OCZ 3700 GOLD: Building High-Performance Memory
by Wesley Fink on August 7, 2003 8:34 PM EST- Posted in
- Memory
One of the first memory modules to reach stable DDR500 performance levels was OCZ 3700 GOLD. Many of us at AnandTech have been impressed with the performance levels and timings we have seen with this memory. We were a bit surprised, therefore, when we learned that this memory was reportedly achieving these performance levels using Samsung TCB3 memory chips.
The surprise was not that OCZ was using Samsung chips in 3700 GOLD — it is common knowledge that almost every high-end memory manufacturer builds their modules with memory from a wide range of memory chip makers. They may order custom blanks, custom label, or do special "binning" to choose chips for their DIMMs, but virtually all of the custom memory makers use chips from huge memory makers like Samsung, Micron, and Hynix. The surprise in this case was the Samsung chips OCZ was using. We had seen the chips used in DDR333 and DDR400 DIMMs from Samsung and a few other manufacturers. In fact, we had a pair of Crucial DDR333 DIMMs that used Samsung chips with the same ID. We wondered how OCZ was able to get these DDR333/400 chips to perform at the stable DDR466/500 levels, which we had seen in our OCZ 3700 GOLD tests for the upcoming article, 'Searching for the Memory Holy Grail — Part 2'.
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Anonymous User - Friday, August 8, 2003 - link
MS ,I think the point of the article was to prove that the lasering process works ? I could be wrong but it appears the results confirm it
Anonymous User - Friday, August 8, 2003 - link
Not a word in this review about OCZ having the worst reputation in the industry? Not a word about them never standing behind their products. Not a word about them closing down their parent company every time the claims and fraud investigations start getting big, and then re-opening again somewhere else a couple of months later.Once a criminal enterprise, always a criminal enterprise. OCZ is a fraud, no matter what special review chips they send to sites like this one.
MS - Friday, August 8, 2003 - link
I removed the top layer from some chips and tested the same DIMM before and after and there was no difference whatsoever. Therefore, I am stil sceptic about the entire issue of going topless for better performance.Mday - Friday, August 8, 2003 - link
always good to see a place turn around, but there are always lingering doubts...Evan Lieb - Friday, August 8, 2003 - link
Yeah, they've changed quite a bit Kris. Their product's performance and their customer support today makes them a much more reputable memory contender than they were 1 or 2 years ago.Anonymous User - Friday, August 8, 2003 - link
Why won't you be including Mushkin, this time?You used to be really big on them.
KristopherKubicki - Friday, August 8, 2003 - link
I visted with them a month or two ago, they seem a lot less like the company I visited 18 months ago.AgaBooga - Thursday, August 7, 2003 - link
I think if OCZ continues this kind of introduction of products they may turn the company around from its past. Also, I liked how they co-operated and gave the chips you guys asked for without trouble. Doing that, they show their confidence in their laser process.