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Patriot Memory 2GB PC2-5300


Date
: 06/19/06 – 02:35:11 AM

Author
:

Category
: Memory

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer
: Patriot Memory

Price
: $143.99 NewEgg

Patriot Memory has made several appearances at Overclockers Online. Our last look was with the Patriot Memory 2GB PC4000 ELK and they have consistently been able to prove themselves as a worthy option when you go out and buy memory for your next machine.

Time and time again we've seen Patriot Memory release memory modules equal to the performance of the big leaguers like OCZ, Corsair and Crucial but at a fraction of the cost. Tonight, we get to see how well this budget 2GB kit performs. While it's rated as PC2-5300, some say PC2-6400 and beyond is not out of the question. We'll see where the truth in that statement lies.

Page 2 : Package

Once you've seen one memory package, you've seen them all. Our PDC22G5300LLK arrived in the standard Patriot Memory blister pack.

Apart from the actually memory sticks themselves, there are only a few differences that separates this kit and my PC4000 ELK kit. You can find the differences on the other side of the package.

On this package, Patriot Memory has printed the information specific to the 2GB PC2-5300LLK.

The two sticks can easily be removed from the blister package and we can clearly see from the package that Patriot memory has opted for black heat spreaders.

Apart from the color, the heatsinks used by Patriot Memory are identical….right down to the identification sticker occupying a quarter of the heatsink.

The oversized label gives us the details on the speed, size and timing of the kit. There is also a bar code and perhaps a product number. By removing the sticker you immediately void the warranty.

Given that the heatsinks are identical to the ones used in my other review, we already know that the heatsinks are two separate pieces and they adhere to the chips via a thermal tape.

The advantage of the clip and hinge-less design means national convection between the chips will allow for dissipation of heat.

Flip to the next page where I go over the specifications.

Page 3 : Specifications

While our last Patriot Memory review was on a product with hidden specifications, this kit had easily accessible information. Taken directly from the product page, Patriot Memory has this to say:

Here are the specifications and some features.

If we pop off the heatspreader, we get a good look at the bare DIMM as well as the heatsink.

As everyone expects, Patriot Memory has opted to use the BrainPower PCB (BP MLL E186014 94V-0).

The heat spreader is pretty basic and the thermal pad makes covers all of the IC to ensure proper heat transfer. I was quite amazed how easily the heatspreader came off.

Focusing on just the IC, we see Patriot Memory has decided to etch their name in making it hard to identify who their source is. Of course, Google solves all those problems. A quick search reveals that the IC's are made by Elpida. The exact model is PM64M8D2B-3AEL with a production date of 0607. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any specific information on these chips.

Page 4 : Installation & Overclocking

Memory installation is not exactly a very difficult task. Within a few seconds you should be able to pop in your new sticks, at most maybe 5 minutes to remove your old ones and pop in the Patriot Memory ones. The five minutes comes if you need to remove your video card before you can take out the old sticks. Here's a quick shot of the sticks installed on my ECS C19-A board.

For overclocking and performance tests, I'll be using my Asus P5WD2 motherboard. This is one of the best boards available when it comes to overclocking. I must say it was quite a blast overclocking the Patriot Memory sticks. Starting a mere 667 MHz, I ended up at 950 MHz! In order to reach this speed with 100% stability, I loosened up the timing and increased the voltage to 5-5-5-16 and 2.2V.

Let's see how these puppies perform.

Page 5 : Performance

Let's first begin this section by giving you the specifications I'll be using.

A recap of the frequencies I'll be benchmarking with…

To analyze the performance, I'll subject the kit to a variety of benchmarks. I started with the FutureMark 3DMark 2006 and 3DMark 2001SE. I then went on to use PCMark 2004 and 2005. Sisoft Sandra 2007 memory and latency benchmarks were also tested along with ScienceMark and Everest. Super Pi 1.4 1M, 2M and 32M calculations were used and all ran without a hitch. Finally, I tested the frame rates of Half-Life 2, Doom III and Battle Field 2 at 1024*768.

The results….

FutureMark 3DMark 2006

FutureMark 3DMark 2001se

FutureMark PCMark

Sisoft Sandra Memory Benchmark

Everest – Memory Bandwidth

Everest – Latency

ScienceMark 2.0 – Memory Benchmark

ScienceMark 2.0 – Molecular Dynamics & Primordia

Super Pi 1.4

1024*768 Gaming

Let's move onto the next page where I wrap everything up.

Page 6 : Conclusion

Patriot Memory continues to impress with their overclocking and budget friendly memory modules. For most people, hitting just shy of PC2-8000 is more than enough, especially when you're only paying for PC2-5300's. A little more voltage and we probably could have broken it too!

Patriot Memory has stormed into the industry and they're modules can easily be found at sites like Newegg or Monarch Computer. It is certainly nice to see them making a larger presence in the international scene with modules even available to Canadians now.

As I stated in my other reviews, DDR1 is dead with the AM2 release not too long ago. The PDC22G5300LLK is going to be a kit you can count on for making a budget machine with high overclocking potential.

Advantages

Highly overclockable
Great Value

Disadvantages

CL5 timings required to reach maximum speed
More international availability is needed

Overclockers Online would like to thank Patriot Memory for making this review possible.