OCZ Flex XLC: PC2-9200 Pushes the Envelope
by Wesley Fink on December 8, 2006 8:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Final Words
In a recent memory review we commented that the best DDR2 memory in the market is able to run at DDR2-800 3-3-3 timings and DDR2-1066 at 4-3-4. OCZ PC2-9200 Flex XLC has not changed the performance dynamics at those speeds. It is still based on Micron D9 memory chips, and in fact it requires 4-4-4 timings at DDR2-1067 due to the aggressive binning for the top speed. OCZ Flex XLC is not a new record setter at the useful speeds of DDR2-800 and DDR2-1066 - or the speeds of 400, 533 or 667.
OCZ Flex XLC does break new ground, however, at the top. Flex XLC demolishes our old overclock record of 1116 on the ASUS P5W-DH by almost 5% - reaching a stable memory speed of DDR2-1172. Performance is even more compelling on the NVIDIA nForce 680i, where Flex XLC reaches DDR2-1300!
These new performance records were set on air cooling, so there is still more headroom left with XLC. It comes equipped with a copper/aluminum water block heatsink, which is ready to be connected to a water cooling system with the integrated 3/8" nipples. Since we have not really covered water-cooling in the past we decided it was best not to report water-cooling results here in the AT review. However, there is a bit more headroom with water, and those using water cooling can expect even better results.
We were really skeptical when OCZ told us this was a "flexible" memory - a record-setter on either air or water cooling. Now that we have run OCZ PC2-9200 Flex XLC through our test suite we definitely agree. Flex XLC will perform very well in your system even if water never comes near it; if you use water cooling you may get even more. On air only, Flex XLC has set new overclocking records.
As with most other components, the best does not come cheap. A 2 GB kit of OCZ Flex XLC will set you back about $490 with the introductory rebate. This is more than twice what value DDR2 will cost you, but the price is definitely in the ballpark with other top DDR2 memory. We have said in recent reviews that Core 2 Duo and AM2 are not particularly bandwidth sensitive. As a result we have recommended that value shoppers go for value and midrange DDR2 parts and put the savings in a video card or CPU upgrade. If you look strictly at performance gains with Flex XLC it will be hard to justify the price on performance increases alone.
However, looking at just performance numbers misses the point with OCZ Flex XLC. A board like the NVIDIA 680i has options to go to overclocks we never thought would be possible on the Core 2 Duo. A memory like OCZ Flex XLC allows you to go further in overclocking, with fewer restrictions, than any other memory we have tested so far at AnandTech. If you are a dedicated overclocker OCZ Flex XLC is a must-have product. If you want the best memory performance possible in your system the Flex XLC is the best. However, if you prefer to measure every component by a "bang-for-the-buck" formula then pass on Flex XLC, buy a value or mid DDR2-800 rated at least DDR2-800 and put the savings in a video card or CPU upgrade.
It is good to see some real innovation the DDR2 memory market, and OCZ should be congratulated for shaking things up with a water-cooling ready retail product. It was also smart of OCZ to ensure that the product would blow away even those users who use regular air cooling. Corsair has also recently introduced a couple of really innovative DDR2 memory products that we will be looking at in our next DDR2 review. It will be interesting to see if OCZ stands alone or whether the day of aggressively binned and record-setting DDR2 products is just dawning.
Mad overclockers will love OCZ PC2-9200 Flex XLC. Water-cooling enthusiasts will add Flex XLC to their wish list. Performance fans will want the flexibility of a top DDR2-1300 memory speed. However, those shopping for value per dollar memory are shopping in the wrong category.
In a recent memory review we commented that the best DDR2 memory in the market is able to run at DDR2-800 3-3-3 timings and DDR2-1066 at 4-3-4. OCZ PC2-9200 Flex XLC has not changed the performance dynamics at those speeds. It is still based on Micron D9 memory chips, and in fact it requires 4-4-4 timings at DDR2-1067 due to the aggressive binning for the top speed. OCZ Flex XLC is not a new record setter at the useful speeds of DDR2-800 and DDR2-1066 - or the speeds of 400, 533 or 667.
OCZ Flex XLC does break new ground, however, at the top. Flex XLC demolishes our old overclock record of 1116 on the ASUS P5W-DH by almost 5% - reaching a stable memory speed of DDR2-1172. Performance is even more compelling on the NVIDIA nForce 680i, where Flex XLC reaches DDR2-1300!
These new performance records were set on air cooling, so there is still more headroom left with XLC. It comes equipped with a copper/aluminum water block heatsink, which is ready to be connected to a water cooling system with the integrated 3/8" nipples. Since we have not really covered water-cooling in the past we decided it was best not to report water-cooling results here in the AT review. However, there is a bit more headroom with water, and those using water cooling can expect even better results.
We were really skeptical when OCZ told us this was a "flexible" memory - a record-setter on either air or water cooling. Now that we have run OCZ PC2-9200 Flex XLC through our test suite we definitely agree. Flex XLC will perform very well in your system even if water never comes near it; if you use water cooling you may get even more. On air only, Flex XLC has set new overclocking records.
As with most other components, the best does not come cheap. A 2 GB kit of OCZ Flex XLC will set you back about $490 with the introductory rebate. This is more than twice what value DDR2 will cost you, but the price is definitely in the ballpark with other top DDR2 memory. We have said in recent reviews that Core 2 Duo and AM2 are not particularly bandwidth sensitive. As a result we have recommended that value shoppers go for value and midrange DDR2 parts and put the savings in a video card or CPU upgrade. If you look strictly at performance gains with Flex XLC it will be hard to justify the price on performance increases alone.
