Review: RAM: Is It Price Vs. Quality?

To most system builders RAM has become a commodity item, with price being the primary factor for selecting a vendor. While in many cases, that is a sound philosophy, quality is not something to be discounted. In other words, it can pay off to spend a little more on RAM to reduce the specter of poor performance or system returns.

Quality is becoming ever more important as CPU cores multiply and system speeds increase. Add to that the memory requirements of the latest operating systems and applications, and the need for fast, quality RAM becomes readily apparent.

To meet that need, Corsair rolled out its top-of-the-line Dominator series of DDR2 memory. Available in 2-Gbyte modules, each has an integrated heat sink to dissipate the heat generated from over-clocking or pushing the performance of RAM. In situations where system builders are pushing overclocking to the bleeding edge, Corsair offers two models of the Corsair SIMMs with integrated cooling fans along with the standard heat sinks. And while many SIMMS have heat sinks, Corsair has gone one step further by focusing on maximum heat dissipation. The heat sinks' design integrates with a dual-path design in which the front of the chip is cooled by a dedicated heat sink, while the rear of the chip circuit board also dissipates heat. One word of caution: The heat sink adds some height to the modules so installers must first verify clearance.

The heat dissipation technology seems to do the trick. The Dominator modules with an airflow fan have been tested at a performance level of PC8888 (or 1111MHz at CAS 4 settings). That level of high performance comes with a price, however. The modules start at a street price of about $325.

If overclocking is not in the plans for a system builder, Corsair offers its standard DDR2 modules and its value select line of modules at competitive prices, ensuring that system builders won't have to sacrifice quality for low cost.