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PDP Systems PC3200 XBLK DDR


Date
: 01/16/05 – 01:06:59 AM

Author
:

Category
: Memory

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer
: PDP Systems

Price
: MSRP $245…Newegg ~$220

We first introduced
PDP Systems
when we looked at the award winning Patriot Memory Dual Channel 1GB PC 3200 and the Patriot Memory Dual Channel 1GB PC 4000. Both modules did extremely well and the PC3200 kit even took home the Overclockers Online POWER Award. It appears PDP Sys wasn't satisified and they released the new
Patriot Extreme Performance Dual Channel Line
, better known as the extreme low latency.

Today I'll be taking a look at the PDC1G3200+XBLK…These bad boys run at 2-2-2-5 for PC 3200 (400 Mhz) and theoretically go as fast as PC 4200 (533Mhz) at 3-4-4-8 timing. Not too shabby, I'm sure these will do wonders in my new machine.

Page 2 : Package

The package arrived via overnight FedEx from PDP Systems. Inside the shipping package was the retail package.

As you can see there isn't all that much to the packaging. A simple plastic wrap with the modules firmly inserted and a piece of cardboard outling what you may have just purchased. The cardboard highlights some very key features of this module. The fact that PDP Sys has been around for 19 years using only state-of-the-art facilities providing free technical support over the lifetime warranty makes it sound like a great company.

The color of these modules really stand out, even the PCB matches the heatsink. Although asethetics is not as important as performance, it's a nice touch. Clearly labelled on both sides of the heatsink is the PDP Systems logo and line the modules are from: Patrtio Memory.

On one side, there is also the distinct sticker identifying the part number and its features.

Page 3 : Specifications

These specifications were taken from PDP's website.

To get a true indication of what ICs PDP Sys was using I had to remove the heat shield. I recommend users do not do this at home. There is a very good chance you will damage the modules and probably void your warranty. I scratched the heatspreader and the PCB because of the strength of the thermal tape.

Taking a closer look at the IC's.

The modules used are Samsung K4H560838F-TCCD.

Page 4 : Installation

There isn't much to report on the installation of memory modules. PDP did not include any sort of written installation manual for me. However, one does exist and I have received it in the PDF format. It's a double sided document that is inserted into the packaging. Honestly, you probably won't need it. To install the modules, find two empty DIMM slots, line up the pins and push them in. Typically, slots 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 are your dual channel ones, but you can always refer to your motherboard for installation and clarifications.

All done!

Page 5 : Overclocking and Testing

To the kit's performance we use PCMark 2004's memory suite, Science Mark 2 membench, SiSoft Sandra 2005, Super Pi, and finally Quake 3 Arena. The first three tests are synthetic and help us gauge the amount of memory bandwidth each setup delivers. The final two tests, Super Pi and Quake 3 Arena, are probably the two most valuable applications in examining memory. Super Pi calculating to 2M places is very sensitive to memory errors and in order for a setup to be considered stable it would need to complete this portion of our testing without any rounding error. Quake 3 Arena is an older game, but the engines widespread use and speed allow us to shift the bottleneck off the video card and onto the CPU/memory.

The tests were conducted using the following system:

RAM:

As you can see, these modules kicked some serious butt. I was able to reach PC4000 on a rather tight timing – 2-3-3-5 to be exact. Unfortunately, 3.75Ghz was the most my Intel P4 3.0E was willing to do. Regardless of the voltages I pumped, +0.4V on the Ram, +0.3V on the NB and up to 1.5V on the VCore, it wouldn't budge. I can state, without any doubt, that these modules will do the rated PC4200 and more without
any
problems. Boy do I wish I bought the highly overclockable Northwood's now!

Page 6 : Conclusion

Once again, PDP Systems does not disappoint. These modules are priced slightly lower than the competition which will be an added plus for those on a tight budget. In some reviews, the overclock I got with PDP was much better than what other companies will give you. However, I until O² lands some of those modules in our test labs, I can't guarantee anything. You can expect to find these at least forty dollars cheaper when you compare it against Mushkin and Kingston, which also uses these same IC's.
The one flaw Tony had with his PC3200LL Kit was that the latency was too high on the higher frequencies. For one thing, these modules seemed to have corrected this factor. Once again, there's really nothing left to say but when you put great performance, from great overclocking, at a reasonable value you're left with a product taking home our O² Power Award.

Advantages

High overclocking potential even on tight timing
Excellent performance
Lifetime warranty
Lower voltage

Disadvantages

What's missing? None that I see.

A huge thanks to PDP Sys for sending us this sample for evaluation.