Intro

Every review I have done has been fun for me. This one was no different but this has to have been the most challenging. I was asked if I had a mobo that can hold 4 sticks of ram, I was “Hell Yeah!” no problem. I have a Gigabyte GA-7N400V Pro2 with 4 slots and an Asus Intel P4P800-VM. I thought this would be great to run this RAM on both systems to give the best review I could. After receiving the Super Talent 1 GB (4x256) PC3500 (433FSB) CL 2-3-3-8 (Model#: D35PA56A2), I would soon find out my current systems would not be able to push this RAM like I would have liked to. I will explain later on but this memory was tough to work with.

This review item is manufactured by Super Talent, and they want gamers & high-end system builders to know that there is another source for 256MB Low Latency (CL2) DDR Memory. Some system builders have had a hard time finding low latency ram at a decent price. For those that seek a 512MB, DDR 433 MHz, and CL2 memory module but can't find it, Super Talent offers a very price competitive 256MB, DDR 433 MHz, CL2 module - with a lifetime warranty. Also, the price structure of 256MB x 4 sticks (= 1GB) is positioned to be at least 25-30% cheaper than the competition's 512MB x 2 (=1GB). Here is a great chance for cost conscious customers to obtain low latency, screaming performance, DDR memory for their systems (as long as they can accomodate 4 sticks of DDR RAM).

The Little Brown Box

The shipment was delivered in a regular brown box. The Super Talent RAM was packed in vacuum formed clear plastic with simple graphics to display the contents. Nothing fancy like a wooden display case, just the product to look at with no BS. There were no spec sheets or instructions packed with the shipment, why not? More and more companies are beginning to save money and paper with having all information available on line ready to print or read. This has its pros and cons, but none-the-less, if you are knowledgeable about PC industry you will realize this is the easier way to go.

With the added blue heat sinks and label, these look pretty sharp next to the Mushkin Pro RAM.

Which is better two or four?

So which is better? This is a question I have seen pop up on many forums. The most popular answer is 2, so you have room to upgrade. Truth be told that one gig of fast ram will still go a long way before you will need to upgrade. With a CPU’s L1, L2, and some with L3 caches being added on and growing in size, the importance for more RAM is somewhat minimized. Mind you this is not the case with servers or heavy graphic intense systems.

Ma Labs sent Super Talent’s 1 GB Pack (4x256) PC3500 (433FSB) CL 2-3-3-8 RAM; full specifications are here, and of course this is the summary:

Features:

• 6 layer PCB
• 433MHz Double Data Rate = 3,500 Mb/sec
• CAS Latency (CL) 2.0
• RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD) 3
• Precharge Delay (tRP) 3
• 2.5volts - 2.8volts
• Double-data-rate architecture; 2 data transfers per clock cycle
• Serial Presence Detect with EEPROM
• Edge aligned data output, center aligned input
• Lifetime warranty
• Heat Spreader