4GB Gets Cheap: 9 Dual-Channel Kits Compared

Features
By Thomas Soderstrom
published

PNY, Super Talent, And Wintec

PNY XLR8 MD4096KD2-800-X4

Dressed in basic black heat spreaders, PNY XLR8 MD4095KD2-800-X4 is the third dual-channel kit in today’s comparison to offer relatively-tight CAS 4 timings at DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) speeds.

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PNY requires 2.0 V to assure stability at DDR2-800 rated timings of 4-4-4-12, and all users will be required to set every value manually to reach this rating. Most systems will boot with the modules set to DDR2-800 CAS 5.

Unlike other CAS 4 kits, PNY’s parts don’t offer the quick-configuration advantage of EPP. PNY’s lifetime warranty also has an additional limitation, as PNY defines “lifetime” as the time the product exists on the market. Competing warranties typically mention replacement with “comparable products” whenever exact replacements are no longer available.

Super Talent T800UX4GC5

Super Talent gets much press attention for the early release of high-speed modules, often owning the market for several weeks while competitors play catch-up. However, that’s not going to happen in the budget market, as its part number T800UX4GC5 DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) dual-channel kit is rated at lazy CAS 5 timings.

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The blue-painted aluminum sinks could fool someone into thinking these were performance parts if not for the obvious label, but Super Talent helps its buyers put on a show by placing the labels on opposite sides per module. It’s easy to face the labels towards each other when installing the RAM, leaving the logo facing “outward” on both modules.

Super Talent rates its T800UX4GC5 memory kit at 5-5-5-15 latencies and 2.10 V, but SPD values point to these settings being bootable at 1.80 V. Unlike other brand ratings, it appears that Super Talent is listing the voltage limit, rather than the required voltage for stability.

With no guaranteed-stable overclock setting, T800UX4GC5 modules need no EPP values. Basic SPD settings are adequate to get the memory to its rated performance level.

Super Talent provides a limited lifetime warranty on all DRAM products.

Wintec AMPX 3AXT6400C5-4096K

High-value brand Wintec sent a DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) kit from its AMPX performance line, but black heat spreaders and a capacity of 4 GB are all that distinguishes its 3AXT6400C5-4096K dual-channel kit from the brand’s less-elaborate AMPO products.

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Rated at DDR2-800 timings of CAS 5-5-5-15, these AMPX modules boot with a slower tRAS of 18 cycles using SPD values. Wintec requires a manual voltage increase to 1.90 V in order to assure stable operation at 15 cycles tRAS.

Because performance for these modules is being defined as capacity rather than speed, Wintec apparently saw no need to provide added features such as EPP to make the tRAS change from 18 cycles to 15 cycles easier.

Wintec provides a lifetime warranty for the original purchaser of its DRAM products.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
54 Comments Comment from the forums
  • randomizer
    Good to see G.Skill finally decided to send some samples.
    Reply
  • JonnyDough
    You can increase how much ram is used for prefetch in XP as well, so that hardly says that Vista is faster than XP once you use more RAM. I for one have skipped the Vista era and am happily awaiting Windows 7. I guess I prefer to keep my $100 in my wallet for awhile instead of giving it to M$ investors.
    Reply
  • V3NOM
    i rofl'd that my cheap Team Elite owned all of them except the ballistix...
    Reply
  • JonnyDough
    Stop using rebates as qualifiers. I was taught in consumer math that if you purchase something with the cost of a rebate figured in, you had better be prepared to pay full price. I think a lot of us here IGNORE rebate pricing, and won't even support it by buying rebated items. Rebates are CRAP, no consumer likes them. They aren't a "discount" they are a marketing ploy to rip people off.
    Reply
  • raider37
    I'm pretty darn happy with my 4GB of XMS2 DDR2-800 RAM from Corsair, all my components are overclocked and work extremely well, plus here in Pakistan only 2 memory companies are widely available (Kingston and corsair) and we all know kingston is overpriced and their modules do not perform as well as Corsairs.
    Reply
  • johnbilicki
    As a regular I feel insulted that my fellow readers and I are expected to except an introduction suggesting that we are mindless consumers no different than the people who trampled and killed a worker at Walmart this past Friday.

    My dual core socket 939 with 2GB of RAM running XP Pro might not get as much FPS as my friend running a quad with 4GB and Vista but my system runs smooth on almost all the same games without dealing with all the constant freezing, errors, glitches, and horrendous boot times plus I don't have to run a page file. A real enthusiast would turn in their grave if they saw qttask in the task manager. Real pride is knowing your rig's software too and mindlessly burning money instead doing a few simple Google queries is what an amateur would do.

    I expect better than this. It does really matter.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    johnbilickiAs a regular I feel insulted that my fellow readers and I are expected to except an introduction suggesting that we are mindless consumers no different than the people who trampled and killed a worker at Walmart this past Friday.
    That sounds like the voice of experience...you were at that Wal Mart? Because it appears that everyone else automatically knew that the introduction was meant to cover the widest range of potential buyers, and not each one of them specifically. Yet you mindlessly trampled into that rant?
    Reply
  • johnbilicki
    CrashmanThat sounds like the voice of experience...you were at that Wal Mart? Because it appears that everyone else automatically knew that the introduction was meant to cover the widest range of potential buyers, and not each one of them specifically. Yet you mindlessly trampled into that rant?
    The introduction slaps everyone in the face by suggesting money is the only solution. Even less experienced people know how to do a Google query.

    "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven't got it." - George Bernard Shaw
    Reply
  • Crashman
    johnbilickiThe introduction slaps everyone in the face by suggesting money is the only solution. Even less experienced people know how to do a Google query."The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who haven't got it." - George Bernard Shaw
    It suggests that very little money can be a very easy solution to multiple performance issues.

    And you're using a quote to emphasise your cynicism concerning my observation? Thanks!
    Reply
  • johnbilicki
    CrashmanIt suggests that very little money can be a very easy solution to multiple performance issues.And you're using a quote to emphasise your cynicism concerning my observation? Thanks!
    ...and entirely avoids the point of optimizing a system's software just as you have! It's an informal fallacy to suggest you have made some unique observation as I have when all you have done is avoid my point in the simple interest to convince people to spend money instead of simply preventing junk from being loaded in to their existing memory.
    Reply