• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

How much is UTT speed binning worth???

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Reefa_Madness

DRAM Guru Senior
Joined
Feb 26, 2004
I ran across this little short article and thought I would share it. Somebody is making a tidy sum here. I'm not saying that they are or are not entitled to it...just stating the facts (or at least what is portrayed in the article as facts), that's all.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article.php?aid=199


I have to admit, the last part of the article...the part about DDR3 and 1200MHz kinda caught my eye :)
 
it's sad that such cheap ram costs so much..... I agree that some of the savings should be passed on to the customer.

Good article Reefa..... thanks.
 
Wow they cost at low as $10 in asia?? That was a great artical. Thanks for that Reefa!
 
Group purchase anyone???

How about the part in that article about having hit DDR600 speeds with 2-2-2 timings using UTT?

I'd sure pay $10 a module for that kind of performance...heck, I might even spring for $20, after all, those guys need to make a little profit. :)
 
Well, its nothing new. Not only that but who cares? It comes down to the fact that the stuff is fast. It is tested, and it does rule. Maybe its not tested at the factory, but in the end it is tested by someone.

Ill pay $200 all day for RAM that does 2-2-2 @ 3.2v with the potential of much much more.

Just to put things into prespectivte. BH-5 Tested Windbond chips back when BH5 was hot was rated at best at PC3500 Speeds 2-2-2. Today we can get a similar IC which is rated at PC4000 speeds 2-2-2 3.3v.

Gold VX 4000 is $260 a GB. (Probally the best UTT)

Mushkin PC3500 LVL2 (The best of the best Bh-5) was $330

So faster and cheaper, what more can you ask for?

I'd love a 512mb stick to cost $10, but its not ever going to happen. $260 is more than a fair price for what the RAM can do. Either buy it, like I did, or don't.
 
Anybody got a soapbox???

I think that I can speak for everyone here when I say that we all know that we're not going to by buying 512 sticks of ram for $10 anytime soon, or ever. We're just having fun with this whole notion of $10 modules.

Heck, anybody that has any quantity of ram doesn't actually want that to even happen...it could turn a few thousand dollars worth of memory into cheap keyrings overnight.

By the way guys, with respect to the DDR600, after following up on this a little more, it appears that the old A64 "4x" bug may have bitten another and in fact, DDR600 speeds were never achieved.
 
Last edited:
amazing to all those companies are testing and selling 10dollar sticks for 120bucks average? Wow we need to do a DFI/high voltage memory study.
 
One other thing I found interesting in that article was that the BrainPower PCB, as opposed to being a Premium product, is actually a low cost alternative that just happens to perform better in many cases. We now have a new memory business model (low cost IC + low cost PCB + low cost testing labor = high profit margin)...somebody somewhere is getting a big bonus over that one.
 
UTT is great for us people that don't have tons of money for all these performance parts, but can still get a decent product that hangs with the high dollar stuff :D
 
UTT is a fun gamble. Its like a night of poker. You might win, you might loose but as long as you have fun playing, what the heck.

What it isn't is a sure thing. Better odds than value ram with Mosel chips or similar, but certainly not a sure thing.
 
Reefa_Madness said:
UTT is a fun gamble. Its like a night of poker. You might win, you might loose but as long as you have fun playing, what the heck.

What it isn't is a sure thing. Better odds than value ram with Mosel chips or similar, but certainly not a sure thing.


Or you can do what i did and buy it used where you know exactly what your getting :D

Ram is usually something i don't buy new (unless its a sure thing like most OCZ products), i like ot get it used where i know what to expect from it.
 
can't find utts here for 10 bucks....though i might go hunting.... (malaysia is in asia, case some of you guys don't know)
 
stang8118 said:
UTT is great for us people that don't have tons of money for all these performance parts, but can still get a decent product that hangs with the high dollar stuff :D

I've been known to visit the Classies myself.
 
good read!
well as many know the companies are passing the savings onto us.
i just bought 2x512 of the ocz value VX for $104
gamble? yeh sure it is but also if it dont oc at all its probley not gonna meet its specs either.i see no reason i should see anything under 220 2.0-2-2 even with moderate 2.9v

we ocers have always sought out the good chips but most are lazy or inexperianced enough to do this to buy our cheap high ocing ram.

soon enough will will be seeing tccd unbinned and get it for $100 for a gig.

if you want the best now you gonna pay for it,as well all know the new released stuff isnt cheap.
want the best cheap you gotta wait,research,and be lucky.
 
Dead__Man said:
can't find utts here for 10 bucks....though i might go hunting.... (malaysia is in asia, case some of you guys don't know)

Malaysia I knew, Kuala Lumpur I would have had to guess...

You guys in Asia get some products way before we do, stuff like the TwinMOS Speed Premiums in dual-packs, to name one.

I remember a while back some guy from Malaysia was talking about the 512 MB sticks of KVR PC3200 with Hynix bt-d43 chips that he had just gotten. These things were running 2-2-2-5 timings. That's the only set that I've ever heard of doing that. I guess that's what freshly baked Hynix can do. Its stale by the time it gets here to the States.

Let us know if you find UTT for $10 and we'll start organizing a group buy. :)
 
Thanks for the article Reefa :). Your poker analogy is great - but I say "why even gamble?".


Personally, I'm still a BH-5 man. Now that UTT has hit the world in a big way, good BH-5 and BH-6 can be found for a more than fair price, and quite easily if you know where to look.

Why would I pay Mushkin or OCZ for binned DDR500 UTT, that is only guaranteed to do 250 MHz 2-2-2-X (and with no mention of 1T/2T timing) at 3.3-3.5V, with active cooling when I can buy used and enthusiast tested (a far superior 'standard' to any speed bin, in my opinion) BH-5/BH-6 that will do 250 MHz 2-2-2 with 3.2V-3.3V, without any active cooling at all?

My point is that almost any halfway decent (almost any older PC3200/PC3500 BH-5/BH-6 that has seen use, and a long 'lifetime burn-in' as a result) BH-5/BH-6 will end up doing 250 MHz 2-2-2 given enough voltage, usually only around 3.2V-3.3V with an Athlon64 - which is the only platform that this memory really flies with right now.

The higher rated UTT speed bins are a waste of money because of this - right now I would not even think about buying any BH-5/BH-6/UTT that has not been tested to at least 270 MHz 2-2-2 with 3.6V. I have half a gig of Corsair BH-5 that does 260 MHz with memtest86 stability, in an nForce2 motherboard, when given 3.6V. I bought it for $135 Canadian currency several months ago. This memory that I have is average, maybe slightly above average.

I'll gladly shell out for a UTT (or BH-5/BH-6) 'speed bin', but only if it is exceptional UTT/BH-5/BH-6 that has been reliably tested by another enthusiast, or specifically binned by OCZ/Mushkin for me personally. Why waste your money on a brand new 2-2-2-X (1T?/2T? 3.3V-3.5V? Active cooling 'required'?) DDR500 speed bin when you can find better, used memory, for way less money?

Just my 2 cents, I'm interested in what everyone else thinks :)
 
Last edited:
Back