Kingmax Mars DDR2-667 KLCC28F-A8EB5

When 240-pin DDR2 made its public debut last year with Intel's LGA-775 processors it wasn't widely accepted among enthusiasts, as you probably know, mainly due to not offering any real performance benefits at the time above traditional DDR, and related to that, its high latency. Since the release, memory module manufacturers have managed to tighten these latencies. The world's first major low latency DDR2 memory came in way of Corsair's PC2-5400UL earlier this year with guarantees to run at 3-3-2-8 thanks to Micron's D9 ICs. These Corsair modules were also the first DDR2 memory to break the 1GHz barrier. Although many manufacturers are now producing lower latency models for their DDR2, there are a still a few who haven't jumped on this bandwagon and one of which is Kingmax. On their DDR2-667 512MB Mars modules, their SPD timings are 5-5-5-15 at 667MHz. For this article, we have these Kingmax modules in our labs and we'll see just how low these timings can really go and we'll also push the envelope to see how fast they can really run in comparison to Corsair's 5400UL.

Features:

· Performance range: 333MHz for 667Mb/sec/pin
· Power supply: VDD: 1.8V±0.1V Power supply
· Bi-directional data strobe (DQS-DQS#)
· Differential clock inputs (CK and CK#)
· DLL aligns DQ and DQS transition with CK transition
· Auto & self refresh capability (8192 Cycles / 64ms)
· Double-data-rate architecture; two data transfers per clock cycle
· Programmable Read latency: 3, 4 and 5 (clock)
· Programmable Additive Latency: 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4
· Programmable Burst length: 4 or 8
· Programmable Burst type (Sequential & Interleave)
· Edge aligned data output, center aligned data input
· Serial presence detect with EEPROM

Contents:

Unlike many enthusiast memory manufacturers who offer matched memory modules for optimal performance, Kingmax currently sells all of their Mars modules separately. Nevertheless, we got our hands on two identical DDR2-667 sticks of memory. The retail packaging for the Mars series is quite simple just being composed of a plastic container. The cranberry and white colored packaging simply contains some general features and other information. Opening up both of these containers, we found a small user's guide and a plastic tray, which kept the memory in place during shipping to prevent possible damage. The user's guide included with the memory is generic to their wares and simply shares general data in regards to the installation and series product information.