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Corsair TWINX 2048 – 3500LLPRO


Date
: 11/7/05 – 09:57:22 PM

Author
:

Category
: Memory

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer:
Corsair

Price:
$304 @ Newegg

It will be some time before AMD rolls out socket M2 processors which have DDR2 memory controllers on the roadmap, so until that time comes DDR will be king on the AMD streets. Corsair recognizes this and continues to pursue the needs of the DDR market just like they have in years past producing model after model of demanded DDR memory since 1994. All Corsair memory modules are assembled in Fremont, CA to the highest of quality standards. These high standards always equal to solid performing and reliable memory with the Corsair logo on it.

The growing need for memory kits larger than 1GB has not gone unheard at Corsair and recently they have introduced the XMS-3500LL PRO in conjunction with Asus' release of the A8N32-SLI DELUXE/WIFI and A8N32-SLI DELUXE. Asus and Corsair work congruously in developing both the A8N32-SLI DELUXE motherboards and the XMS-3500LL PRO to compliment each other and provide maximum performance for the potential that this motherboard possesses. Today, I will have the honor of taking a look at the XMS-3500LL PRO in the 2GB TwinX matched pair flavor.

- Corsair

That sounds good to me; with 2-3-2-6 timings, Corsair was not kidding about low latency, so let's get to some photos before testing.

Page 2 : Package

I think it is safe to say that the standardized package for memory modules today is the clear plastic package where the modules themselves are the feature on front instead of a fancy image.

Obviously Corsair is no exception to the mold. Memory has not only increased tremendously over the years, as far as performance goes, but the esthetics as well, and this allows for such packaging while still maintaining marketability. Corsair has their standard logo in the top right hand corner as well as on the module itself. The sticker on the left module describes the compatibility with the co-released Asus A8N32-SLI that I mentioned earlier.

If we flip the package on its side we can read that this is in fact a 2GByte matched pair and along the bottom you will notice that these modules, as all XMS Pro Series do, come with activity LED lights. The sticker on the memory not only sports the Corsair logo but some very important information about the RAM it rests on.

With this information visible through the package, there is no need to print any of it on the generic insert used as the backing which allows Corsair to use the same insert for other XMS Pro models keeping costs down. The model, speed, size and timings are all easily visible to potential buyers.

The backside of that insert displays the numerous awards Corsair has received alongside quotes from Corsair product reviews. It is no secret that Corsair is one of the industry leaders in the memory market, so why not make sure everyone who will potentially be buying your product see that you are. It certainly is not false advertising in Corsairs case.

Upon opening the re-sealable package, I realized that the insert is not a single sheet with nothing more than the front and back that was visible through the package, but an actual folded sheet with installation instructions in five different languages. Now, memory installation is not hardest job inside your case but for some they may not know the little nuances to accomplish this task and this fold-out covers those quite well with photos along the top.

Page 3 : Specifications

Here is a complete list of specifications I have compiled based on the information found within the Corsair web site and on the modules stickers we looked at in the previous section:

This, and all TWINX 2048-3500LLPRO, kits have been tested as a matched pair in an Asus A8N-SLI Premium. Here are the test specifications:

This means that these modules will come out of the package and run at the advertised low latency of 2-3-2-6 1T without any necessary changes in the BIOS from the user. When the BIOS memory options are set to auto, the SPD timings will tell it to run these modules with those timings. They designed this kit to specifically run in the new Asus A8N32-SLI but that doesn't mean it will only run with that motherboard. Corsair also had this to say about the XMS-3500LLPRO:

The only thing missing from the web site, or downloadable PDF that Corsair provides is what voltage is required in order to run these modules at their advertised speed and timings. That will have to wait until testing.

Page 4 : Package Contents

As with any clear packaging, we already know what is inside so there will be no surprises here. The package does open easily and like I mentioned before, is re-sealable so you can use it for storage or transport of the modules again.

