According to their website, A-Data formally began R&D and sales of flash memory products in May of 2001, although it wasn't until several years later, perhaps sometime in 2005, when I first began to notice the A-Data brand memory modules showing up in US retail outlets. Their initial product offerings were what you might call "generic" or value brand memory; just your ordinary basic desktop memory modules designed to get the job done at SPD speed and settings. Then towards the end of 2005 and going into 2006 I started to notice some "enthusiast" type modules beginning to show up, modules with bright red aluminum heat spreaders marketed with the Vitesta label. As the Vitesta modules didn't seem to offer any more performance than the standard value line product, I have to admit I wasn't enticed into trying anything from the relative newcomer, opting to stick with more traditional performance oriented memory manufacturers such as Corsair, OCZ and GeIL.

By the end of 2006 and moving into 2007, A-Data had launched a new Extreme Edition line of memory products. While still carrying the Vitesta model name, the new EE modules could be identified by the checkered flag logo printed on the spreaders, along with a machined arrowhead swoosh-like symbol. These modules offered very aggressive timings, more comparable to other manufacturers of high-end performance memory, and it is one of these sets of memory sticks I will be taking a look at today, the ADQVD1A16K 2x1GB PC2 6400 Extreme Edition DDR2-800+ Dual Channel Memory Kit.



The A-Data Vitesta EE kit comes shipped in a sealed plastic blister pack to show off the modules, and has a color insert denoting the specific model and capacity, as well as some company information on the back. According to A-Data, each EE kit is hand-tested and matched during a burn-in procedure to guarantee compatibility and performance.

Join me as I take a closer look at the A-Data Extreme Edition Dual Channel memory kit.