OCZ PC2-8500 Reaper HPC Edition
Stephen Cooper, June 4th, 2007

     For our overclocking tests, I chose to go with a voltage of 2.40V which is roughly the maximum allowable voltage based upon the 2.30V stock voltage and the 2.35V EVP for retention of the product warranty. For determination of the maximum stable frequency, timings were left at the stock setting of 5-5-5-15 and 1066MHz was our starting point.

     We have had decent luck thus far with 1066MHz kits overclocking beyond the 1100MHz barrier, though they had trouble exceeding 1125MHz. I’m glad to say that the OCZ Reaper HPC kit managed to break this barrier coming in with a stable overclock of 106MHz, putting the cap at 1172MHz. This is the highest stable overclock we have yet achieved with any DDR2 modules. Not bad for a PC2-8500 kit, it just makes me wonder how far OCZ’s PC2-9200 kit will go.

     Now, if you’re wondering whether or not the heatpipe cooling solution was working at all, it most certainly was. It’s hard to put this in concrete numbers without a thermal gun, but after running for several hours at 2.40V and 1150+ MHz, the heatspreaders were only slightly warm to the touch. Keep in mind this is in a case with limited airflow. Running some of the other modules we have available at this voltage resulted in significantly hotter heatspreaders.

     To say that I’m impressed with OCZ’s 2GB PC2-8500 Reaper HPC Edition kit would be an understatement. This kit managed not only the highest stable overclock we’ve achieved from any DDR2 kit, but it also was able to put up some of the best performance scores in our benchmarks with modules at their rated frequencies and timings. OCZ’s heatpipe conduit cooling method has also managed to remove a significant amount of excess material from the heatspreaders, yet at the same time allows for improved cooling capabilities. This fact alone left an impression as past experiences with other RAM cooling gimmicks have been disappointing.

     With a combination of high frequency, high performance, effective cooling and an overall sexy look, the OCZ 2GB PC2-8500 Reaper HPC Edition kit has earned the Editor’s Choice Award plain and simple. These modules would do any performance enthusiast proud.