEIL RAM sticks.

Although the label on the modules states an operating voltage of 2.0 Volts, we reduced the voltage to 1.95 V for our overclocking tests. Despite this reduction, our stress test tool Prime95 ran completely stably.

In our test, we were able to push the memory as high as DDR2-900 without having to change the latencies from their stock settings of CL 4.0-4-4-12 or raising the voltage above 1.95 V. Despite this high frequency, it still didn't get warm enough to require any cooling.