3DVelocity would
like to thank Overclock.co.uk
and especially Pete for their help and courtesy in providing
this memory for review.
As recently as 1998 Microsoft
announced its goal to see every desktop PC equipped with a
minimum of 32MB of system memory, and I still remember reading
the comments of industry analysts ands spokesmen claiming
it was nothing more than an ambitious pipe dream Now as then,
perhaps the biggest single factor in determining system performance
is the amount and type of memory in use, and with prices at
an all time low there's never been a better time to make sure
your computer's memory requirements are met.
Kingmax were long considered
a cheap and cheerful option when it came to buying memory,
a slightly unfair label as they have never really produced
poor quality memory, it was only the prices that gave that
impression. More recently however Kingmax have been able to
take major steps in shaking off their "budget" label
and are at last being seen as a major force in the demand
for high quality memory at a great price, a market that for
some time has been cornered by the likes of Crucial.
What makes Kingmax memory
unusual is their use of TinyBGA packaging, an innovation they
introduced way back in 1997. This unique form of BGA (Ball
Grid Array) DRAM packaging offers several advantages over
conventional TSOP (Thin Small Outline Package) packaging including
better thermal dissipation, better electrical performance,
higher potential capacities and lower cost. Let's take these
assets one at a time :
Thermal Dissipation
:
The very construction
of Kingmax's BGA modules makes them generally better at dissipating
heat with a claimed 75% of the thermal build up faced by traditional
TSOP modules. One thing you tend not to notice when you look
at a stick of Kingmax is the gap at the rear of each chip
which allows for better air circulation.
This won't necessarily
help the push for massive overclock figures but it certainly
won't hinder it. What it does mean though is a theoretical
increase in both component life and thermal stability.
Better Electrical Performance
:
In the charts below, the
blue line is an indication of internal electrical noise. The
use of Tiny BGA packaging allows for incredibly low levels
of noise interference giving it the potential to hit frequencies
as high as 300MHz.
Higher Memory Capacity
:
The naturally small footprint
of the Tiny BGA chip allows for increased capacities, for
example they claim to have the ability to create a 128MB module
in the space taken by a conventional 64MB TSOP 144-pin SO-DIMM
PCB.
Price:
At only £18 (+VAT) for a 128MB
stick over at Overclock.co.uk,
this stuff is certainly very cheap for branded, high performance
memory.
Okay, so that's the theory covered,
let's just hope it doesn't perform like a complete Turkey
and make a fool out of me!
