PQI Turbo PQI25400-1GDB DDR-2 Memory Review
When DDR
memory was first introduced back in 2001, all everyone did was worry about
compatibility, compatibility and compatibility. That was because right from the
very beginning, the DDR standard was in a fight for its life against a much
larger opponent in RAMBUS and their proprietary RDRAM technology. Of course we
know who was eventually victorious, but back then, DDR's victory was not
assured.
This time around there are no challengers to the
introduction of the DDR2 standard, so manufacturers have a bit of freedom in the
way they do things. Considering early adopters of new technology are
primarily enthusiasts, it makes sense for companies to get their enthusiast-calibre wares
out as quickly as possible.
While not as well known as some of the other
manufacturers, PQI has been in business since 1998 and produces a wide variety of
memory based products from simple DIMM's to flash card readers.
Today
PCStats has the opportunity to play with some of PQI's
latest and greatest in
the form of their Turbo PQI25400-1GDB dual channel memory kit. Officially rated
to run at PC5400 speeds, or DDR2-667, the PQI Turbo memory uses conservative
timings of 4-4-4-12 by default; it seems companies from Corsair to Crucial,
Kingston and OCZ are being conservative with their ratings these days.
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PQI Turbo
PQI25400-1GDB |
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Here's a small tip for
those of you who have jumped on the DDR2 bandwagon already, be extremely careful
with your DDR2 memory! DRAM modules based on the BGA form factor are very fragile
and susceptible to damage. If your DDR RAM comes with heatspreaders
preinstalled, it's a very bad idea to try and take them
off!
PQI protects their Turbo DIMM's with
copper heatspreaders which, as we've tested in the past, do not do much for cooling
but work wonders when protecting the memory from physical damage. The chrome or nickel plating on the copper material the heatspreaders are made
from smudges quite easily. If you're into case modding you're probably going to want
to clean off the fingerprints before you install them into your computer.
The
PQI Turbo PQI25400-1GDB is rated to run up to 667 MHz with timings of 4-4-4-12 in
a dual channel configuration with 1.8V, although PQI state that the DIMM's should be good
up to 2V for overclockers. It should be noted that PQI offers a lifetime warranty
with their DDR RAM modules, which should give their users some peace of
mind.
In case you're wondering what's under the armor, I'm sad to inform you that
we will no longer remove the heatspreaders on DIMM's that use BGA DRAM. If
you remember back when we reviewed some Crucial Ballistix PC2-5300 memory, removing the
heatspreaders flexed the module enough to crack a solder joint between
the BGA DRAM and PCB. It was an expensive mistake to learn!