BuffaloTech has long been in the OEM field and just recently slid into the performance market. We've taken a look at their previous DDR modules and they all faired rather well. Today we have their newest DDR offering, the PC4000 CL3 package. They do not come in dual channel packages, but pick up two and you can use them in a dual channel system without any issues. We will be taking a look at the 2X512MB flavor. If anything, they have THE coolest names...let's see if they perform that way.

Specs:

If you have never heard of BuffaloTech, here's a quick introduction about them from their PR reps:

"Buffalo Technology is a global leader in the manufacturing of memory solutions for system builders, integrators, retailers, and distributors. Buffalo's wide memory product selection includes DIMMs, SODIMMs, and MicroDIMMs built with SDRAM and DDR technology. Buffalo offers a limited lifetime warranty and unlimited toll-free technical support for all memory products."

The first thing about these FireStix is the bright red heatshields. As always, I still haven't found much proof these shields are advantageous to performance, but it seems to bring a lot of heat out.

These modules are rated at DDR500. What does this mean? Many things, lets break it down a bit. Assuming you are running 1:1 (why wouldn't you?), you will need to run your CPU's bus speed at 250Mhz in order to have DDR500 (250 X 2). If you prefer to run asynch at 4:3 or any other ratio, that is up to you. Just keep in mind the specs of this module. For our purposes, we will be testing this module at its rated speed as well as it's max overclocked speed.

Let's get to those benches that we all love and despise at the same time...