OCZ Flex XLC Water-Cooled CAS-3 DDR2-800 2GB Memory Kit
Conclusion
Our Conclusion: With the release of their Flex XLC modules, OCZ is offering a product which is substantially more flexible than most other enthusiast class memory modules on the market. They can be air-cooled or water-cooled. They'll run at lower clock speeds with tight timings, or at high clock speeds with more relaxed timings. The Flex XLC modules are unique, efficient, and from what we've seen thus far, the pricing is in line with other high-end modules.
While our initial reaction was to question the concept of water cooled memory modules, the final shipping product is actually quite impressive. We're quite impressed in the way that the modules don't HAVE to be water-cooled in order to get great overclocks - the air cooling system is highly effective in its own right. However, if you add water cooling to the mix, you'll drastically lower your module temperatures and simply have a safer and potentially more stable computing environment when overclocked.
We also like that OCZ is offering these modules both at high-end clock speeds and for those who appreciate low latencies without overclocking. However, even these lower-clocked 800MHz modules were able to heavily overclock, as shown by our tests, far further than we were expecting them to. These modules give you a lot of flexibility in if you want to run at ultra low latencies or ultra high clock speeds.
Our only major gripes can easily be fixed with a future revision of the cooling system as well. We would like to see OCZ move to larger 3/8 OD diameter water barbs, which are more common in today's water cooling systems. We also would like to see a clamp / security system so users know for certain the tube is in place and secured. Beyond that, the modules did everything we asked them to and well beyond.
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