However, looking at just performance numbers misses the point with OCZ Flex XLC. A board like the NVIDIA 680i has options to go to overclocks we never thought would be possible on the Core 2 Duo. A memory like OCZ Flex XLC allows you to go further in overclocking, with fewer restrictions, than any other memory we have tested so far at AnandTech. If you are a dedicated overclocker OCZ Flex XLC is a must-have product. If you want the best memory performance possible in your system the Flex XLC is the best. However, if you prefer to measure every component by a "bang-for-the-buck" formula then pass on Flex XLC, buy a value or mid DDR2-800 rated at least DDR2-800 and put the savings in a video card or CPU upgrade.
It is good to see some real innovation the DDR2 memory market, and OCZ should be congratulated for shaking things up with a water-cooling ready retail product. It was also smart of OCZ to ensure that the product would blow away even those users who use regular air cooling. Corsair has also recently introduced a couple of really innovative DDR2 memory products that we will be looking at in our next DDR2 review. It will be interesting to see if OCZ stands alone or whether the day of aggressively binned and record-setting DDR2 products is just dawning.
Mad overclockers will love OCZ PC2-9200 Flex XLC. Water-cooling enthusiasts will add Flex XLC to their wish list. Performance fans will want the flexibility of a top DDR2-1300 memory speed. However, those shopping for value per dollar memory are shopping in the wrong category.
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yyrkoon - Saturday, December 9, 2006 - link
There is no "for shits and giggles" about it, it would help. How much it would actually help would be open for debate (until someone actually tested it).For one, it would help, because, IF you for example had air coming in from the bottom, and air exiting out through the top, you would be using convection to recycle cooler air from the outside, and the heat would travel out through the top. To some small degree, you wouldn't even need a pump to accomplish this. This would also keep hot air from recycling, well, at least concerning *from* the memory(to a small degree) , which wouldn't mean a whole lot.
Now, if instead of using convection, you use forced air, whether chilled or not, dependent on the CFM pushed through, you *could* reduce the temperature on the heat spreaders drastically. This may not cool as well as water, but there would be no chance of water leakage either, and would result in a definite improvement. Granted, I can not see people wanting to go out an buy a <insert brand here> air compressor, for what whatever amount, when it would be cheaper to go water(which, its self, isn't cheap either). I've priced components for a good water cooling system, and we're talking around $400 usd, for a decent setup, which IMO, would be better just spending the extra cash on a better/faster CPU(if possible). Less problems, and hassle.
Never seen a Dell that uses a plastic "funnel" over the CPU, without a CPU fan directly over the CPU? They exist, and they do very well in keeping the system very cool. Same concept, on a smaller scale.
Larso - Monday, December 11, 2006 - link
Though the idea is interesting, I think you would be better off pushing air over the cooling fins the usual way, than to push air through the water cooling intake. Remember that air and water have very different properties and the cooling interfaces has been designed to optimize each of those elements.It could be an interesting experiment I must admit, but I suspect you would get just get a lot of hissing noise from the end of the hose - and not a lot of cooling...
cruzer - Saturday, December 9, 2006 - link
If you pumped cold air in through the block, you will get condensation in the lines.PrinceGaz - Saturday, December 9, 2006 - link
Erm, no you wouldn't. Condensation only forms when the air is cooled down by something, such as on a cold window in a warm room, because cooler air is unable to hold as much moisture as warm air so excess moisture has to be dumped as condensation when the relative humidity reaches 100%.Pumping cold air through the block carries no risk of condensation because the air will be warmed rather than cooled. In fact it would be an effective way of removing any moisture because the air warmed by the block would have a fairly low relative humidity.
yyrkoon - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
Hell, I'd even venture to say that if you forced room temperature air through these fast enough, even on a warm day, the results would be great. Granted, you would have to be strategic about it.Frumious1 - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
I realize you don't normally test water cooling (or cooling products in general), but it seems one of the major points for this RAM is that it is ready to be used with water cooling. Rather than speculating about if it will help or not, how about actually testing it? Seems like this RAM would be great for people looking to build a silent system, as you now don't have to worry about the RAM overheating either with water cooling.Also, this wasn't mentioned in the article, but can you fit two DIMMs next to each other? Meaning, could you go all the way to four DIMMs? Reason I ask is that if you can't then there are going to be some boards where this RAM won't work at all in dual channel mode. Hopefully OCZ wasn't so shortsighted as to make the DIMMs take more than a single slot width, but at the same time I don't know how you get effective water cooling without the HSF getting quite a bit thicker than the typical heatspreader.
Wesley Fink - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
We should have mentioned that the OCZ Flex XLC is thin enough that 4 dimms can be fitted in standard memory slots. We tried side by side slots in a number of boards and the dimms fit fine side-by-side.We considered testing with water also, but we did not have the correct fittings available, it would have taken a while to get the fittings we needed, and we wanted to get the info to our readers as fast as possible. OCZ emphasizes the Flex nature of the memory, and we thought you would want to know about the outstanding performance on air with Flex XLC.
Perhaps we will relent and test with water in a future review, but we're not completely sure we want to go in that direction. We generally find we can overclock using air cooling at speeds similar to some other sites who insist you can only cool with water.
The "silent" aspect is a good argument for water cooling, but most water systems still have a fan to cool the liquid and a pump for recirculating the fluid. Some water cooling systems are therefore about as "noisy" as a good air-cooled system - though we do agree that many water cooling systems are very quiet.
brownba - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
no doubt the water cooled feature should have been tested.I'm also wondering how the heatsink is designed - does the water flow down the front of the stick over the actual memory chips?
Hypernova - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
If you look at the last page on the "Pre-CES Taiwan 2006, Day 1" article that's exactly what they had in there.