Hardcore DDR2 RAM by Corsair, G.Skill, OCZ and Patriot

OCZ Reaper HPC PC2-8500 (2x 1 GB)

OCZ also sent us a pair of its Reaper HPC DIMMs, which utilize a heat pipe to dissipate memory heat. The PC2-8500 DIMMs are rated for CL5-5-5-15 operation, but we could also run them at CL4-4-4-12 timings at DDR2-1066 speed. The memory also overclocked well at up to DDR2-1244 at 2.45 V, and it even allowed us to boot Windows at DDR2-1280. However, Call of Duty kept crashing at these settings; at over DDR2-1066 speed we had to relax the timings to CL5-5-5-15.

There is also a new PC2-9200 version of the Reaper HPC, and two PC2-6400 models.

By the way, Reaper DIMMs are SLI ready, which means that an nForce 600 platform will automatically run the memory at ideal settings. The PC2-6400 Enhanced Bandwidth offers short CL4-3-3-15 timings, which our PC2-8500 could match at DDR2-800 speed.

Speeds And Timings

The Reaper DIMMs by OCZ are specified for PC2-8500 operation at CL5-5-5-15 timings. However, applying 2.4 V voltage allowed us to run them at CL4-4-4-12.

At 571 MHz (DDR2-1143), we had to relax the timings to CL5-5-5-15 to achieve stable operation.

We could operate the OCZ Reaper DIMMs at up to DDR2-1280 speed and CL5-5-5-15 timings. This resembles a 20% overclocking.