Crucial PC3200 DDR RAM

Company: Crucial
Product: 256MB PC3200
Street Price: ~$45
Date Reviewed: June 2, 2003
Reviewed By: Joey Chao

Conclusions and Final Thoughts:

Price:
Crucial's PC3200 modules are priced at around $50 for a 256MB stick. This is much cheaper when compared to a lot of the other companies offering memory at the same speeds. One of the reasons Crucial can set prices so low is because they cut out the middle man and they are one of the only direct sellers from a DRAM manufacturer. Also, 95% of Crucial's transactions are conducted online.

Performance:
The performance was not anything to be excited about. The really light timings allow for more stability at the cost of a little performance. Most users will never notice the difference but for the strict enthusiasts, they may want to purchase something that can handle much more aggressive timings such as Corsair which is made for gamers and enthusiasts.

Stability:
The Crucial memory is absolutely stable. The modules had no problems running MemTest86 in loops overnight. The timings are conservative enough to where end users will probably never encounter an issue with this memory. It is 100% stable. This is due to the fact that Crucial runs the memory through a number of tests to make sure it is not a defective stick.

Support:
Crucial's support is what you would expect from one of the largest memory manufacturers and distributors. They have many guides on how to chose the right memory for your system. There are plenty of FAQ's that can answer just about any question regarding the company or their memory. For further assistance they also provide a support form. This memory is backed by a limited lifetime warranty meaning it can be voided if you were to overclock it. Visit Crucial's Support Page for more information.

Overclocking:
Honestly, who would have thought that the Crucial memory would have been very overclockable. We would have been very happy if it could have done tighter timings but 470MHz DDR, regardless is very good for PC3200 memory. Oddly, the memory only needed 2.65V to run absolutely stable at these high speeds. Almost all motherboards, that support overclocking, have options that go up to 2.8V. Perhaps someone else may have better results.

Overall:
The Crucial PC3200 is a great product. We are very pleased to see it priced competitively with other big name brands. From the enthusiast perspective, the memory might not be the fastest on the market but when overclocked, it showed some nice results. For average users, this memory should do just fine. The support and stability make trying it hassle free.