Gigaram 1 Gig DDR 400 RAM, yes 1 GIG !!!!!!!

I was lucky enough to have Gigaram send me two sticks of DDR400 RAM, each being 1 Gig a piece -- yes I said 1 Gig -- and I think this is the future in consumer-based RAM, so if you have not heard of Gigaram you will soon enough.
 
Gigaram has been around since 1996 and their engineers have over twelve years of experience in the memory industry. Not bad for a company that's only eight years old. As an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer in the memory industry, they primarily serve the OEM market: SUN systems, CISCO systems and Apple. This is one reason why you may not have heard of them before. 
 
Opening up the FedEx box and clearing away all the foam reveals another small box, this time made and labeled by Gigaram. Opening up reveals two modules in a static bag wedged into the box. I personally don't think this is the best place to put the ram. If a reseller dropped the retail package then the only thing protecting you from damaged sticks is 1 mm of cardboard. However, because my retail package came directly from Gigaram and packaged safely inside the FedEx box, there was no damage to the sticks.
 
Thanks to Gigaram, I was able to obtain these specifications on the module:
 
184 Dual In-Line Memory Module (DIMM)
* Unbuffered DDR DIMM based on 256M bit, organized as 128MB X 64 bit
* Inputs and outputs are SSTL-2 compatible
* VDD = VDDQ = 2.5V ± 0.2V
* SDRAMS have 4 internal banks for concurrent operation
* Differential clock inputs
* Data is read or written on both clock edges
* DRAM DLL aligns DQ and DQS transitions with clock transitions
* Address and control signals are fully synchronous to positive clock edge
* Programmable Operation:
- DIMM *CAS Latency: 2.5
- Burst Type: Sequential or Interleave
- Burst Length: 2, 4, 8
- Operation: Burst Read and Write
* Auto Refresh (CBR) and Self Refresh Modes
* Automatic and controlled precharge commands
* 7.8 us Max. Average Periodic Refresh Interval
* Serial Presence Detect EEPROM
* PCB height = 1.15 inch
 
Upon removing the heat spreader, you'll notice that the IC's used are produced by Mosel Vitelic. As a matter of fact, the modules used are of the very same ones used in Ultra Products for their RAM.
 
High speed data transfer rates with system frequency up to 200 MHz
- Data Mask for Write Control
- Four Banks controlled by BA0 & BA1
- Programmable CAS Latency: 2, 2.5, 3
- Programmable Wrap Sequence: Sequential or Interleave
- Programmable Burst Length: 2, 4, 8 for Sequential Type or 2, 4, 8 for Interleave Type
- Automatic and Controlled Precharge Command
- Power Down Mode
- Auto Refresh and Self Refresh
- Refresh Interval: 8192 cycles/64 ms
- Available in 66-pin 400 mil TSOP or 60 Ball SOC BGA
- SSTL-2 Compatible I/Os
- Double Data Rate (DDR)
- Bidirectional Data Strobe (DQS) for input and output data, active on both edges
- On-Chip DLL aligns DQ and DQs transitions with CK transitions
- Differential clock inputs CK and CK
- Power Supply 2.5V ± 0.2V
- Power Supply 2.6V ± 0.1V for DDR400
- QFC options for FET control. X4 parts.
- Note: (-5B) Supports PC3200 module with 2.5-3-3 timing 
 
Here's the computer I put my modules into:
 
Polywell Q-box NF3B 
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (64 bitB)
Nvidia GeforceFX 5900XT 128M (8x AGP)
Windows XP home + SP1 + Latest drivers
 

 

 

I did a standard benchmarks on the RAM with SiSoft SANDRA memory benchmark test.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Now that you've seen the numbers, you can probably draw some conclusions yourself. The color of the PCB, material used for the heatsink, and other variables don't change the result all too much if the ICs are the same. Gigaram was able to edge out in front compared to Ultra Products, especially at the higher clock speeds.
 

I was also very pleased at the increase that this gave me in my PC gameing applications but I really noticed how well and smoothly my video editing became once the modules were placed into the Polywell Q- Box-NF3B

 

 

My advice to you, do your homework before going out and buying RAM. If you see two companies using the same ICs (don't be afraid to email tech support and find out what they use) I say go for the cheaper one. You may be surprised at the results you see.
 
This reviewer thinks that Gigaram has a slight performance edge on the competition. I suggest to anyone who needs to upgrade to a serious amount of memory that Gigaram is the way to go for only about $219 a stick. This makes it affordable for the average consumer to purchase.

Find out more about Gigaram at www.gigaram.com, and check out Polywell at www.polywell.com.

These photos were taken with the Sony Cyber-Shot digital camera.