Memory by stefan @ 2011-12-28
The E30200A DDR3 from Exceleram are some really affordable 8GB memory modules that we can use in case we are running lots of virtual machines, Ramdrives or other memory-consuming applications. These are not too overclockable, so the maximum stability we could obtain only at 11-11-11-30, 1600Mhz, by running with two out of four sticks.
At first I would like to thank Exceleram for sending some samples of their recently launched E30200A DDR3 Series memory modules for testing and reviewing.
"Exceleram was established in October 2007 as a new brand in Germany. The Exceleram technical team has many years of experience to guarantee memory overclocking potential as well as high compatibility with all common/current motherboards.
In July 2008, our products start manufactured in Taiwan and it was taken over by another memory brand to offer lower price memory module of prime quality.
In October 2010, Exceleram was introduced to the German market and got quite successful in the market.
In September 2011, the Exceleram's headquarters was moved for the best strategic position from Germany to Taipei, Taiwan. As here is the largest and most important manufacturing plant of memory chips and modules in the world. To stay in Taiwan can provide the best and the real-time service for our valued customers.
The slogan “Spirit of Germany” to express the German quality control realized for 100%. All Exceleram memory modules are carefully hand-tested 100% on motherboards and to consistently guarantee customers these high quality standards.
Now we grasp at the conscientious quality and competitive price to service our customers in the world.
There is no any customer will feel abandoned at Exceleram, arising problems or questions will be answered immediately by our support."
(for a single module)
DDR3 Single Channel
Timings: 9-9-9-24
Memory Speed: 1333MHz
Operating Voltage: 1.50V
Standard: DDR3
1x8GB
Heatsink: w/o
Chip: 512*8 x 16
EAN Code: 4712010950782
100% tested in Taiwan. Test-Mainboard: Asus
As the previous reviewed memory kit, the Exceleram E30200A memory modules have been shipped inside a simple plastic packaging, with a transparent top side, through which we can see how the modules look like:
The EP30200A modules do not come covered with any type of heatsink; during the stability stress tests, the chips barely got warm:
One of the sides comes with a sticker which shows the product code name, capacity, rated voltage, frequency, timings and serial number:
The modules come with 16 eTT chips, and they are described by Exceleram as being fully tested chips, but overproduced goods. These are sold unlabeled, mounted to modules by other manufacturers, and sold by them. Different to ‘Major Brand’, memory tests in finished module state are only rudimentary, or sometimes even omitted by these makers:
CPU : Intel I5 2500K Retail
CPU Cooler: Noctua U12P SE2
Motherboard : ASRock P67 Extreme6
RAM : G.Skill Ripjaws F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM
Video : Sparkle X460 Calibre 1GB
Power Supply : Cooler Master 850W
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200.10
Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840
During the tests, the CPU speed was set at 3.3GHz and Turbo was disabled in UEFI. Testing with the stock timings was possible only at the rated speed; reaching 1600Mhz was possible only when installing two modules and relaxing the timings to 11-11-11-30; with the same settings, when installing all four modules, even if the voltage was upped to 1.65V, the system refused to boot. After each modification, HCI Memtest (Windows utility) was ran with 4 instances for about a half an hour, to determine if the system was stable or not. What was interesting with these modules was the fact that they did not increase their overclocking ability by upping the VTT, RAM voltage.
The CPU-Z tab where the memory timings and frequency are confirmed, while running at maximum overclock (1.65V), with two modules installed:
The pre-programmed timings and frequencies can be also found by using AIDA64:
Once again Exceleram impresses us with the good price/performance products they bring to the market; the E30200A DDR3 8GB modules function at a low voltage and offer a lot of memory to the running system. The RAM is sold as single modules, so we can build two channel kits ourselves by buying two or even four modules of the same kind. In case we are left with a lot of RAM space unused after running all our necessary applications at the same time, we can also install a Ramdisk application where we can test other applications, download application kits or move the TEMP directory to it for minimizing unnecessary wear to the boot SSD.
Regarding the overclocking capabilities of these modules, they do not seem to clock as well as the previous kit from Exceleram. Even with only two out of four modules installed, we could reach stability at 1600Mhz after running very relaxed timings (11-11-11-30); pumping up more voltage into them did not seem to make a difference either. We have tried to start up the system with all four modules installed, by increasing the VTT voltage (1.2V) and the VDIMM to 1.65; all that resulted was an unbootable system and the motherboard was stopping to error code 45 (issues with the memory system). Having these said, it seems that it is best to run the 32GB memory kit at the stock settings and voltage; since on Sandy Bridge systems there aren't a lot of differences in performance between various memory speeds, we cannot say the same about Llano, which 3D performance is directly influenced by the speed of the RAM running in the system.
I would like to thank again to Exceleram for making this review possible!