CellShock DDR2 1000 4-4-4-12
Many of you may not have heard of CellShock before - it's certainly the first time we've had CellShock products in our labs.
Fact is, the brand is relatively new. It belongs to a hi-tech distributor, MSC Vertriebs GmbH, and targets the enthusiast market with high-end memory assembled in Germany.
The company must be doing something right, we reckon, because the CellShock bundle is probably the most widely stocked of all the modules we're testing here.
Retail presentation consists of a simple blister packaging that makes it nice and clear what you are getting.
Well, nearly. Because of the way the memory is arranged in the package, a quick glance gives the impression that what you're getting is a single, very tall DIMM!
However, rest assured, it's actually two modules that are overlapped.
Nothing much to say about the heat spreaders apart from the fact that they're in rather snazzy black and silver colours.
Underneath the spreaders are enthusiast-favourite Micron D9 memory chips and these can be pumped up to 2.3V.
Timings are set to 4-4-4-12. At these default speeds, the specified voltage is 2.2V.
As the name suggests, the CellShock DDR2 1000 runs at DDR2-1000 (or should that be PC2-8000?). Looking across the various modules we're testing, the CellShocks are balanced between the low-latency, low-clock-speed offering from G.SKILL and the remaining higher speed 5-5-5-18 units.
Warranty
CellShock memory comes with a five-year warranty. That sounds great until you realise that it's the shortest guarantee period of all the memory in this test.
Even with this 'short' warranty, though, the modules should outlast DDR2 as a performance platform and so, hopefully, the guarantee will be long enough for most users.
If the product does develop a fault - and once you've got an RMA number from MSC - it will need to be returned to the company's service centre in Germany. More details here under the heading, SERVICE.
Summary
The CellShock modules offer an interesting balance between clock speed and latency. You'll need to check around carefully on pricing - CellShock products are being sold with widely differing tickets.
The best we've seen for this particular bundle is MemoryC.com's £136. In contrast, Tekheads asks £203.
We've not checked any German sites but suspect that bargain-hunters might find that worth doing.