2GB DDR2 Kingston KVR800D2N6, or a quick look at another memory module

It just so happened that I got another memory module. A friend of mine ordered it for himself, and I couldn't pass up the chance to put together a short review in case it might be useful to someone.
This time it's a relatively old DDR2 module, the kind most often bought to upgrade older computers.

It's no secret that the older the memory type, the higher the price.
Roughly speaking, for the same amount of money you can buy 4GB of DDR3, 2GB of DDR2, or 1GB of DDR. That's partly why it's always tempting to save a little.
You can buy the same module on Avito or OLX, which many people know, for less than a “new” one, but the warranty will be no better than if you bought it in China.

Anyway, I ordered it, waited for it to arrive, and wrote a review :)

The packaging is standard for most memory modules. In brick-and-mortar stores, modules are usually sold in a cardboard blister pack, but inside it's still the same plastic packaging.




Besides the module, the package contained the usual instruction leaflet.


The instructions are almost entirely in Chinese. I only unfolded them for the review; there's no useful information in there, at least for most buyers.


The module is double-sided, with 16 chips.




The memory chips are marked Kingston.


An SPD chip is installed on one side; it stores the module's parameters.
The label will be familiar to many Kingston memory module users. The module's operating voltage is 1.8 V.


As last time, the first thing I did was test the memory with Memtest.
I recommend testing modules with this program, since it can check almost all the memory while using only a small portion of it for its own needs.


First, for reference, here's the configuration of the system I used to test the memory, as reported by CPU-Z.
The computer is pretty old, of course, but it has a decent motherboard. Then again, it is pretty old—the memory is intended for computers like this :)


Everything looks fine, except for two things.
1. The memory was manufactured 6 years ago.
2. The information about the batch number is unreadable.
I won't claim whether this means the module has been rebadged or the computer simply can't read the information.


AIDA can “see” a little more information about the module, but says it is indeed Kingston.


A few standard tests.
Read/write speed.


Copy speed and latency.


And here's the speed of the RAM disk on a computer with this memory.
Many will say this test is pointless and completely unnecessary, but I thought the information might be useful for the record. Basically, it's the kind of information that might come in handy someday :)


Of course, I wanted to compare it with other modules, but I don't have one like the one in this review.
On the plus side, while testing it I found out what a “zoo” of modules this computer has—and the memory was running in dual-channel mode!
All the modules are 1 GB: two single-sided and two double-sided. The one under review is at the bottom, “for company” :)
What's even more interesting is that the Kingston and Hynix modules have identical PCB layouts, while the Samsung and PQI modules also share an identical layout, but it's different from the first two.
The module under review has a layout similar not to the first pair, but to the second one, Samsung–PQI, which raises some suspicions.


What conclusions can we draw after inspecting and testing it?
The memory works, and works fine. It doesn't cost much, and the chips are most likely genuine Kingston. That's a plus.
It was manufactured way back in 2010, and the SPD chip doesn't provide the batch number. That's a question mark: it doesn't quite count as a downside, but it's a bit odd.
I didn't find any obvious downsides. It works, and that's that :)

Actually, no—the familiar lack of warranty support is still a downside of these products, but only when compared with new memory, which costs almost twice as much. Whether the price difference offsets the potential risks is up to each person to decide. My friend took the risk; everything works, and I think he'll be happy with it.

That's about it—a short review like this, though compared with my other reviews, it's more of a photo-brag :)

Before writing the review, I asked if a discount was possible. They gave me the GBKKM coupon, which brings the price to 10.29 :(