Introduction

It's an interesting time for us memory reviewers: the main memory manufacturers - OCZ, Corsair, Kingston, Mushkin, Geil, you name 'em - have decided it is time for a little race towards the PC2-10000 mark. Corsair seems to be the first who made it with their recently announced PC2-10000 Dominator part, but the others are not far behind. It is only a matter of time before all the big guys offer these speed binning, and to be honest, some already do, even if it's not officially noted on the package.

Today we're taking a look at OCZ's fastest memory module: the PC9200 FlexXLC kit. As you'll notice right away, by just looking at the package, there's more to these modules than just a speed bump. This top of the line memory reveals OCZ's new heat spreader design for the enthusiast, and we're very anxious to see what they're made of...

A first look

First, let's have a look at the package that came in for Christmas :



As you can see, the modules are quite a bit taller than your average unit, so quite logically OCZ had to develop a new package around the modules. The modules are not packed in a vertical position any more, but horizontally, which results in a wider package. Overall, the package has the OCZ look and feel, but I feel the modules could be packed a little tighter, as they are quite heavy and tend to slide out of position inside the blister.

Packages are meant to be opened and thrown away (by the majority of the users anyway), so this is not a big deal at all. Instead of the usual folded card with integrated manual at the back of the blister, OCZ uses a different card with the schematics of the heat spreader. No install manual is present this time around, but I guess the public for these kinds of memory sticks knows how to install them on their motherboards. Some more views of the package can be found below.



Specifications

For those that aren't familiar with OCZ's ram, here's a word on the company :

OCZ is one of the premier manufacturers of memory modules, and one of the biggest players on the international market. OCZ technology was founded in 2000 and has established quite a name for producing high end ram products, especially among the enthusiast community. Since early 2004, OCZ also produces high-end power supplies, and at the beginning of 2007, nVidia Graphic Cards were added, starting with their flag ship model, the 8800GTX. In 2007, OCZ will also put a new focus on cooling products, by introducing some water-cooling products and best of all, a new phase change unit. For the time being though, memory remains the most important branch in OCZ's product catalogue, and in that respect it is always nice to be able to test the best of the best. For many products, OCZ has received praise from reviewers around the world, and we can only hope that they continue their efforts in the future.

The full name of the kit we're reviewing today is the OCZ PC9200 Flex XLC, and the memory is as such a part of an entirely new section of OCZ ram, directed at the "extreme enthusiast". OCZ has been bringing out a lot of new memory lineups lately, like the nVidia and ATI certified modules, and some other "Special Ops" memory kits as well, but none of the lineups they introduced are quite as innovating as the one we're reviewing today.

As we mentioned before, these modules are at the absolute top of the entire OCZ memory product catalogue, and these are the complete specifications:

1150MHz DDR2

Latencies : 5-5-5-18 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)

240pin DIMM

Parity : Unbuffered

Flex XLC heatsink with 2x 1/4" barbs

Lifetime Warranty

Operating voltage : 2.35 Volts

EVP (Extended Voltage Protection) : 2.4V ±5%

Memory size : 2x 1024Mb

Let's have a closer look at the modules on the next page ->