OCZ Blade DDR3 PC3-16000 6GB Kit
Packaging & Appearance
The packaging of the OCZ Blade kit is understated yet better than most manufacturers have managed to muster. The front of the outer box is a glossy black and grey affair with a telling slogan: ‘The best performing DDR3 Memory on the market. Period’. That remains to be seen however if the packaging is anything to go by, there are certainly encouraging signs. The rear of the box goes on to describe the quality assurance of the package as well as customer support.
The modules are presented in blister style packing that protect from both static and scratches to the product. Along with the individually packed modules is an instruction leaflet explaining how to install the modules in the correct manner while avoiding anti-static discharge.
Here we see the three modules free from the blister packs in all of their glory. The heat sinks seem to be aluminium but also feel much heavier than that alloy. Swathed in a brushed black effect, the memory sticks certainly look very appealing with the chrome effect log emblazoned on the front of the modules.
The memory heat sink on the modules comes in two parts (pre-built) and screwed together very tightly, so much so I could not release these screws to get a sneak peek of the integrated chips beneath. The top side of the cooler is curved in design with fins uppermost that should dissipate heat very well. The rear of the modules is flat black and here is where you will find those pesky screws should you wish to replace the stock heat sink although I cannot think why you would want to as the stock heat sink should be more than capable of cooling the memory down.
A small stick is affixed to the front of the modules displaying the specification of the kit along with the serial number. In this case the specifications are of the top end kit – CAS7-8-7 @1.65v 2000MHz PC3-16000.
With the memory profile now visible you can see just how unique this cooler is with the curved metal covering the front of the memory stick formed into fins that wrap around the product. This curvature obviously adds width to the Blades form but not so much so that each module cannot be placed side by side, even if you choose to run this kit in a 12GB configuration.
So then, a very attractive and well presented 6GB kit. I do like the matching black heat sink and black PCB which oozes class and even though the metal ‘fingers’ are gold as standard in every kit, there’s something about black and gold that just screams quality. I would be interested to know just how well the heat sinks keep the kit cool as other manufacturers seem to prefer adding a separate cooler, not only to keep the memory cool but to enhance the longevity of the product. Nevertheless, nobody can deny that this kit is a lush piece of equipment that will satisfy the design freaks out there and as a bonus, because black goes with everything, should match anybodies motherboard be it black, blue or red.
Let’s take a look at our test setup that I will be using to test the kit out today…
