Crucial CT2KIT 12864AA80E

Verdict: Excellent value, but Corsair's XMS2 RAM is a wiser choice.

Like different breeds of cat, it's easy to forget that underneath the pretty exterior, all sticks of RAM look essentially the same - rather ugly. If you're the sort of person who likes an element of surprise at a LAN event, however, and turning up with a plain-looking PC that turns out to be the fastest machine there, then you perhaps won't be put off by the back-to-basics look of Crucial's budget PC2-6400 RAM.

The RAM is programmed with loose timings of 5-5-5-18 at a stock speed of 800MHz, so it probably isn't the ideal choice for systems based around an Athlon 64, which prefers tight latencies. In a Core 2 system, though, tight latencies hardly affect performance at all, so this won't be a problem.

For such a cheap kit, the RAM was relatively eager to overclock. Increasing the DDR2 voltage from a lowly 1.8V to 2.2V allowed the frequency to rise from 800MHz to 1,000MHz without any hassle. Slackening the timings to 6-6-6-18 squeezed an additional 20MHz.

While the Crucial is almost as overclockable as Corsair's XMS2 PC2-6400 RAM, the Crucial's slightly higher price and lack of heatspreaders count against it. However, if you're prepared to increase your budget by a little then Crucial's Ballistix range may be more to your liking.