OCZ Reaper HPC Edition PC2-8500 2GB Kit (DDR2-1066)

Introduction

OCZ broke into the enthusiast memory market with specialized memory modules tailored for overclockers, and back then, things were simpler. Speed you see, was the only consideration. Today, performance memory is available at just about every corner you look and the maturity of DDR2 just means more choices to choose from. Still, OCZ continues to do their thing. Their FlexXLC series was a testament to their commitment to all the hardcore overclockers out there. However, if water cooling isn't your 'thing', or if you're just looking for something a little more inconspicuous, OCZ has you covered as well.

The OCZ Reaper HPC (Heat-Pipe Conduit) is the next best thing in their premium line up and unlike the FlexXLC, the Reaper HPC has a fully self contained cooling system thanks to its patent pending heat-pipe conduit design. These memory modules employ a larger heat spreader which is connected to a heat-pipe loop at the top to provide the extra cooling required to handle the heat from overclocking and the eventual high voltages used.

The Reaper HPC series comes in DDR2-800, DDR2-1066 and DDR2-1150 versions. The lower end DDR2-800 modules themselves have different variants for memory timing, but being enthusiast memory, the DDR2-1066 and DDR2-1150 models are the most sought after. These high speed modules carry a default voltage of 2.3V and OCZ's EVP (Extended Voltage Protection) warranty scheme to cover voltages up to 2.35V. Seeing how high these babies already run, it seems that even OCZ isn't comfortable risking warranty coverage above another 0.05V, so that might be a slight disappointment. The Reaper HPC also supports NVIDIA's SLI Memory technology with EPP (Enhanced Performance Profiles). Used with selected NVIDIA chipsets, these modules can run with optimized timing or overclocking parameters for better performance.

CPU-Z reports that the DDR2-1066 Reaper HPC memory is actually based on DDR2-667 chips and in fact, our motherboards detected it as 667MHz when set to default or auto. Now, we all know all performance memory above JEDEC standards are really hand picked and overclocked chips. However, it seems that OCZ has opted to use lower rated speed bin memory modules for the DDR2-1066 Reaper HPC. Will this affect performance or overclockability? You'll find out soon enough.

Test Setup

For this review, we will test the performance of the PC2-8500 (DDR2-1066) version of the OCZ Reaper HPC Edition memory. These modules operate with SPD timings of 5-5-5-15 at 1066MHz and will be tested on a NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI test bed. Performance will be measured based on the memory default settings (SPD timings) as well as the best improved latency (OC timings) that we are able to achieve. The full specifications of our benchmark tests and parameters that will be used is listed below:-

• Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor
• ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus (NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI)
• 2 x 1GB OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2-1066 @ 5-5-15 CAS 5.0 (SPD)
• 2 x 1GB OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2-1066 @ 4-4-8 CAS 5.0 (OC)
• 2 x 1GB AENEON XTUNE DDR2-1066 @ 5-5-15 CAS 5.0
• 2 x 1GB Kingston HyperX DDR2-1066 @ 5-5-15 CAS 5.0
• 2 x 1GB Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 @ 4-4-12 CAS 4.0
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 200GB SATA hard disk drive (one single NTFS partition)
• MSI GeForce 8600 GT 256MB - with ForceWare 162.18 drivers
• NVIDIA nForce 9.53 driver set
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (and DirectX 9.0c)

Additional Notes

• Although OCZ lists the default voltage of the Reaper HPC as 2.3V, we found that our pair of memory operates with better stability at 2.35V. Since this is covered by OCZ's Extended Voltage Protection (EVP) scheme, we will consider it within its default parameters to continue with our benchmarks.

Benchmarks

The following benchmarks are used in this article to gauge the performance of the OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2-1066 memory:-

• BAPco SYSmark 2004
• Futuremark PCMark05
• SPECviewperf 10.0
• Futuremark 3DMark06
• F.E.A.R.
• Unreal Tournament 2004
• Quake 4
• AquaMark3

Results - Futuremark PCMark05

The performance of the OCZ Reaper HPC in PCMark05's memory workloads was quite impressive to say the least. While our stock Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 still retained the highest memory read score for this test, the OCZ Reaper HPC outperformed the other DDR2-1066 in all Read, Write, Copy and Latency metrics. The most prominent improvements came from the Copy and Latency workloads, where its SPD timings were enough to edge out the competition. Using faster 5-4-4-8 settings, the Reaper's Copy and Latency scores were some of the highest we've seen for this memory speed bracket.

Results - BAPco SYSmark 2004

SYSmark 2004 was another productivity benchmark that the OCZ Reaper HPC memory seemed to shine in. While we didn't notice much of a difference in the Internet Content Creation workload, Office Productivity saw a decent jump in performance, gaining a 3% improvement over the Kingston and AENEON memory and a little over 4% when overclocked with faster timing. These scores helped the memory attain higher overall results as well.

