A Closer Look

With all the modules out of the packaging, we can see them all clearly, and I noticed that although the appearance of each side of the DIMMs is different at first glance; this is just due to the sticker with the module specifications on one side. With the modules inserted into the slot, the sticker is on the side that faces away from the CPU socket itself, not exactly my most favorite orientation, but it works fine. As you can see in the images above, these sticks differ a bit from other sticks, in that the ICs themselves are offset to one side of the DIMM, rather than evenly spaced. It's pretty obvious when you see the sticks as they are in the second image above.


The modules don't have very many surface-mounted parts, and I didn't notice the SPD ROM at first either, but it's hidden under the stick's label.


Looking at the DIMM from top and bottom, it's pretty clear that this PCB is probably nearly as optimized as is possible, with barely a millimeter or two of PCB sticking out above the top of the memory ICs. The short PCB allows for much shorter traces in the PCB itself, which should help with overclocking and stability.


The label on the sticks doesn't disclose a lot of information, but we do see size and latencies noted. The ICs themselves are genuine Samsung 30nm "HYK0"-grade parts, with a part number of "K4B2G08460". The darker-grey lettering across the bottom of the IC itself is a batch code, and other than that, there are very few physical characteristics that help distinguish this IC from others, although the physical dimensions, of course, can be quite useful.