OCZ - Fake advertising & Quality Control

Big.Wayne · 9 Mar 2006 at 20:17

Hello,

I would like to find out peoples thoughts on OCZ. I am writing this post on behalf of my friend Dave who is about to go mental. . .

Dave, like any good overclocker, spent some time researching the subject of 2GB DDR kits (2x1GB). After a load of reading he decided to purchase a set of OCZ PC4000EB which was shown to perform well with timings of 3-3-2-8 (1t).

Anyway much to his disappointment the 2GB PC4000 EB kit he recieved from overclockers.co.uk threw up 1 ga-zillion errors when running at the timing advertised. On closer inspection of the memory sticks he saw a small label with some timings listed:

OCZ PC4000 EB 3-4-3-8

He returned the memory to overclockers.co.uk as *unwanted* and ordered another set. He was keen to get a set just like what he had been reading about in all the reviews. Sadly when he recieved the second set from overclockers.co.uk they still were wrong? (3-4-3-8).

So whats this all about? is this blatent false advertising or are there two different types of OCZ PC4000 EB?

Part 2: Having wasted a lot of time and money Dave decided to order a 2GB set of OCZ PC4000 Gold series from a competitor. When he recieved them he checked the labels first and everything looked ok so he slapped them into his machine and started running memtest, was looking good for a while, no errors but much to his horror he discovered that what should have been a 2x 1GB sticks were in fact 2x512MB sticks! :eek:

The labels on each of them said they were 1GB sticks?

All memory has been returned, and suffice is to say Dave will never ever buy OCZ again.

Why are overclockers.co.uk listing this memory with incorrect timings?

Skeme · 9 Mar 2006 at 20:43

Strange. The EB's have always been 3 3 2 8 in the past and still are according to their web site.

Maybe go see what their reps have to say over at the XS OCZ support forum.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=138

Big.Wayne · 9 Mar 2006 at 21:14

Skeme said:
Strange. The EB's have always been 3 3 2 8 in the past and still are according to their web site.

Hi Skeme,

did you own any PC4000 EB? If not how do you know it's always been 3 3 2 8

smids · 9 Mar 2006 at 22:25

Big.Wayne said:
Hi Skeme,

did you own any PC4000 EB? If not how do you know it's always been 3 3 2 8

They are indeed 3-3-2-8 and have always been and I do own some and it does run at the rated timing. Something has gone wrong in a batch at the factory I think. Mine actually runs all the way up to 270mhz @ 3-3-2-5 1T (only tested this far) and down to 2-3-2-5 1T @ 200mhz which is better than it is advertised. I suggest you mention it to OCZ Tony or RyderOCZ and they will sort it

.

The reason I know it always has been is because I searched these sticks out a while ago (few months) but couldn't afford them at the time until OcUK brought in a huge shipment which was at an amazing price.

Big.Wayne · 9 Mar 2006 at 22:27

smids said:
I suggest you mention it to OCZ Tony or RyderOCZ and they will sort it .

Thanks for input smids, what do you think about overclockers.co.uk advertising this stuff incorrectly though?

Two seperate orders, two sets with 3-4-3-8 received?

smids · 9 Mar 2006 at 22:29

Big.Wayne said:
Thanks for input smids, what do you think about overclockers.co.uk advertising this stuff incorrectly though?

I don't think it's their fault - this sounds very much like OCZ rushing out stock - there was a very big shortage of IC's which lead most products to go out of stock. Then they managed to get hold of a whole new batch which they sent out the door. This rush to get back onto the market may have lead to manufacturing errors. I know of people who received the wrong sticker on their sticks 3-4-3-8 when it was in fact the 4000EB's @ 3-3-2-8 which they ordered - someone's cocked up big time, that's all.

Big.Wayne · 9 Mar 2006 at 22:34

k thanks.

My mate tested the memory *very* well and it wasn't having it (3-3-2-8 1t)

Not sure I buy this *rushed out the door* excuse, will take this up with Tony OCZ. . . .

[edit] the icing on the cake was getting what was meant to be a OCZ 2GB kit of Gold PC4000, pack said 2GB, stickers said 2GB and they both were 512MB sticks, coincidence?

OCZ if you are reading sort it out!!!!!!!!!!!!

smids · 9 Mar 2006 at 22:37

Big.Wayne said:
k thanks.

My mate tested the memory *very* well and it wasn't having it (3-3-2-8 1t)

Not sure I buy this *rushed out the door* excuse, will take this up with Tony OCZ. . . .

It's only my theory as I have seen a few mislabelled sticks - just a hunch. Hope he gets it sorted because OCZ really are one of the best manufacturers.

Skeme · 9 Mar 2006 at 23:23

Big.Wayne said:
Hi Skeme,

did you own any PC4000 EB? If not how do you know it's always been 3 3 2 8

No but like smids i spent a lot of time researching the EB's unfortunately when i decided to buy they couldn't be had anywhere which remained the case for a few months by which time i decided on a different kit.

Certainly it is possible for sticks to have the wrong label and even an incorrect SPD but still work at the advertised spec. For example there was a batch of ZX kits that went out with the wrong labels and an HZ kit i owned had an SPD of 3 5 5 10 :eek:

However there is a difference between a labelling error and sticks that do not work at the expected spec. It would certainly be interesting to hear what the OCZ reps have to say about it.

Freefaller · 9 Mar 2006 at 23:36

I have left a message for the shop peeps in the DR. I'm sure they will resolve the issue promptly.