OCZ DDR2 PC2-9200 Flex II 4GB Series

Conclusions and Value

The plus sides for the OCZ PC2-9200 Flex II 4GB kit are obvious - it provides not only the new 4GB standard everyone should be aiming to run these days, but also so much overhead even we couldn't get our motherboard to use it all. The performance in our tests might not be epically more than an 800MHz CAS-4 4GB kit, but which OCZ offers here is overhead for overclocking - combine the two and you will not have to worry about the memory as the limitation will be elsewhere (CPU or motherboard BIOS for example).

Currently this is the fastest 4GB kit you can buy. Corsair has a 4GB Dominator kit (TWIN2X4096-9136C5DF) at 1,142MHz which is technically slower by 8MHz, but both will likely use the same memory ICs and be binned to the same performance margins. The greatest difference between them is that the Corsair is rated for 5-5-5-15, rather than OCZ's 5-5-5-18, and Corsair supports EPP whereas OCZ does not.

Corsair goes for the exclusive air cooled route and in the Dominator kit you get a tri-fan module that sits over it, whereas we've already shown OCZ's Flex II offers the watercooling extras. If we compare the prices though - you can get the Corsair for £183.12, but the OCZ Flex II and watercooling kit is available for just £131.91. If we really felt the need for super-cooled memory, for the sake of sanity and an extra £50 lining our pockets we'd go for the OCZ kit any day.

Do we care about EPP? Not a great deal - it does make things easier but if you're seriously into your overclocking you'll not use it, and it's only available on a limited number of nForce boards anyway. We respect the fact that the DHX heatspreaders work fantastically, but the Dominators don't feel special enough. They are black... aaaand that's it. Corsair has devalued the brand by sticking its DHX on just about everything, yet, keeping the price high on its Dominators. In contrast, you can currently only buy Flex II on these most extreme modules - they are an instant draw and recognition in your case if you're showing it off, yet on their own they cost £80 less!


Corsair does have a clear advantage in two area's though - Its DHX technology uses a fraction of the raw materials the Flex II does, but matches it in temperature, and because of this they are slimmer and can be fitted as pairs or even quads in any memory slot in any system. The same cannot be said for OCZ's Flex II which is limited to mostly Intel motherboards and only in pairs because they're too fat to be put right next to anything else.

The point of the extra wide is that the Flex II's independent watercooling channels take the liquid exactly where it is required: right over the memory ICs; a vast improvement over the original FlexXLC which just cooled the heatsink above them a little. You'll not find a solution this elegant elsewhere and this, like watercooled MOSFETs and northbridges, is a bonus for watercooling enthusiasts of which there are plenty.

However that's not to say they aren't still very flawed - the use of a manifold to supply the tiny bore sizes cripples flow rates and you'll want to use either a separate loop for it or have it separately on a Y adapter. The tubing supplied with it also kinks exceptionally easily so you've got to work around that, buying extra tubing that size is quite difficult because it's not a standard watercooling size and finally it simply looks ugly having several tiny tubes intermingled among large ones. But because memory sticks have a high centre of gravity and are only held in by small strips of plastic - using larger tubing with thicker walls that provides more force, will potentially damage the DIMM and board.

Essentially we feel you'd need some legendary loop building skills to get it too look good and cool well given the extras, which while fantastic on paper (oh how I was hoo-haring over them on page one) they work as well as a bag of wet kittens dragged up from the bottom of a river - yes, soggy and limp. In that respect we wonder - if you don't need watercooling then you don't need to sacrifice the space next to these fat stick - after all, Corsair's DHX can match their performance on air alone and ~35C on an open bench with no airflow isn't exactly the surface of the sun. What could OCZ do if they just concentrated on making an awesome air cooled heatsink alone? None of this ReaperX riff-raff: just a balls-to-the-wall awesome looking heatsink, OCZ-style. C'mon guys (and gals).

Broadening the field a little, most other 4GB kits top out at around 1,066MHz / PC2-8500 speeds for about £80, so for £20 more the OCZ really does provide great value in terms of the extra performance and box bundle and £30 more again and you get a full watercooling kit too.

Final Thoughts

When it comes down to it, OCZ provides choice. It has clear pro's and con's and isn't for everyone, but it doesn't apologise for it - it has taken an angle and refined the Flex range to make a product of potential. Let's not stray from the fact the Flex II feels special, no, masculine in its design and it should certainly push the rest of your hardware to its limits. Coupled both with a great price and our criticisms are set schtum.

We'll try and ignore the Aqua PC's kit - we'll take it on faith that the pump is broken rather than it just being about as much use as those kittens. They aren't meowing any more, I'm afraid. It would have been a nifty little kit and one that offers value if you could string a few things along with it: having one large 120mm fan take care of things instead of lots of little fans over chipsets and memory is a clear benefit.

Brett was astute enough to remind me "what do you expect to get for £30?" The answer is, as always; what you pay for. Watercooling the memory on its own is completely excessive when it works cool enough passively, so you should try to incorporate it into something larger, which we're not sure if this kit will be able to handle. That's not to mention the quality of product, which failed for us unfortunately.

Provided it has passed the essential "will it fit" question: if we wanted 4GB of ultra high performance memory to overclock the nuts off our systems - we'd certainly grab the OCZ Flex II PC2-9200 kit, then have a good night out with the wad of cash left over.

OCZ DDR2 PC2-9200 Flex II 4GB kit

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• 9/10

• Features
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• 7/10

• Value
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• 9/10

• Overall
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• 8/10

What do these scores mean?