By now everyone has heard of Kingston's enthusiast-oriented HyperX memory line, but few are aware of their mainstream budget series, appropriately dubbed ValueRAM. This memory isn't meant to be overclocked; that's reserved for HyperX. Rather, the ValueRAM series is high quality memory with a low price tag and a lifetime warranty (so long as you don't overclock it or remove the warranty label). The latencies are higher (CL3 or CL2.5 for a bit more) and the maximum speed is PC3200 (DDR400).
We received a pair of double-sided 512MB modules. Each stick comes in a retail package with a warranty card/installation manual. Although prices vary from vendor to vendor, the difference between CL3 and CL2.5 512MB PC3200 ValueRAM modules is about $15-20. The same speed HyperX will run an additional $20-40 (of course the timings are a lot better). You can quickly see where the savings come in. As we'll find out shortly, there isn't much of a difference (if any) in going from CL3 to CL2.5 when the rest of the timings remain the same, so if you don't ever plan on running this memory out of spec, save your pennies and get the CL3.
It just so happens that our samples were rated at CL2.5. Again, the price difference between CL2.5 and CL3 is hard to justify. These are double-sided DIMMs, which isn't the optimal chip density but expected from memory that has the word "Value" in it. Exactly how much memory you need is debatable. For general use, WindowsXP will run perfectly fine with 256MB (128MB starts to lag a bit and uses the hard drive for cache more often).
I've found that multitasking with memory intensive programs (such as Photoshop) can suck up memory in the blink of an eye. Windows' IE and Media Player aren't exactly optimal either when it comes to memory usage. After using 512MB for about a year I began to notice memory-related performance hits. Then again, at any given time I have around 20 windows open, about 10 of them being IE. Doubling the memory to 1024MB instantly solved all my problems. Moral of the story? Currently enthusiasts will want at least 512MB and preferably 1GB.
The markings on the chips are: 0437PL (first line), V58C2256804SAT5B (second line), and P243282IJALC (third line). In the past Kingston has used a variety of memory chips, but it looks like they're finally making their own. One could only speculate what all those numbers mean, but C2256 could mean double sided 256MB density (for a total of 512MB). Latency is usually found near the right side, and this memory is in fact rated at 5ns, so the 5B is a possible indicator.
CPU-Z 1.24 reported the following information about the memory chips (Crucial on the left, Kingston on the right). Aside from the capacity, the only difference between the two memories is the CL3 latency of the Crucial vs. the CL2.5 of the Kingston. Crucial's DIMMs are single sided 256MB modules, so the density is identical. The ValueRAM is rated at 2.6V, so feel free to bump it up a notch from the (older) standard 2.5V. As far as overclocking goes, it's practically non-existent.
