OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 AMD Black Edition Ready 4GB Dual Channel Kit

From the first looks I must admit these modules look downright sexy. OCZ has gone for a totally black finish with exclusive AMD branding directly embedded onto the XTC (Extreme Termal Convection) heatspreaders. Too bad they will be hidden away from the user’s view once installed.

As the specs marked on the front of the modules show, they are rated at 8-8-8 (CAS-TRCD-TRP) running at a low 1.65V. The OCZ PC3-12800 Black Edition is sold as a 4GB dual channel kit with each module consisting of 2048MB rated at DDR3-1600Mhz. It’s a good decision OCZ have decided to offer the OCZ Black Edition ready modules as 2GB modules since these are mainly targeted towards the performance enthusiasts who would generally run 4GB as their base memory level giving solid expanding options. For example on a Asus M4A79T Deluxe having 4 memory slots you can expand upto 16GB of memory which is simply awesome.

Lets take a look at the specs of these modules

Installation

Installation of the modules was no hassle at all on our Asus M4A79T Deluxe. Note that in order for you to really benefit from these Black Edition memory modules you need to have a supporting 790FX / 790GX motherboard or it’ll really be a waste of resources as you won’t be able to utilize these modules to its full potential.

Thanks to the XTC heatspreaders you can be assured the modules will perform well under stress as this special design maximizes heat dissipation.

Time to take the OCZ PC3-12800 Black Edition modules for a real life spin. Initially we performed our tests with their default settings and then went about downloading the relevant settings from AMD through the AOD software.