I was able to repeat the process at 285 with 3-4-4-10 timings.[/quote]
Here is the chart with all my stable results I could muster out of this impressively flexible 2GB kit:

You have a wide arrange of options with this fine offering from OCZ; from tight timings at DDR425 to a decent DDR570 at the high end with looser timings. As you may have noticed, this kit will also run at 2.5-3-2-7 at the stock frequency of DDR500 which was a bit of a surprise. I will also mention that when the memory is set to default in the Asus A8V-E Deluxe it would run the RAM at timings of 3-3-2-7 and not 3-3-2-8 that the RAM is advertised at, so OCZ is being quite modest with the advertised timings. The last column shows no more than 2.7v being used in overclocking. I tried up to 3.0v when 2.7v caused errors with no benefit. Having to get all of this performance with only 2.7v is very impressive and ensures that any and, pretty much, all motherboards will be able to take advantage of the frequencies and timings found here.

The one disappointment came when I had to switch to a 2T command rate from 1T. I don't feel this is a limitation of the RAM in any way but more of a problem with the CPU or motherboard I am using for this review, despite the Venice core CPU having the Rev. E on-die memory controller which is suppose to have the better memory controller for handling a large amount of RAM like this. I did try the kit in the Foxconn Winfast NF4SK8AA-8EKRS with similar results and the Foxconn board uses the NVIDIA nForce 4 chipset while the Asus motherboard in the review uses the VIA K8T890 chipset so that is why I am leaning on the CPU being the culprit.

It is now time to see how the performance varies from the two ends of the spectrum running various test beds.

Page 6 : Performance

For testing performance of memory, we are obviously going to be using an array of software to gauge the bandwidth including Everest Ultimate Edition, SiSoft Sandra, and the memory testing suites of PCMark 04 and 05. Super PI of 1M digits will also be ran to gauge the performance as the frequency increases. The last program I will run is another Futuremark program, 3DMark 01SE. The original 3DMark is still one of the favorites amongst overclockers as it calculates its score from total system performance and not just the 3D graphics performance. In addition to the synthetic benchmarks run, I will also be using BenchEmAll to run both Half-life 2 and Far Cry for some real world results of the performance at the various frequencies that I could get this memory to run at. All benchmarks were run 1:1 with the CPU and repeated three times with the average of the three being plotted. Let's get started and look at the results:

SiSoft Sandra Memory Bandwidth

Everest Memory Bandwidth

Everest Latency

Futuremark PCMark 04/05 Memory Suite

Futuremark 3DMark 01SE

SuperPi 1M Digits

Clearly the performance for the most part increases with higher frequencies but on occasion at certain frequencies tighter timings provided greater bandwidth and/or lower memory latency. Now here are the results of the gaming benchmarks:

Having memory that will run 1:1 with the CPU as it is scaled up agrees with the games; the FPS steadily rises with each step of the way. Next up is a little comparison I decided to do to see the difference between 1GB and 2GBs of RAM.

Page 7 : 1GB vs 2GB

This is not your normal comparison that you will find in a review, but I felt this was a valid way to see how much of a potential advantage 2GB of RAM will be when compared to 1GB in applications that can utilize the extra memory. To do this I used my OCZ PC3200 Premier Dual Channel kit and used the same frequency, timings, and command rate with both kits running in dual channel mode. The comparison will be within Adobe Photoshop CS2 running my normal batch after photographing a sporting event.

100 RAW images will be opened from a separate hard drive than the one running the OS. These images will be converted from RAW into Photoshop using the built in ACR software. Once the 100 RAW images have been converted for manipulation in Photoshop, they will then run through my standard workflow action set which involves a levels adjustment, unsharp mask at varying settings, a run through Noise Ninja using the Photoshop plug-in, then resized and converted for web use with file info and another shot of USM after resizing. Finally the files will then be saved in JPG format to the hard drive in which they were originally pulled from. The whole process will be repeated three times with an average being recorded for the results. Let's have a look at the results:

To be honest, I was expecting a little more of a gap between the two kits of RAM, but a 10% increase in performance is still impressive for the 2GB pair. At the highest CPU frequency, the difference is not as much but still around 7%. Now I understand that these are two different types of RAM but it was the closest I could get to a direct comparison between a 1GB and 2GB kit. Photoshop definitely has a little more spunk and less lag when you have multiple large files open. With the performance benefit, the usability with 2GB is an added bonus. I will now be wrapping up this look at the PC4000 2GB Enhanced Bandwidth Platinum Edition kit from OCZ in the conclusion.

Page 8 : Conclusion

Until recently, 2GB of RAM was considered to be overkill for most systems. Design professionals, video editors, programmers, and servers can use as much memory as you can throw at them but for the common personal computer user, it was never needed. Gamers never had a need for that much memory and preferred smaller 2*512MB kits that run in dual channel, and with AMD64 owners, nice and tight timings. This provided the best performance but now, OCZ has gone and turned the tables offering us PC4000 2GB kits that run at timings of 3-3-2-8. This now gives timings almost as tight as 2*512GB kits opening the door to a lot more 2GB kits making their way into a computer case near you.

As you saw from the overclocking, this kit not only runs DDR500 @ 3-3-2-8 but it actually runs DDR500 @ 2.5-3-2-7 and 2-3-2-7 up to DDR450+. Aside from the little issues with running at a command rate of 2T vs 1T, which I consider to be an issue with the CPU/motherboard I was using and not the RAM, this memory does some amazing things. In my Photoshop CS2 comparison there was an excellent 10% gain in a standard photo editing workflow when put up against a 2*512MB kit at the same frequency and timings. This RAM also had no problem running up to DDR570 when I loosened the timings to 3-4-4-10, all without requiring over 2.7v.

Gone are the days when the best performance is provided by 1GB kits of memory. OCZ has given us an alternative that provides amazing performance, solid overclockability, and 2GBs of memory in the form of two 1GB modules running in dual channel at timings that are un-heard of anywhere else on the market. Did OCZ hit a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth with this PC4000 Enhanced Bandwidth Platinum Edition 2GB kit? Not quite, but it certainly was a lead off homer to get the team off to an early lead and that deserves my Editors Choice Award.

Advantages:

• Versatile frequency and timings
• Solid overclockability
• Minimum voltage to maximize performance

  Disadvantages:

• Not all CPU/Motherboard combinations can handle 2GB at 1T
• If you want to play you have to pay

  Overclockers Online would like to thank OCZ for providing this kit for review.