OCZ 1GB (2x512MB) PC4000EL Dual-Channel Kit

Conclusion:

I must say I am extremely impressed with this RAM. Not only does it run at CL2.5 at it's rated speed, but it runs extremely tight 2-3-3-6 timings at 200FSB and overclocks to 280FSB at a conservative voltage. I am confident that given more voltage this RAM would be capable of up to 300FSB (As a side note, OCZ produces a cool gadget call the DDR Booster that you install in an empty RAM slot and it allows you to manually adjust the RAM voltage far beyond the settings in the motherboards BIOS. It also has some other interesting features that you can read about here.). As it is though, the OCZ PC4000 is an excellent performer. I do see a slight drop in bandwidth at 200 and 250FSB speeds with the OCZ compared to other RAM, but where the OCZ really shines is in it's overclockability. The ability to run 30FSB out of spec, and still with plenty of possible voltage to work with, is a great accomplishment. Having read over many other reviews of this or similar OCZ RAM, I can say that these great overclocks are not uncommon and that this RAM is definitely top-notch.

This RAM is very difficult for me to rate because for my personal use I would easily give this OCZ a perfect score of 5/5. It allows for huge overclocks at a 1:1 ratio and without having to volt mod my motherboard. At the same time, not everyone's main focus will be on the absolute max overclock of their RAM, but on it's bandwidth and performance closer to it's rated speeds. After checking over several reviews for different brands of RAM and in my own experience the OCZ seems to fall behind the others a bit at lower FSB speeds.

I give the OCZPC4000EL Dual-Channel kit a 4.5 of 5.0, only detracting half a point for the slight drop in bandwidth the RAM shows at lower FSB speeds compared to other top performing brands.

Rating 4.5/5.0