THG Puts 13 Bleeding-Edge Memory Modules, 14 Mobos To the Match-Up Test

Memory Modules

Clearly visible in this close-up : the small chip is an SPD Flash ROM (serial presence detect), which normally contains the timing information of a memory module.

First, a word about the memory modules used in the test. They were mainly from the big well-known brands, not all of which are always available in some regions of the world. However, availability issues aside, our goal was to procure a large number of representative samples for the purpose of our tests.

Vendors mostly sent us memory modules that could also handle clock rates exceeding 200 MHz (DDR400). However, this was irrelevant in the case of this test, as all the candidates worked within the normal parameters.

Centon Electronics 1AKPC400 - DDR500

Corsair Micro CMX512-3200LL - DDR400

Crucial Technology PC3200U-3031-A1 - DDR400

The DIMMs from Crucial are the only 512 MB modules we received that have eight 512 MBit chips on each side. Unfortunately, only a CAS latency of 3 clock rates is supported - this should be quicker.