We have just received takeMS Mach2 DDR2 1066Mhz memory modules. When you first hear about series of product which is called “Mach” you get the impression of extreme speeds. So if you would like to find out if this is the case read the rest of this article and find out!
Quick note about the German company takeMS… we have spoken before about them in our previous reviews of DDR2 modules and USB drives. So I won’t prolong this anymore, if you’re interested to hear more about the company, you can read more about then on my previous article. To start with this review let’s first look at the product packaging; the package arrived in carton box filled with styrofoam. The transparent packaging firmly holds and protects the modules.
The right packaging is a “must have” nowadays for high quality/high performance memory modules. One thing that I’ve noticed on packaging is the black check mark on 2*1 Gb modules. But just below it there’s an empty checkbox for 2*2gb modules! So does this mean that takeMS will soon release 2 Gb memory modules? I sure hope so!
To finalize with product packaging, on the other side of the paper there are multi language instructions on how to install ram in computer in 12 steps. The only critic here would be that there isn’t a single picture that could show how to complete the procedure. Luckily installing new memory modules into computer isn’t that much of a “nuclear science”. These 1066 MHz memory modules really represent the top-of-the-line modules of high performance DDR2 modules. I assume that this frequency will be the last one in DDR2 area.
The marketing image about this product I think it’s really great! Mach2 sounds like a great marketing image for new product that was just launched on the market.
Appearance of the modules is standard green PCB layout, but with another feature of high quality memory modules (as you can see on the picture) red colored aluminium heat sinks. takeMS modules work on standard voltage for DDR2 modules which is 1.8v.
This is very good since these modules can operate on 1066 MHz without any voltage adjustments. And this will certainly make overclocking easier and without any extra heat to be dissipated.
The only thing that I couldn’t do with these modules is to power up my computer with 3-3-3-8 memory timings on 2.2v (as it shows on the box). Main reason for this is the limitation of my motherboard on Intel P965 chipset.
Although I’ve paid expensively for it at the beginning of this year, it’s time is slowly passing by. Newer Intel chipset motherboards like P35 and X38 have much better performance and overclocking abilities on them.
You should keep in mind that these modules are designed and certified to work on nForce motherboards with SLI support (unlike mine which is Intel based and supports AMD/Ati’s Crossfire). You can of course check for yourself on nVidia’s Slizone certified part list.
As you can see for yourself when German based company claims something – it must be true.
It’s interesting to see that takeMS is surrounded with some of the really big players in memory industry which are a couple times bigger then takeMS: Crucial, Corsair, Kingston, OCZ etc.
It’s really nice to see smaller companies to make their way on certified product list. One last thing about memory heat spreaders that I’ve mentioned earlier. During their work in my computer I’ve noticed that they are just mildly hot. And when they were overclocked the temperature difference was definitely noticeable.
One last question remained unanswered is what type of memory chips and which brand are these modules are made of? I didn’t want to remove the heat sinks to find this out. Since I could damage the mechanism and ruin the heat sinks on these modules.
Of course you can do this on your own, but be warned that this action will void your 10 year warranty! The procedure for this I’ve found on the internet, but be warned that you are doing so on your own risk!
One other thing that I wanted to mention here is the timings of those modules and its voltage. As you can see from the picture you can see the programmed frequency and timings of those modules 533Mhz with 5-5-5-15 timings and 400Mhz with 3-3-3-9 timings with 2.2v as required voltage.
In order to view all of this information in detail – be sure to upgrade to the latest stable version of CPU-z 1.41. The previous versions of CPU-z application are just unable to display these information’s correctly.