Hardware Bistro

Product: KHX5300S2LLK2/4G
Manufacturer: Kingston
Supplied by: Kingston
Price: 110USD/RM390
Launch Date: NA

All kind of memory are getting cheaper nowadays such as memory card, DDR2 and etc. with its cheaper price, most of the users will always thinking to upgrade their PC and today we will bring you a laptop memory review; 2G SODIMM DDR2 667MHz from a very trustful brand; Kingston which always is the leader in PC memory sector. 

Company Profile

Kingston Technology Company, Inc. is the world's independent memory leader.

Founded in 1987 with a single product offering, Kingston® now offers more than 2,000 memory products that support nearly every device that uses memory, from computers, servers and printers to MP3 players, digital cameras and cell phones. In 2007, the company's sales exceeded $4.5 billion.

With global headquarters in Fountain Valley, California, Kingston employs more than 4,500 people worldwide. Regarded as one of the "Best Companies to Work for in America" by Fortune magazine, Kingston's tenets of respect, loyalty, flexibility and integrity create an exemplary corporate culture. Kingston believes that investing in its people is essential, and each employee is a vital part of Kingston's success.

 

Features

- Power supply : Vdd: 1.8V ± 0.1V, Vddq: 1.8V ± 0.1V
- Double-data-rate architecture; two data transfers per clock cycle
- Bidirectional data strobe(DQS)
- Differential clock inputs(CK and CK)
- DLL aligns DQ and DQS transition with CK transition
- Programmable Read latency 3, 4 (clock)
- Burst Length: 4, 8 (Interleave/nibble sequential)
- Programmable Burst type (sequential & interleave)
- Timing Reference: 4-4-4-12 at +1.8V
- Edge aligned data output, center aligned data input
- Auto & Self refresh, 7.8us refresh interval (8K/64ms refresh)
- Serial presence detect with EEPROM
- PCB : Height 1.180" (30.00mm), double sided component

 

Performance

- Clock Cycle Time (tCK) CL=4: 3ns (min.) / 8ns (max.)
- Row Cycle Time (tRC): 60ns (min.)
- Refresh to Active/Refresh Command Time (tRFC): 127.5ns
- Row Active Time (tRAS): 36ns (min.) / 70,000ns (max.)
- Single Power Supply of: +1.8V (+/- .1V)
- Power: 2.125 W (operating per module)
- UL Rating: 94 V - 0
- Operating Temperature: 0o C to 55o C
- Storage Temperature: -55o C to +125o C

 

Packaging

 

Kingston HyperX KHX5300S2LLK2/4G comes with standard memory packaging box and it has the same dimension with other Kingston HyperX desktop memory; leverage the packaging will able reduce the manufacturing cost. On the packaging, there is a statement of "HyperX Accelerate gaming!" let us see later whether it could really improve on gaming.

 

The physical memory can be seen through from the packaging and it is good for user to verify the correct memory just in case. The memory modules are seated securely in the packaging box and we received this sample in very good condition although it just came with simple packaging by a courier service.

 

No user manual for this Kingston HyperX memory which is usual for memory products. It just comes with a single page of product specifications and some detail of this product with multi languages. The detail information can be downloaded from Kingston website; here.

 

Kingston HyperX 4GB 667MHz SODIMM DDR2 CL4

 

Most of the PC enthusiasts definitely know about Kingston HyperX and even a normal PC user shouldn't feel strange with Kingston HyperX as HyperX series is the highest end memory modules from Kingston which is highly tuned for gaming, overclocking and for intensive applications. Kingston also has HyperX series for their notebook memory product line and this is what we get today for testing; a pair of 2G 667MHz SODIMM DDR2 kit with low latency.  

Unlike Kingston HyperX memory for desktop or server, notebook HyperX memory modules doesn't come with any heat spreader which is due to space constraint of the notebook. Although KHX5300S2LLK2/4G doesn't come with heat spreader but Kingston still use a blue ticker on the memory modules which looks like an ordinary Kingston HyperX heat spreader. This is extremely a good idea for users to identity this pair of memory modules are Kingston HyperX easily. 

 

Each of the memory modules of KHX5300S2LLK2/4G has total sixteen pieces of 128M x 8-bit DDR2 FBGA memory chip which is from Elpida. Kingston KHX5300S2LLK2/4G has low latency timing of 4-4-4-12 at 1.8v which is good gaming, overclocking as normal value memory only rated at 5-5-5-16 which has slower respond rate. Same like other Kingston memory products, KHX5300S2LLK2/4G also come with life time warranty which is a very strong and solid selling point for customer when come to memory selection.

 

Installation, Testing & Performance

Test Bed
Notebook : Dell Inspiron E1720
Processor : Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T7500
Memory : 2GB 666MHz DDR2 Memory
Hard Drive : 120GB 2.5" 5400RPM 8MB Seagate
Graphic Card : Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS
Optical Drive : DVD RW
Operating System : Microsoft Window XP SP2
Benchmark Software: 3DMark06, Sisoftware

 

Here are some snapshots of Kingston KHX5300S2LLK2/4G. At default Kingston already preprogrammed at 4-4-4-12 memory timing at 333MHz and 3-4-4-10 at 266MHz. For 32bits OS, the maximum memory supportable is 3.75GB so for this 4GB memory modules, only 3.75GH is detected in our test system which is loaded with Window XP SP2.

For the testing, we used stock memory 2GB and compare with this 4GB HyperX from Kingston. The stock memory is from Hyundai and using Qimonda memory chip. Base on the results, all the benchmark testing shows clearly that Kingston HyperX beat the stock memory entirely although some of the benchmark results only show little improvement but it is still better than nothing. 

As notebook has very limited overclocking ability, so we didn't proceed with overclocking for this Kingston HyperX KHX5300S2LLK2/4G. For the stability testing, after whole week of full stressing and some daily applications, we found that this pair of HyperX memory modules from Kingston is pretty reliable and stable; Kingston should have very tough tests for their products to ensure all the memory modules that are shipped out from their factory are fully tested and no issue for end users. 

 

Conclusion

HyperX series is a very top memory modules from Kingston and this proves the same for our test modules today as well KHX5300S2LLK2/4G; 4GB 667MHz SODIMM DDR2 with low latency at 4-4-4-12. 4GB memory is really required and basic for a system even a little intensive applications. The next question will be should we get the HyperX or normal module? This pair of HyperX memory modules cost around 110USD and normal modules with same capacity is only half of it around 50USD. Hence for budget and those not always go for best performance then HyperX maybe is not their cup of tea but it is definitely one of the best choices if you are PC enthusiast or those who always looking for best hardware for their rig.

Pros:
* Life time warranty
* Low memory timing latency; 4-4-4-12
* Good performance & stable

Cons:
* Expensive

 

 

Thanks to Kingston for providing this sample for us to review.

 

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