OCZ has today announced what it claims to be the world's first modules to support Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) technology - a new memory performance profiling technology that will be introduced with Intel's X38 chipset.
At face value OCZ's new modules, the *gasp* OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 Intel XMP Ready Titanium Edition, are just a pair of 1,600MHz DDR3 modules with 8-8-8-27 timings, but a second profile on the chip includes all the settings required to tighten that to 7-6-6 timings.
Rather than require the end-user to mess around with voltages, know what CAS-latency is or understand the intricacies of charge and discharge cycles, all the end-user will need is an X38 motherboard and a stick of XMP RAM to get a little more for the money.
Of course DDR3 is expensive enough as it is, but SLI Memory doesn't carry any particular premium so we can hope XMP will be the same. After all, why wouldn't you want a guarantee of the overclocking ability of your RAM?
This technology is strikingly similar to Nvidia's Enhanced Performance Profiles (EPP), which also included additional performance information on the memory module's SPD chip.
Nvidia's technology isn't talked about as much these days despite a lot of hype when it launched in the days of nForce 590 SLI. That said, it has still managed to proliferate the market with SLI logos emblazoned on modules from many manufacturers.
Do you think XMP memory is a good thing, or do you think it's a case of dumbing down the once black art of overclocking? Let us know in the forums.
At face value OCZ's new modules, the *gasp* OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 Intel XMP Ready Titanium Edition, are just a pair of 1,600MHz DDR3 modules with 8-8-8-27 timings, but a second profile on the chip includes all the settings required to tighten that to 7-6-6 timings.
Rather than require the end-user to mess around with voltages, know what CAS-latency is or understand the intricacies of charge and discharge cycles, all the end-user will need is an X38 motherboard and a stick of XMP RAM to get a little more for the money.
Of course DDR3 is expensive enough as it is, but SLI Memory doesn't carry any particular premium so we can hope XMP will be the same. After all, why wouldn't you want a guarantee of the overclocking ability of your RAM?
This technology is strikingly similar to Nvidia's Enhanced Performance Profiles (EPP), which also included additional performance information on the memory module's SPD chip.
Nvidia's technology isn't talked about as much these days despite a lot of hype when it launched in the days of nForce 590 SLI. That said, it has still managed to proliferate the market with SLI logos emblazoned on modules from many manufacturers.
Do you think XMP memory is a good thing, or do you think it's a case of dumbing down the once black art of overclocking? Let us know in the forums.
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