OCZ Blade 3x2GB PC3-17000 CL8 Memory Review

Conclusion

This was sort of an odd review for us as we already knew these modules in a round about way. The PC3-16000 modules are made with the same components and are younger siblings of these PC3-17000 OCZ Blade's in every way. Consider the PC3-17000 Blades the bigger brother if you will. While performing very similar to the younger PC3-16000 sibling in both 24/7 and benchmarking environments, the PC3-17000 are definitely the superior kit. This really wasn't much of a surprise as binning of memory at this level really isn't guess work and is a cold hard science for OCZ. We fully expected the PC3-17000 OCZ Blade memory to be better than lower binned memory, and it is.

The review isn't focused simply on performance though, there really is no questioning the performance of Elpida Hyper memory when compared to others. These OC Blade modules are as good as it gets. What we wanted to focus on for the review is the practicality of this performance. Both as to whether the performance is worth it, and how easily it was to actually get the specified performance from the memory.

The stability testing section answers one of those questions quite handily. One of our CPU's isn't even close to capable of running the OCZ Blade PC3-17000 at stock, one CPU killed a motherboard trying, and the last one was only able to run at specified clocks with absolutely no further headroom. For 24/7 users, running memory at PC3-17000/DDR3-2133/1067MHz - no matter which "number" you quantify it with - is tough. Based on our results and past experience with a substantially large number of CPU's, it is our conclusion that a small number on Intel i7 processors will actually be able to run DDR3-2133 through 24/7 stability testing. It is also our belief, again through experience in this review and past reviews, that the performance benefits of running memory this fast compared to say DDR3-1600 is somewhat limited as well.

Another conclusion we have come to is that memory of this nature, like the PC3-17000 OCZ Blade triple channel kit, is definitely more suited for those interested in benchmarking than anything. We obviously showed that this memory can run lower clocks at tighter timings for 24/7 use with much greater ease for daily use, but this flexibility also comes into play when dealing with overclocking as well, especially with low multiplier processors. Having memory that can run DDR3-2200 to DDR3-2400 is great, but being able to run DDR3-2000 6-7-6 in addition to higher clocks is simply amazing. A lot of the time when benchmarking, memory options are limited due to the base clock being ran, so memory that can do it all is something that shouldn't be overlooked. We are definitely pleased with the OCZ Blade PC3-17000 8-9-8-24 2x3GB kit for benchmarking, but for 24/7 use, we really have to suggest funds go to other components first if performance is your number one goal.

• OCZ Blade heat sinks we really like the aesthetics of
• Flexibility at a number of timing sets for both 24/7 and benchmarking
• Crazy benchmarking memory...absolutely incredible clocks
• Will pretty much run what your processor can for 24/7 use

• Will only run what your processor can for 24/7 use
• Some users will be disappointed by the lack of ability to run specified clocks, not the memory's fault however

We wanted to give the OCZ Blade PC3-17000 memory a Dam Good award for it's amazing benchmarking and 24/7 overclocking abilities. Unfortunately, we don't believe that award can be given to a product that may be limited by other hardware in the system. It sounds weird and it isn't exactly OCZ or the OCZ Blade's fault that the i7 memory controller isn't good enough to run the specified frequencies, but the fact of the matter is that not all users will be able to run this memory at the specified frequency. We just can't get over that.