OCZ PC4000 EL 512MB (2x256) Dual Channel Kit

Company: OCZ
Product: PC4000 EL Dual Channel Kit
Street Price: $200 USD
Date Reviewed: September 23, 2003
Reviewed By: Joey Chao

OCZ PC4000 EL Benchmarks & Overclocking:

Starting out at SPD timings and 2.6V, even though the specs say 2.8V, we shot for 250FSB or 500MHz DDR. The memory went through Memtest86 overnight without a single error. CPU-Z does read the timings correctly as 3-4-4-8. The timings might seem a little relaxed but none of these PC4000 modules from any manufacturer are programmed at aggressive timings. The benchmark numbers from Sandra look very good at this speed. Most users will be satisfied with their system performance at 500MHz DDR, but there are always going to be some who want more.

Fiddling with the FSB some more the memory was able to run 520MHz at 2.6V using SPD timings. To make it to 530MHz we had to bump up the voltage to 2.65V, which is still relatively low for such a high speed. Using less voltage can be considered a plus because it does not add more heat to the modules and will keep them alive a little bit longer than if you were to pump 3.2V through them. So far we were off to a good start, but oddly we could not go any further than 530MHz DDR no matter what voltage was used. What is interesting about this is that if you look up the IC7 MAX3 qualifications on OCZ's site, they note that 530MHz was also the highest they were able to obtain. This may not be that impressive to the extreme overclockers out there, but keep in mind that these are beta EL modules and not the Gold series.

Just to make sure that the board was not at fault, we did some testing on the ASUS P4C800 Deluxe. Again, the memory got stuck at 530MHz no matter what voltages we applied. Perhaps we could have had better luck with the full retail version as opposed to the beta. Also we have seen others hit as high as 560MHz with the EL non-gold PC4000, so it is definitely possible.