I remember back around 1990 - 1991 when I paid over 3 grand for a cutting edge computer (without the monitor) that came with a whopping 4MB of RAM installed. My friend, who was going to evening classes to earn a Computer Science degree, laughed at me and called me a sucker. He said, "Boy, they really saw you coming. There is no way a computer needs that much RAM installed." Well, that may have been true back at the time, but I've always been a sucker for overkill.

More recently, the RAM sweet spot using Windows XP has been 1GB using a pair of 512MB DDR RAM sticks. Since the release of Doom 3 and Battlefield 2 though, many users are finding that using 2GB of RAM enhances game play and computer performance. There have been a few problems with going to 2GB though; first off was the availability and price of 1GB DDR sticks, since so many users opted to go with 4 512MB sticks of RAM. Unfortunately, some motherboards do not support DDR with 4 sticks, and others will kick the FSB speed down to 333 to reduce errors. Also, many people have limited success when trying to overclock a motherboard with 4 sticks of RAM in it even if they are matching sticks. Plus, there is the increased voltage requirement. OCZ recognized the issues and released a 2GB DDR memory kit that is rated up to PC-4000, so now you can have your cake and eat it too.

Specs

Here are the product specs for this RAM ripped from the OCZ product page for your convenience:

Here is the public relations spin from OCZ on this kit:

"The new OCZ PC-4000 1GB Gold Edition was developed with gamers’ distinctive needs in mind. The latest generation of PC games, such as Battlefield 2, Half Life 2 and Doom 3, requires large capacity memory to deliver the most powerful, stable system performance. The PC-4000 Gold Edition 2GB dual channel optimized kit is the ultimate memory solution for contemporary graphic-intensive PC titles and provides unsurpassed reliability and performance to unleash every graphic possibility.

OCZ PC-4000 Gold products are 100% hand-tested to ensure compliance with stringent quality standards. In addition, each member of the OCZ Gold family is encased in a gold layered copper heatspreader for efficient heat dissipation and is backed by an industry-leading lifetime warranty, toll-free technical support and the exclusive EVP® (Extended Voltage Protection) coverage, a feature allowing performance enthusiasts to tweak their systems up to a VDIMM of 2.9V ± 5% without invalidating their OCZ Lifetime Warranty!

With its ultra-fast performance, high quality and reliability, the OCZ PC-4000 1GB Gold Edition is the perfect memory upgrade for memory-hungry Battlefield 2 gaming rigs."

As expected, the timings for the OCZ 2GB kit have to be loosened up considerably in order to reach a 250MHZ bus speed and are set at 3-4-4-8 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS). This may seem very slow to you guys who belong to the 2-2-2-5 crowd, but OCZ is able to hit this speed using a 1T setting instead of 2T. For 2GB of RAM, the timings are actually pretty damn good. More on that later.

Package

The OCZ EL PC-4000 2GB kit comes in a hanging package with an Orange background to catch your eye.

The bright Gold-colored copper heatspreader is attached in the usual manner with a pair of clips. OCZ uses Samsung UCCC 200MHz chips on the board, but manages to push them beyond spec by slowing down the TRCD and TRP timings a tick. OCZ also uses their Extended Voltage Protection (EVP) that allows your to volt the RAM up to 2.9 ±.5V without invalidating the lifetime warranty. By the way, the EL in the name stands for "Enhanced Latency".