OCZ 4200EL: Tops in Memory Performance
by Wesley Fink on October 13, 2003 9:33 PM EST- Posted in
- Memory
OCZ had been strangely absent from the last round of our memory reviews. They did not have a product that was really quite the same as the excellent “Universal” Corsair 4000 PRO or Mushkin 4000 High Performance. That did not, however, mean they were not working on products in the same category. We heard OCZ would release a DDR533 “Universal” memory, and today, OCZ announces that new product — OCZ 4200EL.
We had seen a late Beta sample of the new 4200EL, and AnandTech was told these were identical to the release version. A few days ago, the release DIMMs and information showed up announcing that they would be released on October 14th. We also had a chance to compare them to late beta samples, and we did, in fact, find the performance virtually identical. This means that you should find performance of your Retail chips almost the same as we found in our retail samples.
PC4200 means an official rating of DDR533 and the rated timings are 2.5-4-4-7 at 2.7V. Like other recent high-end OCZ memory, the DIMMs are warranted up to 3.0V for overclocking. OCZ also tells us that this new memory will run at CAS2 at DDR400, which would make the OCZ the 3rdand fastest “Universal” memory.
Our testing confirms that OCZ 4200EL is another Universal High-Speed DIMM like the Mushkin 4000 High Performance and Corsair XMS4000PRO we recently tested. What we mean by Universal High-Speed is that the memory is very competitive at DDR500, but that it also performs at DDR400 with aggressive CAS2 timings. Early DDR500 does well at the high end, but at DDR400, you are often stuck with CAS2.5 or CAS3 timings, which perform poorly compared to the fast DDR400 modules.
What's more, the OCZ 4200EL is the Highest Speed Rated DIMMs that we have tested at AnandTech, and easily surpasses the performance of the best performing memory tested so far.
This is the first DIMM pair that we have received from OCZ in their new packaging. The new package is certainly easier to identify than the generic DIMM boxes that OCZ has used in the past. It also looks almost the same as Corsair's new packaging.
You can see that OCZ uses the Copper Heat-Spreader on 4200EL. We did remove the Heat-Spreader to find the chips are labeled OCZ. They are apparently blanks that are purchased by OCZ and labeled as OCZ chips. Performance behavior makes us believe they are a variant of Hynix Rev. B chips, except they clock higher than we have yet seen with Hynix Rev. B memory chips. It also appears that OCZ may be using a new PCB with this memory, since it is a bit different from PCB's recently seen on OCZ DIMMs.
OCZ also includes a Case Badge for those who want to advertise that they are using top OCZ memory in their computer.
OCZ 4200EL Specifications
| OCZ 4200EL Memory Specifications | |
| Number of DIMMs & Banks | 2 DS |
| DIMM Size Total Memory |
512 Mb 1 GB |
| Rated Timings | 2.5-4-4-7 at DDR533 |
| Rated Voltage | 2.7V Maximum Voltage 3.0V |
OCZ tests performance of OCZ 4200EL on Asus and Abit Intel 865/875 motherboards. While compatibility tests are run on other motherboards, these popular boards are used for Production Line testing. OCZ states that Memory is tested at DDR400, 433, 466, 500 and 533.
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Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - link
#24What do you expect? Companies push overclocked memory as something "new"? When in fact each module gets pushed up with voltage to get the specs they are saying. It's a joke to sell the same speced DDR400 modules as something else. I'm just suprised Samsung allows remarking of falsely advertised products. To say you are getting true DDR533 is the biggest joke. Considering they are OVERCLOCKING a product and selling it as something else.
Couldn't you say that they are remarking chips and selling them at a faster mark? I wonder if you could get away with sueing a company based on false advertising a product
Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - link
21 is right. These RAM reviews are presented simply with the pointless synth benches and there is no analysis or interpretation. Since the vast majority of people simply don't know any better, they see "fastest" and assume their system will be boosted into the stratosphere. As anyone who actually bothers to test these modules properly knows, that is false.Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - link
http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/OCZ+E...Voltage is listed at 2.8V, this is board specific, some boards will run at DDR533 at 2.7V or less.2.8v is stated for compatiblity.
The ram will be available from today from http://www.atacom.com they will show stock as soon as it arrives.
oczguy2
Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - link
#21, your comments are foolish at best when it's a fact that there are PLENTY of people that buy 875P boards. Christ, get a clue.Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - link
"For the most part the 865PE comes within 2 - 5% of the performance of the 875P, which makes the 875P a tough sell. For the majority of users, we would strongly recommend the 865PE because of the significant cost savings. If you're the type of user that must have the fastest thing on the block and will not rest without the knowledge that you do in fact have the fastest thing on the block, then the 875P is for you, but for everyone else, the 865PE is more than sufficient."http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=1...
Why doesn't Anand just do all the reviews? :-( The above clip is exactly what these memory articles need-sanity and perspective.
Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - link
"You are correct that it makes no difference at all if you only run Microsoft Word and surf the web with dial-up."Ironic statement, since Quake 3 is less system intensive these days than Word.
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - link
OCZ will have the full info up in about an hour according to the email I just got. OCZ will post a link in these comments as soon as the page is up.Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - link
#16 just because your broke doesn't mean all of us are....for me it will be awesome I run an a64 on a prommie and run at high 1:1 speeds this stuff will allow me to get to 560mhz fsb easy with my cooling which to me and many other overclockers is absolutely awesome....just because you can't afford good components doesn't mean we're all broke. And why does it matter what wes said he showed the performance increase in the benchmarks if you don't think it's worth the money then don't buy it....Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - link
wes is this the memory your reviewing....http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/OCZ+D... really appreciate an answer because I'm looking for the stuff you reviewed with the 2.5-4-4-7 timings and can't find it....
Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - link
Come on man, you're smarter than that. People buying this stuff aren't programmers or content creators, they are gamers. So if you can prove that this RAM offers more that a few % advantage, then it would be nice if you did it. Simply saying that it does carries little weight. So it's the highest 1:1. So what? Does turning a dirt country lane into a superhighway let more cars through if there wasn't any traffic to begin with? This stuff will likely cost over $400 for 1GB. So I'd like to think it offers more than a dent in the wallet.