Introduction

I would like to thank Winchip for providing the review sample. The firm is well known in Asia and is now entering the European market as well.

Winchip was founded in 1995 and has been a large player in the asian OEM market from the beginning. They have been pushing their retail offerings quite successful, with unique DDR2 and now DDR3 memory. The next goal of Winchip is to gain share on the European market with their retail products. They made some waves with their 1200 MHz DDR2 memory in combination with a large array of various heatspreaders as well as being one of the first to offer DDR3 for the retail market.

Today we get to look at another very unique offering from Winchip. A 16 GB DDR2 Kit. It is made up of 4x 4 GB DIMMs each running at 667 MHz CL5-5-5-15. This may not seem like much, but the large capacity is the more important factor with such a kit.

Winchip is also looking for a distributor in Europe to break into the market. This first step is usually a very tough one and once they do, the new brand name will still have to establish itself in Europe. All this takes quite some time.

Packaging

The memory ships in a blister pack. At first you may wonder, as only two DIMMs are visible. The other two have been placed in the rear of the package. While this means that the fact that this is a four piece kit is not conveyed to someone just browsing a store shelf, the large 16 GB capacity sticker should make up for that.

A Closer Look

All four DIMMs look identical and use the same heatspreader found on other Winchip modules. The heatspreaders are held in place with clips as well as thermal tape. The application of the heatspreaders has probally been done by an automated machine, as they all line up perfectly. With four memory modules we can form some really neat shapes. Like a number sign (#) or a W for Winchip.


Taking a closer look at the heatspreaders, there is a holographic sticker on the left side. This way you can always be sure to receive a genuine Winchip product. The middle section is taken by the company logo. It is part of the heatspreader, so you will not have to worry about it falling off as the temperature rises. All the way to the right is a simple white sticker. It holds all the important information about the modules. Removing these will void your warranty, as the memory's serial numbers have also been printed on the stickers.


Winchip was so kind to supply us with an additional DIMM at CeBIT, which does not have any heatspreaders. As you can see there are ICs on each side of the PCB. This is no surprise, considering the capacity. Each IC has the Winchip logo edged into it, as well as some information about capacity and manufacturing week. These ICs are actually manufactured by Micron and then labeled with the information in the image above.