SUMMARY: Dual Channel, Dual Channel, Dual Channel - it is one of the key buzzwords taking the IT industry by storm at the moment courtesy of chipsets from nVidia and Intel. Which Dual Channel branded memory kit do you choose? Do you even need actual branded Dual Channel memory? Which overclocks the fastest? Shawn "Toxic" Baker answers all these questions in this 20-page monster roundup comparing memory from Crucial, Mushkin, Kingmax, TwinMOS, Buffalo and Corsair!
Crucial are a very well known memory manufacturer thanks to its excellent quality memory and great prices.
With the ability to buy from their website, prices are a lot cheaper as you are cutting out the middle man (the wholesalers) who adds their profit margin on top. Crucial provided us with a PC3200 stick not long ago and due to the great results we received, they were the first on our list to organize another module for when it came to our Dual Channel round up.
Crucial use the same brown box for all their memory and while it isnt very exciting it travels from one end of the world to the other without any damage.
The memory comes in a little anti-static bag and included in the box is an installation sheet that gives you installation instructions in a host of different languages.
Modules
Crucial have supplied us with 2 X 256 memory modules for use in Dual Channel mode. While these sticks dont came in a Dual Channel pack like some other companies nor do they guarantee Dual Channel will work, we will see if they have any troubles when running together later.
The very first thing you notice about the modules is the lack of heat spreader, this helps keep the price lower which carries onto the consumer.
Crucial have a very plain stick but are able to run at higher clock speeds without the use of a heat spreader due to the high quality Micron chips that are used on the PCB. The PC3200 sticks on offer by Crucial are only sticks in our roundup with a rating of CAS latency 3, which is the slowest CAS latency used with DDR memory. These modules are simply designed to run at DDR400 and work at those speeds without a problem. We will see how much further we can push these sticks from Crucial later.
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