This 256 MB module from Buffalo is capable of running at DDR500, sometimes quoted as PC4000. You may think that 256MB of RAM isn't enough for a performance system and you would be right. However, a pair of these in a dual channel configuration would be quite adequate, but wouldn't offer much performance benefit over a single 512MB stick.

The DDR500 rating equates to a Front Side Bus of 250MHz, which would be a very respectable overclock for an Athlon 64 system and almost unobtainable for most Pentium 4 systems. This speed is achieved at a CAS3, so this is not the ultimate in performance memory, but as shown in our testing, this doesn't make a huge difference.

The memory module itself looks similar to any other performance DIMM, with a small heat spreader, which is uniquely in a rather fetching anodised bright red. This does nothing but improve the decoration value of this product.

At 23p per Megabyte, this is not cheap stuff. To run 2 DIMMs in dual configuration would cost £120, which is considerably more than the cost of an equivalent single 512MB module. This does not make fiscal sense unless you have a chipset that can make good use of both dual channel DDR and a high front side bus. Of course, this is an RRP as we couldn't find anywhere stocking this memory. Perhaps when it hits the retail channel, prices will have dropped.

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