It takes a licking and keeps on ticking...
Written: Dec 21 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It's fast, reliable and capable of running at PC2700 speeds.
Cons: None that I've ever seen.
The Bottom Line: I'd recommend it to anyone for a low-end system needing only PC2100 DDR RAM.
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| jsc1973's Full Review: Crucial Technology MICRON / CRUCIAL (DDRAM) PC2100... |
The reason I say that about Crucial's easily available PC2100 (266 MHz) DDR RAM is that not only does it work great at its advertised specs, but that it's almost always capable of much better than that. The high quality of Crucial PC2100 has allowed it to remain a common fixture in my home computers well beyond when one would think it would be retired.
I first acquired a stick of Crucial's PC2100 in the fall of 2001, to use in what was a very fast, and common configuration at that time--an AMD "Thunderbird" 1.4 GHz processor mated to an ECS K7S5A mainboard. The K7S5A brought millions to the Athlon platform for the first time, but you might recall that it didn't like running on poor quality RAM. I decided not to ask it to, having heard nothing but good stuff about Crucial's RAM.
That stick is well over two years old now, and it runs in tandem with another Crucial 256MB PC2100 DIMM that I purchased off NewEgg about a year later. Both of them are running in the rig that replaced the T-bird/K7S5A one, an Athlon XP1600+ in a Soltek SL75-DRV5 motherboard. Not a big deal, except for one thing--the Athlon is running at 1.8 GHz on a 166 MHz FSB. That's right, the old Crucial RAM is running a full 33 MHz above its rated speed, and the only thing I had to do to accomplish this was raise the voltage from the stock 2.5 to 2.8v. I didn't relax the timings at all; they're running at the stock 2.5-3-3-7 like always, and it never crashes.
The fact that these DIMMs can reach these speeds speaks well of Micron Technology, Crucial's parent company which manufactures the individual RAM chips on the DIMMs (look for MT on the chips). The RAM chips on the PC2100 are always rated at 7.5ns (133 MHz), and if it works at 166 (6ns) without fail, Micron must be very conservative in speed-rating their memory.
I've built systems for other people based on this RAM since then, rarely running at an FSB of 166 MHz, but at the same time, I've never heard of a stick of Crucial PC2100 that wouldn't go that fast, or one that failed in so doing. My two sticks can actually go as high as 174 MHz before they become unstable, and others have reported even better figures. All that's usually required is a slight voltage boost. This voids your warranty, but it's within tolerances for any decent memory chip. Some companies, like GeIL, actually sell DDR DIMMS rated for 2.8v or more as a matter of course.
I've tested this RAM in nForce2 dual-channel mode, and can report that it works well at either the stock 133 MHz or even at the overclocked 166 MHz levels.
Used at stock speeds, which is what most potential buyers care about the most, the RAM is 100 percent stable, fast, and just looks like high-quality product if you look at it. If you don't overclock it, Crucial offers a lifetime warranty on their memory, which means if it ever fails on you, at any time, you can return it for a free replacement. You can't beat that.
There's not much of a price margin between the Crucial PC2100 and PC2700 (real 166 MHz DDR) anymore, so if you're needing the latter, it's probably best to buy it (especially since it usually overclocks to the next speed grade, also) rather than buy the cheaper PC2100 and overclock it. However, the Crucial PC2100 is about as good as you can buy for a basic, low-end system, and you always have its 'hidden' capability as a bonus if you need it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jsc1973
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Member: John
Location: Raleigh NC
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 6 members
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