OCZ Booster - Where does it come from?
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So this Booster allows you to give more volts to the memory, but where does it pull it from? It comes from the special Molex connectors. Remember when I said not to use the connectors from the PSU? That is because the voltage doesn’t follow the PSU Molex connectors.
A PSU Molex connector has one 12v (yellow), two ground (black), and one 5v (red). The special blue connector has a ground, +5v, +5v, and ground. The yellow has ground, +5v, -5v, and 12v. As you can see, this thing could quickly suck up a lot of power from the 5 volt rail. When I used the booster, I noticed a slight drop in the 12v rail, and a nice sized drop on the 5v rail. The 12v dropped about .1-.2v when maxed out. The 5v dropped .3-.4v. If any of your rails are on the weak side, this could very easily be the end of the PSU.
Conclusion
OCZ makes memory that needs high voltage, and not everyone has motherboards capable of providing this kind of voltage. To combat this, OCZ has made a "volt mod in a box," the DDR Booster. It takes the skill, tools, and time required to volt mod a motherboard, and puts it into one device.
While this product does what it is intended to do, it is still not quite perfect yet. Most of the problems can’t be helped; the drop in PSU voltage can’t be helped if you want the extra volts. Because of the size, some motherboards with the DDR Booster in it may only be able to hold one DIMM of memory. This depends a lot on the motherboard, and all motherboards are different, so results and compatibility will vary from board to board.
The PowerClean technology didn’t really do anything. If your rails are flakey, and you haven’t picked a new one yet, it should help. I do have to give kudos to OCZ for even attempting something like this. Overall, I would recommend this to people that have a board that is compatible, and will give a boost in voltage.
Pros
- Volt mod in a box
- Plug and Play
- Easy to use
Cons
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