Right now, Micron memory chips have proved to be the top performers, and these were found in Crucial, Micron, Kingmax, and Corsair memory. The Kingmax may well be the equal of the other 3, but the performance was hampered by our 256MB DIMMs, so we cannot state that with confidence. The Corsair 667, Crucial 533, and Micron 533 were all at the top in every benchmark, so clearly, these 3 are the top performers. While we applaud Corsair for being the first to bring DDR2 667 to market, the reality is that the 667 performed no better than Crucial or Micron 533 in our tests, at any speed that we could reach. Given the fact that the Corsair 667 will likely cost more, we see no reason (with our current test results) to spend more for DDR2 when Crucial/Micron PC2-4300U matches the top performance in every way.We are pleased to award our Editors Choice for the top DDR2 memory to Crucial PC2-4300U. It is a top performer and the best retail value in this DDR2 roundup. It is exciting when a product rated at DDR2 533 performs at DDR2 667 and DDR2 686 with ease, but every DDR2 memory that we tested accomplished this feat. However, the Crucial PC2-4300U did this with the widest bandwidth and tighest timings found with any memory that we tested. This same Editors Choice applies to Micron PC2-4300U, which is the same memory for the OEM market. Micron and Crucial are to be congratulated for providing the best performance and best value currently available in DDR2 memory.