Results - SPECviewperf 10.0

After its performance on PCmark05 and SYSmark2004, we weren't all surprised by the OCZ Reaper's results in SPECviewperf 10 anymore. Again, the memory managed to outperform similar speed memory by an average of about 3-4% depending on how you further tweak its timings.

Results - AquaMark3 and 3DMark06

CPU performance results from both AquaMark3 and 3DMark06 offer further proof that the OCZ Reaper HPC really is that good. Even if you only take the stock SPD timings into consideration, there was a visible difference in memory subsystem performance over the AENEON XTUNE and Kingston HyperX DDR2-1066 modules.

Results - Gaming Benchmarks

First up, we have an oldie but goodie. Unreal Tournament 2004 (UT2004) may be well past its prime, but is extremely scalable even with today's hardware. Benchmarks with UT2004 turned out a little unexpected though, as the OCZ Reaper HPC consistently scored above 110fps using its default SPD parameters. We've even tried benchmarking on two different motherboards (MSI P6N Diamond, ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus) with the same results. Using the overclocked timings however, yielded a natural linear improvement over the Kingston and AENEON memory. Although this behavior seemed strange, we were able to replicate it, so the results stayed.

The OCZ Reaper HPC also managed to squeeze out a few more frames from Quake 4 when compared with the rest of the competition. However, there were little to no difference between the SPD and OC timings this time around. F.E.A.R. was the only benchmark that the OCZ Reaper HPC memory did not maintain a lead. The honors went to the Kingston HyperX DDR2-1066, but that 1fps difference shouldn't be missed.

Overclocking

While we've seen reports in the wild that the OCZ Reaper HPC has been able to effortlessly run at 1200MHz, we did not seem to have to same luck. In our own testing, the memory was able to boot up to 1150MHz (which is actually the speed of the top end model of the Reaper HPC series). However, it was unable to pass our stability tests at these speeds. In fact, the memory would boot fine at any overclock between 1066MHz to 1150MHz as long as Windows was idle. Once we started to run any tests, we were greeted with repeated crashes and BSODs. So, at the end, we were unable to push our pair of OCZ Reaper HPC memory past its default 1066MHz speeds even with voltages up to 2.4-2.5V.

Conclusion

When we reviewed the AENEON XTUNE memory, we were genuinely impressed by the actual leap in DDR2 technology to make available high performance DDR2-1066 memory that complies with JEDEC standards. Imagine, 1066MHz DDR2 memory at stock speeds of 1.8V. The OCZ Reaper HPC on the other hand is a polar opposite, breaking all the rules to milk every last ounce of performance. And it works.

The OCZ Reaper HPC isn't shy about its 2.3V operating voltage and for all intents and purposes features the same 1066MHz speeds and loose CL5 rating as other DDR2-1066 memory. However, OCZ isn't just selling another alternate-cooled DDR2-1066 memory to whet the appetites of enthusiasts. The Reaper HPC is actually able to deliver better performance with the same settings. If our benchmarks are to be any gauge, gamers are not the only target group for faster memory. Professional and productivity suites that are increasingly resource demanding are the applications that stand to gain a lot more from higher memory subsystem bandwidth today.

In terms of cooling, the heat-pipe conduit design and heavy duty heat spreaders do a terrific job keeping heat off the modules. Throughout our testing, the Reaper HPC memory remained only slightly warm to the touch even under full load during benchmarking. From our temperature testing trials, Kingston's DDR2-1066 modules registered about 38 degrees Celsius on heavy loading whereas the OCZ Reaper HPC mostly hovered in the 30 degrees Celsius range. Now that's a substantial difference. Note that OCZ might cover up to 2.35V under their EVP program, but we've no problems with heat even past 2.4V, which is a far cry from some of the earlier standard DDR2-800 modules that can get scalding hot on load at 2.1-2.2V.

Although DDR3 is now emerging as the next standard for desktop memory, it is obvious that DDR2 has plenty of life in them still. Many manufacturers are continuing support for the mature memory technology even within the latest DDR3 chipsets such as the recently launched Intel X38. For those craving performance, the OCZ Reaper HPC represents some of the best and probably the last choices for enthusiast DDR2 memory. And at US$210 for a 2GB kit (2x1GB), the OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2-1066 is actually even cheaper than the equivalent AENEON XTUNE DDR2-1066 kit. Comparatively, OCZ's newly launched high-end DDR3 modules, the Intel XMP ready Titanium series DDR3-1600 memory is retailing for US$595 for a 2GB kit.

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