OCZ 2GB DDR2 PC2-8500 Reaper HPC CrossFire Certified Edition
The REAPER modules come in an attractive plastic packaging which thankfully isn’t sealed off on the sides so it’s easy to open up the package. The package gives a good view of the modules along with its features, and is strong enough to protect the modules during transit to you. The modules boast the “CrossFire Certified” logo right in the center to differentiate themselves from the other REAPER modules from OCZ.
The REAPER modules are a paten pending design by OCZ to combat the heat produced by high end memory modules. The heatsink component is made of aluminum which is painted black and the heat pipes are made of copper. The top section consisting of aluminum fins effectively double the cooling area of the heatsink.
The jagged edge on the top section of the heatsink is for fast heat dissipation but certainly adds to its looks as well. An illustration from OCZ’s website best describes how the HPC theoretically should work.
Taking an extract directly from OCZ this is how they describe this technology;
“The Reaper HPC series uses heat pipe technology to rapidly remove heat from the main body of the memory modules and conduct the thermal load to the extended radiator fin array. The addition of the extended fin array nearly doubles the total surface area available for heat dissipation while the heat pipes warrant near isothermicity throughout the entire design. The result is a doubling in effective heat dissipation at equal delta t or, in real systems, a significantly lower operating temperature of the memory modules.”
The 8500 REAPER CrossFire edition is rated at 1066MHz and designed to run at 5-5-5 CL timings. These modules are directly targeted towards the enthusiast and with a default voltage of 2.3V reaffirms this. Before you purchase these modules make sure your motherboard can handle this voltage level for memory. Providing the optimum level of service to the hardcore gamer out there, OCZ incorporated Extended Voltage Protection on these modules to handle voltages upto 2.35V without affecting your warranty. As with all OCZ’s memory modules, the REAPER PC2- 8500 CrossFire edition modules are backed by a Lifetime Warranty and industry-leading technical support.
From the initial outlook the OCZ PC2 – 8500 CrossFire Certified modules look simply amazing. They stand in slightly taller than any other conventional memory module due to the heat pipe conduit which people can have mixed feelings about, however our feelings were unanimous :-). Alright let us see how well these perform as no matter how good the looks are if they don’t perform they are as good as an expensive paper weight.
