Now that I have quite arguably the best dual-channel RAM on PR, I think it's only fair I do a member review on it.

Product: 1GB (2x 512mb) Corsair TwinX PC3200 XMS Xtreme Low Latency 2-2-2-5 Matched Memory (say that 3 times fast)

Retail Price: 351.00 on newegg.com

How I acquired this RAM

Many moons ago, Pimprig.com held a contest, enter your e-mail and win the memory. I was one of four people who won it. Originally it was supposed to be Corsair XMS PC 4000 Pro but I couldn't believe it when I looked at the box and it said 'XMS Xtreme Low Latency 2-2-2-5 TwinX PC3200'

Lucky dogg.

Packaging

The memory was delivered UPS 2nd day air.

Packaging was not what I expected. I was expcecting that plastic locked in time forever crap you have to have scissors just to cut it open. But not this, this was a kind of plastic jewel case thing, just pull the top parts away and it opens. Almsot zero effort. It's really cool looking on the back and seeing the PimpRig.com quote on Corsair RAM. The overall look is pretty clean, not a lot happening on the front or the back and a light gray color so it's easy on the eyes



I was a little bit disappointed though, the sticks aren't wrapped in an ESD-safe anti-static bag, remember this is coming from someone who works in an environment where ESD is stressed more than anything else and improper ESD practices get you either wrote up or canned.

It even comes with a neat little domed case badge.



On the front it clearly tells you what it is you have. The side reads '1GByte TwinX Matched Memory Pair' and on the top '2-2-2-5 Xtreme Low Latency' in nice big bold 30-something font so old people like Zennbro can read it



Here's a close up of the sticks themselves, you can see they package the sticks with the labels face up so you can see the fly holograms and also to make sure you get the right speed and CAS that you ordered.



Installation

Installation was a breeze, just like any other ram, only a lot taller because of the huge XMS heatsinks with LED lights. The LED activity is actually a measure of the activity of the RAM, not the total usage of the RAM. By the way you will notice, the lights are freaking []D [] []\/[] []D as hell, although I kinda wished you could get them in dark blue / purple / red.

One thing about this RAM is most DDR modules run at 2.6 volts, this DDR runs at 2.75 volts. On my ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe, if I went in BIOS and ran it at default settings like any ordinary RAM, it would hang the system in boot. Default RAM voltage is 2.6 volts, and if you were short .15 volts you wouldn't post either.

Upon powering on at 2.8 volts, it's cool as hell watching the LED activity. The neat thing abut this dual-channel RAM is it's timings, 2-2-2-5, extremely low for dual channel RAM. Stock speeds on these modules is 200mhz but if you retard the timings I have heard you can hit 250mhz.

Running in a Windows environment

The neat thing about this ram (I have said it twice, this is the 3rd time) is the LED activity. It freaking rocks!! For our rig we are using a:



ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe
AMD Athlon XP2400
Radeon 9700 Pro
1 gb Corsair XMS Xtreme Low Latency PC3200 2-2-2-5
20gb Fujitsu 5400 RPM
160gb WD 8mb cache
XP Pro

Please excuse the wiring I'm getting an Antec case soon so I'm not really concerned about wire management right now it's functional and it works and for now that's all that matters

Now before I even start into this, most of us don't need 1 gb of RAM. 512mb is plenty for the gamers, but there's nothing like 5 years of AutoCAD solids editing experience to lag up a computer. My old setup had 512mb of generic DDR400. It was good for everything but CAD, one of the most memory intensive types of programs. After about a hour straight of AutoCAD 2005 working on my Targa Florio project, a highly-detailed 3D model car totalling 167MB, my system would lagg up and I would have to restart. Programs would crash otherwise.

However I did some Solid editing on this memory, and even after 3 hours it still keeps on! Then it hit me. This just isn't any RAM. To go 3 hours and not lagg up is really something. I must say I was quite impressed with that. Even HL2 won't require 1 gb of this stuff, probably 512mb will be sufficient but for the video editors and CADDer's, 1 GB of this stuff is the hot ticket.

Opening an AutoCAD R16 drawing makes the LED's go full tilt. The difference is not really noticeable at first but as you get further into the session when it is storing tons of information about solids and coordinates, the extra 512mb really comes into play and keeps things running smooth.

Having 1 gb of RAM vs. 512mb doesn't really speed up applications more than it keeps them running fast.

Benchmarking

Now that we have explored the memory in a memory-intensive environment, let's see how it benches.

The benchmark program will be 3DMark2001 on default 1024 x 768 settings

My old generic DDR400 got 11916 stock speeds. Overclocking the system to 2400 MHz @ 1.85 volts would get about 12,560.

At stock speeds this RAM is pulling 13002 3DMarks. Not overclocked. Default factory settings it's at 13002. You really do get what you pay for.

Most tests saw an average increase for 4 to 6 FPS, spiking at 10 fps in some spots like the Dragothic Low Detail test. Average FPS was about 240 while the generic R-Data DDR400 was averaging 230 - 233.

Even though at stock speeds it would beat my previous OC'ed benchmark, my stable OC dropped 15 MHz to 2385. At 2400 on the Car Chase High Detail, it would show the loading screen then 3DMark would just exit altogether, no error code or anything. I'm still not certain what caused this but I would trade 15mhz for 1GB of Corsair XMS anyday.

The []D [] []\/[] []D:

A real heatsink with fins, not a gheigh heatspreader

Activity LED's

2-2-2-5 stock timings

Activity LED'S

Did I mention Activity LED's?

The & [] []\/[] []D:

2.75 volts means not much overclocking voltage headroom unless you volt mod

Lack of color choice in LED lights

Heatsink could be a bit larger...

Uhm, I'm stretching here.....

Bottom Line:

It's like putting 30" spinner wheels on a Ferrari. High performance and bling-bling in one package.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10 bones

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I'm gettin me some of that, not the Uber-pimp 2-2-2, but screw that dual channel stuff 1stick. Got this comin' wednesday. Good review d00d.

Those voltage requirements are TEH LAME. My BIOS only cranks it up to 2.7

A bump and more pix I was going to add....

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bumpz0rz for the night crew

Thats the sh!t jdogg! Good review man, im still jealous as hell though....

Ya it's some cool stuff, all my CS buddies at the local Gamer HQ pay and play are so jealous.

BTW Sparky 2500's can run at 2.2mhz?

Bling, bling!!! Nice writeup dogg.

At least yours work....

Quote: Originally Posted by j-dogg It's like putting 30" spinner wheels on a Ferrari. High performance and bling-bling in one package.

Please, please, please tell me you don't seriously think that is cool.

It's a frikin' abomination.

great review bro!!! now get a 2500M and really kick ass!!

From what I understand if you lax the timings you can hit 250.

Wow... guess now I know what o get in my next system... never knew they'd even get such low timings on this RAM! Quite a price though, but I'd call that well worth it!