Verdict: Fast, unassuming, reasonably priced high-frequency RAM.

The G.Skill boasts fairly standard features for a PC2-8500 kit. Its latency timings are unremarkable at 5-5-5-15, so unlike the Corsair PC2-8888 Dominator, it doesn't have a mortgage-increasing price tag. The rated voltage is set fairly high at 2.4V.

As with most high-end kits in this month's Labs test, the G.Skill is also compatible with EPP, should you have an Nvidia motherboard that can take advantage of this.

What really separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to PC2-8500 kits, though, is their maximum overclocked frequency and, in this respect, the G.Skill excels. Leaving the timings untouched, the RAM was happy running at 1.22GHz, just 10MHz under the benchmark set by the OCZ PC2-8500 Reaper. Disappointingly, though, slackening the timings further wasn't enough to provide that extra 10MHz it needed to claim the top spot in terms of raw frequency.

If you're looking for PC2-8500 memory, and don't like the look of the Dominator heatsinks or Reaper heatspreaders, then the G.Skill is a very attractive package. The G.Skill is the third-fastest memory in this Labs test, and sports a reasonable price tag and a lifetime warranty. It's therefore amazing that both OCZ and Corsair have managed to produce even better PC2-8500 kits.

• Cases - 21st November 2008
• Motherboards - 24th October 2008
• Gaming Headsets - 26th September 2008
• Dream PCs - 24th September 2008
• Headphones - 12th September 2008
• Media PC components - 22nd August 2008
• PSUs - 14th July 2008

• Intel DG45FC - Motherboards
• Intel X25-M Mainstream SATA SSD - Hard disks / storage
• OCZ Core Series 30GB - Hard disks / storage
• Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - Hard disks / storage
• Asus EAH4870 TOP - Graphics cards
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Sound cards
• Multiwinia - Games