Intro

I know that a lot of you folks are not familiar with Power Memory International, or PMI as they are commonly known. PMI has been around for about 14 years now, quietly producing rather generic memory modules marketed under their own name and for other companies who re-branded it and sold it as theirs. Recently, though, PMI had an epiphany and decided they wanted to step into the limelight and start courting the PC enthusiast crowd with a new line of RAM that they call TurboMemory.

PMI's TurboMemory is designed to compete against the other big boys like Corsair, Geil, Crucial, Kingston, and Mushkin. Their product line runs from PC-4500 running at 3-4-4-8 all the way on down to PC-2700 running an ultra low 2-2-2-5 latency. Their TurboMemory is sold as single modules or as a matched set for dual channel boards. The RAM that PMI provided to PimpRig for review is a matched set of 512MB PC-3200 designed for dual channel boards and runs at 2.5-3-3-7. I would like to note that they offer this same package running at 2-3-2-6, but...that's not what we received.

If you don't understand what these latency and timing numbers that I've listed mean, check out this great Corsair Memory link. It's a good tutorial that will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about memory modules, and then some.

Package

The PMI memory arrived in a rather discreet clamshell package that is prepped and ready for hanging on your local computer store's memory rack. Not quite as glamorous as a matched set of Geil memory I received that arrived in an acrylic presentation case with sliding top, but it sure will keep PMI's packaging costs down.

This is about as flashy as it gets. The label on the package clearly explains what is inside. The same information is located on a sticker attached to each stick. Like I used to tell all of my dates, it ain't the package that's important, it's how well it works that counts. But I digress.

There is a folded up set of "instructions" inside the package that explains how to slap a stick of RAM into the proper slot, and the rest of the pamphlet consists of warranty information and plugs for the different types of memory that PMI produces.

The RAM

The sticks themselves are pretty good looking. PMI offers the TurboMemory with heatspreaders in two flavors, copper and platinum copper. The sticks I received have the platinum copper heatspreaders. The finish on the heatspreaders is immaculate and the PMI logo is tastefully done; these sticks would look good in any case.

I managed to get one corner of the heatspreader raised up far enough so that with the use of a flashlight and magnifying glass, I could see what chips were used. PMI used the WinBond CH-5 chips model W942508CH-5. These chips are much better than the WinBond BH-5 chips and are known to have pretty good overclocking headroom.