OCZ Gold GX XTC PC3500 1GB / OCZ Gold GX XTC PC4000 2GB

All that glitters is not necessarily superfast gaming RAM.

OCZ is one of the most popular brand names in the world when it comes to memory, and with good reason. Pioneering such greats as the DDR Booster Mod and its Rally USB drives, it not only continues to pump out quality RAM but also tries to innovate in what has become a very competitve space.

The OCZ Gold GX XTC range is an example of this, sporting the usual low latency (PC3500) and high bandwidth (PC4000) throughputs respectively with one important addition - a new style of heatspreader. Termed 'Xtreme Thermal Convection' by OCZ, this is a swanky way of saying the spreader sports a perferorated grill that's designed to allow better airflow through and around the chips. Whether this actually makes a difference is a matter of super hot (ahem, as it were) debate on the net.

Ever since the introduction of heat spreaders to memory modules theres have been two distinct camps -- those that say they make a difference, and those that say they make no difference at all.

Just as much a spreader can help conduct and dissipate heat, it can also trap hot air. Which is why the XTC design uses an aluminium grill to both conduct heat while maintaining air flow.

Great in theory, but does it work?

We were more interested in the performance of these sticks in our testing, since that's the main reason for buying such sticks, but after a hefty run of memory intensive benchmarks they felt about as hot to touch as the Geil PC3200 they replaced in the testbench -- modules using traditional enclosed aluminum spreaders.

Performance wise the PC3500 are rated for 2-2-2-5 and naturally handle this no problem at the stock 200MHz, bringing in 6203MB/s read speed and 55.3ns latency. Pushed to their limits we found could reach a respectable 215MHz at 4-4-4-6, bringing in 6470MB/s and 55.3ns respectively. This is to be expected, as they're designed to be low-latency modules.

The PC4000 modules are 1GB each and as such default to more lax timings. Running at 3-4-3-8 they pushed 6144MB/s and 57.7ns at 200MHz, and a meaty 7454MB/s and 50.8ns at its ceiling of 250MHz. This isn't quite as good as the PC 4000 EB Platinum's, our regining champion for 1GB sticks, but for the price it's not bad.

OVerall the OCZ Gold GX XTC modules are a respectable piece of kit catering to low-latency and high bandwidth fanatics alike.