Benchmarking:
The Ultra RAM was tested against some generic 400Mhz 512MB modules CL 2.5, and a pair of Dell 512MB 333Mhz modules CL 2.0. All RAM will be tested at their default timings, and at 400Mhz.
I will test the ram using the following benchmarking programs:
• SiSoft Sandra Pro 2004 (Integer)
• SiSoft Sandra Pro 2004 (Float)
• CPUID's PC Wizard
• Futuremark PC Mark 2004
SiSoft Sandra is a diagnostic suite that provides a commonly referenced memory benchmark. There are two components to the benchmark that obtain their results by reading/writing large chunks of data to memory.
With units of MB/s, the results of the "Integer" portion of the benchmark are displayed below. As you can see, while at default settings the Ultra Ram only performed about 4.5% better than the Generic CAS 2.5 Ram and 18% better than the slower Dell ram. Overclocking was only possible on the Ultra RAM, and this is where it set itself apart from the competition.
Again with units of MB/s, the results of the "Float" portion of the Sisoft Sandra benchmark are displayed below.
Next up, we'll take a look at the RAM through CPUID's PC Wizard RAM Benchmark. It works pretty much the same way as SiSoft Sandra does, but here the numbers were much closer, giving the Ultra RAM only a .5% edge at default speed.
Finally we're going to use Futuremark's benchmarking software to run the entire system through its paces. Using PC Mark 2004, the Ultra RAM again only came out with a .8% of an edge when compared to the generic RAM at default speed.
The benchmarks show that the Ultra Ram doesn't perform much better than my generic 3200 Ram. This is disappointing, as I was expecting a good performance increase.
Conclusion:
I have used several Ultra Products in the past, and they have all been very high quality. Receiving this RAM, I was expecting great things. Although it did manage a decent overclock to 450MHz DDR, it really can't compare to the proven performance DDR we have recently seen from Crucial and Corsair. In addition, the benchmark results at default speed were not overly impressive, and barely beat out some generic PC3200 DDR.
Checking around for prices on Pricegrabber, I found the Ultra 1024MB (2x512MB) PC3200 DDR to be priced well below other low latency dual channel kits recently reviewed at BigBruin.Com. Tiger Direct offers this kit for $237, which is $25-$50 less than some other kits from Corsair, Kingston, or Crucial. The pricing definitely helps it make up some of the points lost for mediocre performance!
While I really like the Wood Box they came in, I can't give it big points for that alone. After all, packaging doesn't improve the performance of the product. It just makes it more eye pleasing on the shelf.
Final Rating (3.5 out of 5 stars):  
Pros:
• Sharp Appearance
• Great Packaging
• Overclocked to 450MHz DDR
• Low price for low latency, dual channel DDR
Cons:
• Default speed performance marginally better than generic PC3200
• Did overclock, but not in the same class as the proven performance DDR
Special thanks to Ultra Products for providing the Ultra Dual Channel 1024MB (2x512MB) PC3200 DDR Memory to BigBruin.Com for review!
Please drop by the BigBruin.Com forum and feel free to discuss this review.
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