OCZ DDR Booster Review

Memory by JNav89GT @ 2004-09-27

Want to push your memory voltage way beyond what your motherboard has to offer without the need of a soldering iron? OCZ has just the thing; we take a closer look at their DDR Booster which can increase the vDIMM up to 3.9v! An overclocker?s dream come true?

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Introduction

Voltage voltage voltage!!!! Overclocker's long for it like a 5 year old kid drooling over a candy jar. So what makes voltage sought after, yet somewhat of a taboo as well?

When overclocking computer components, specifically the CPU and ram, there comes a point at which the electrons moving inside the delicate parts we spend so much $$$ on are unable to jump the transistor gates and complete the signal we want them too. In effect we begin to experience instability. In certain circumstances adding more voltage will "force" those same lazy electrons to jump that gate and bring about stability again. Whether it is in the CPU or in some case's ram modules, more voltage can be the savior to get to that "next step" and reach a goal the enthusiast is seeking.

Add too much voltage and you can create too much heat or interference and actually degrade from your overclock. Finding the sweet spot is necessary in maximizing your overclock. Dealing with the American principle, "if a little is good, a lot is better", the good people at OCZ have designed and implemented a unit to give us more ram voltage above and beyond what our motherboard makers have allowed in bios adjustments.

In many cases 2.8 or 2.9v just isn't enough to push certain DIMMs (dual inline memory modules) to their max performance. The OCZ booster seeks to allow that extra voltage (up to 3.9v depending on motherboard) and in theory allow the user to fine tune and extract that last bit of performance out of their machine. So the questions remains; how hard to setup and use is this beast, and does it work as advertised? Or does this contrivance allow the nut behind the wheel enough juice to crash and burn?

Madshrimps (c)


Let’s open the box ->
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