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From the cheapest budget computer to the craziest enthusiast system, every major memory maker has kits targeting each type of user. The problem for many when choosing memory is price vs performance. While those budget and enthusiast kits have their fans, there is a large group stuck in memory purgatory. For them DDR2-533 @ 5-5-5-15 isn't very sexy, and DDR2-1066 @ 4-4-4-12 is slightly out of their price range. For this group there are no shortage of choices, however finding a good balance of value and performance can be problematic. Do you choose a DDR2-667 kit with tighter timings and hope it'll overclock well, or do you choose a DDR2-800 kit with modest timings and hope you can tinker with those latencies to squeeze every last bit of performance from it? OCZ's Platinum Revision 2 DDR2 800 Memory Kit might be the perfect balance. Featuring 4-4-4-15 timings at DDR2-800, the Platinum Rev 2 kit definitely has some attractive specs, but none more attractive than its sub $200 price tag...
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Although many debate the effectiveness of heatspreaders, the design used here does seem to work extremely well, as during all of our testing the memory modules were cool to the touch.
Overclocking Disclaimer
First and foremost, when purchasing a kit of RAM (or any component, for that matter) overclocking results are never guaranteed. Many factors can influence what a kit is capable of, including complimentary components (motherboard, processor, power supply), user experience, and simple luck of the draw. Two identical systems will not necessarily yield identical results, and anything beyond the rated specs should be considered a bonus, not an expectation. At HardwareLogic, we will report the results that we obtain with our review sample, but keep the above in mind when making a purchase.
With DDR2-800 kits, we don't worry as much about versatility as we do overclocking. Let's face it, with prices having settled, the days of DDR2-667 are pretty much passed. However, we wanted to see if we could run the OCZ Platinum Revision 2 kit to 4-4-4-12 at DDR2-800, and had absolutely no problem. In fact, during our overclocking adventures, we were able to push the kit all the way to DDR2-897 with 2.2V...pretty damned impressive.
Loosening up the tRAS latency to 15 (the rated spec) we were able to coax out a little more, reaching 902MHz with 100% stability.
Finally we let it all hang out.....Loosening up the latencies to 5-5-5-15 and setting the DIMM voltage to 2.2V.......
and finally topped out at DDR2-1000......
Considering the rated specs, the OCZ Platinum Revision 2 is actually a very versatile and extremely impressive kit, especially when you factor in the sub-$200 combined with performance we saw. As a last little side note, we'd like to add that this kit was not a review sample, but was actually purchased from Newegg as a backup kit for testing..| Benchmark | 4-4-4-15 | 4-4-4-12 | 4-4-4-15 | 5-5-5-15 |
| Maximum Overclock | (Stock) | 897 | 902 | 1000 |
| WorldBench 5 Adobe Photoshop 7.0.1 Ahead Nero Express Roxio Video Wave | 294 | 268 | 267 | 246 |
| Super Pi 1M 32M | 29.484 | 26.046 | 26.094 | 23.526 |
| Sisoft Sandra FLOAT INT | 4683 | 5249 | 5265 | 5718 |
| Everest Ultimate Edition Read Write | 7246 | 8174 | 8147 | 8529 |
| Gaming | 4-4-4-15 | 4-4-4-12 | 4-4-4-15 | 5-5-5-15 |
| Doom 3 Far Cry F.E.A.R. | 112.18 | 127.6 | 126.0 | 138.1 |
What do the benchmarks tell us? First and foremost these benchmarks, in conjunction with Stress Prime and MemTest86 V 1.70 tell us that our overclocking results are 100% stable, which to us are the big picture. Results are going to vary from system to system, and actually vary moderately between runs on the same bench, with the same components. What we hope to show you, more than anything else, is that our results are stable.
| Section | Score | Comments |
| Stock Performance | 17/20 |
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| Overclocking | 19/20 |
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| Versatility | 17/20 |
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| Warranty and Support | 20/20 |
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| Price / Value | 19/20 |
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Our Recommendation
Visit any number of forums around the web and you'll see a huge difference of opinion regarding the importance of system memory. For the benchmarking crowd and most extreme enthusiasts, we'll always recommend a high end memory kit. But for those looking to balance price and performance, the choices are many, and sometimes difficult. OCZ has always maintained options for every possible scenario, from the cheapest budget kit to the ultra high end super kits, but we personally think kits like the OCZ Platinum Revision 2 are the real sweet spot for the gamer/beginner enthusiast.
While the Platinum Revision 2 lacks fancy features like EPP, it worked flawlessly in every system we tested it with. Considering the performance, price, and OCZ's wonderful support system, we have no problems recommending this kit.
Other Reviews of Note
Its always nice to have more than one opinion on a component before you spend your hard earned money. For one, We may see something others missed, or vice versa. As with all reviews published at HardwareLogic, we'll not only give you our recommendation, but also point out some reviews from some other great sites around the web.