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Subject:
From:
John Sproule <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Personal Computer Hardware discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 5 Jul 2008 09:28:41 -0400
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I think that this SLI-Ready certification as applied to system RAM is more 
marketing hype than any real engineering advance.  While it certainly is 
helpful to the consumer to certify something like a power supply as 
SLI-Ready, I'm not sure how it lessens confusion for the buyer to start 
applying this label to things like memory.

My opinions aside, here is what OCZ says about this memory 
(http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_6400_sli_ready_edition_4gb_dual_channel):

"New OCZ PC2-6400 4GB kits are the world's first 4GB NVIDIA nForce SLI 
Certified kits and are designed for ultimate gaming performance on NVIDIA 
nForce motherboards

The new OCZ PC2-6400 4GB SLI-Ready Series is equipped with NVIDIA Enhanced 
Performance Profiles (EPP) to optimize the modules' gaming performance on 
nForceŽ SLI-based motherboards. Designed to deliver exceptional memory 
performance with the latest DX10 games OCZ exclusively has engineered select 
high-performance 4GB memory SLI kits with advanced SPD (Serial Presence 
Detect) settings to allow compatible motherboards to recognize and utilize 
the added information, ultimately increasing the performance potential of 
the entire platform.

OCZ PC2-6400 4GB SLI-Ready memory modules are programmed to boot at 800MHz 
DDR2 with tight timings of 5-4-4. Only motherboards equipped with the 
custom-designed BIOS, such as those designed for NVIDIA nForce SLI MCPs, can 
detect the optimized SPD profiles and ensure the memory functions under the 
best possible conditions. The exclusive OCZ SPD specifications take out the 
guesswork and provide enthusiasts and gamers with significant overclocked 
performance with no manual adjustment or compatibility issues."

[end quotation]

The only source of some concern to me is the part about this memory being 
designed to boot with fairly tight timings, which I assume also means a 
boost to the RAM's voltage (2.1v instead of the DDR2 1.8v standard). 
Hopefully, this only takes place if your motherboard has EPP capability; so, 
your system can fall back on a more fail-safe setting with motherboards that 
can't read the EPP data and want to boot at 1.8v.

There's no reason this memory shouldn't work fine in any decent motherboard 
capable of using DDR2 memory.  It may just be a matter of getting the 
timings and the voltage set properly manually, if the motherboard doesn't 
have the ability to read the extra data in the SPD.  Note that nvidia 
chipset motherboards aren't the only ones able to use the enhanced 
performance profiles.  Check to see if your current motherboard also has a 
chipset and BIOS capable of utilizing this information.  I couldn't see 
anything to this effect on the ECS website for this motherboard, but perhaps 
you can browse through the BIOS settings and take a look at the manual, as 
well.

John Sproule

-------- Original Message Below ----------
Date:    Fri, 4 Jul 2008 17:57:30 EDT
From:    [log in to unmask]
Subject: sli ram in non-sli mobo

I'm considering buying OCZ SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel 4096MB PC6400 
DDR2
800MHz Memory
Can I use this memory in a Non-SLI mobo (ECS Elite Group G31T-M)? Will  it
hurt it's SLI abilities
if I  transfer it to an SLI board at a later date?

 Thanks
 Phil

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