Their really isn't much difference in appearance once outside the package. The XMS PRO series from Corsair comes with these ribbed aluminum heatspreaders that are black in color. The idea behind them is that with the ribbed design, they have more surface area then flat heatspreaders so with that extra surface area more heat can be dissipated. The sticker running the length of module both front and back sort of negates some of that ability.

The XMS logo is pressed into the aluminum so you will always know that that these modules are of the Xtreme Memory Speed line.

The height of the Pro Series modules are slightly taller than a regular module even with the more traditional heatspreader. This is because of the inclusion of the LED activity lights seen here. There are two rows of 9 for 18 in total. The lights will show up as green, orange, or red depending on the usage of the RAM and we will see them active in the testing section. I'm certainly not against LEDs on memory and it makes this series stand out against the competition.

I have flipped the top module over to try and show you underneath the heatsinks but you can't really get a good look. The modules are double sided and really the thickness is not that much more than any stick of RAM with a heatsink on it. These should have no problem fitting in any motherboards slots without issue.

At this point I normally spend about a good hour breaking my nails walking that very thin line between taking off heatspreaders successfully and destroying RAM. It appears I have met my match with the Corsair LED equipped aluminum heatspreaders. I toyed with my 'heatsink removal' toolkit and the Corsair modules but after 30 minutes and zero progress I decided I would not push my luck and accept defeat. Corsair did provide us with the info on the ICs used but Google nor the Infineon web site revealed any specifics. The part number provided to us from Corsair is Infineon 267N rev B. These are specially screened modules laid over a BrainPower PCB!

Page 5 : Installation & Overclocking

Here are the components that I will be using for testing of these modules:

As with most RAM installation, it is not usually difficult or requires much in the way of decision making. With the Corsair TWINX 2048-3500LLPRO that was not the case. I decided to run the system with the Titan Vanessa L-Type to see if the added height with the Corsair modules would come into to play.

Clearly the extra height of the Corsair modules will not allow them to be used in the first slot with the Vanessa L-Type. I mounted the OCZ module just to outline that a standard height stick of RAM will fit without issue, it just can't be removed without the CPU cooler being removed first. This will not be the case with most CPU coolers but it may come up with the larger ones.

In the second and fourth slots the modules fit just fine and don't they look nice and cozy tucked in amongst the cables? My overclocking adventure with these modules started with finding out how far these modules would go at the stock timings of 2-3-2-6. After 48 hours of burning in using Memtest86 and Passmarks BurnInTest Pro, the 2-3-2-6 timings did run past 219MHz but not much.

Enlarging the screen shot will reveal that I was able to get these Corsair modules up to 227MHz for an effective DDR454 speed at 2-3-2-6. It required me to raise the voltage to 2.7v and it ran stable through a couple passes of Memtest86 then in Windows two runs of 3DMark01 SE, a 32M digit run in SuperPi and finally a couple hours in Prime95 on torture test blend. The next step was to see what we could do with this kit by loosening the timings.

I first loosened the CAS up to 2.5 and that allowed me to get up to DDR500 in Memtest86 without errors, but after two passes 3DMark01SE would lock up in the first run until I dropped the frequency down to 248MHz for a speed of DDR498. At DDR498 the RAM had no problem repeating the same testing as above. I did have to increase voltage to 2.8v to get the system stable at these speeds.

From there, I tried everything from loosening the timings to 3-3-2-6, 3-3-3-8, and 3-4-4-10 with no combination of timings or voltage increases getting the RAM to run through a full pass of Memtest86 without errors. It looks like this Kit from Corsair is going to be topping out at DDR498 with timings of 2.5-3-2-6 which is good, but not outstanding. The ability to reach the highest performance with only 2.8v does mean that almost any motherboard can handle these modules voltage requirements.

Here is the complete list of stable overclocks I could manage running 1:1 with the CPU on a multiplier of 9:

At first, I thought that the LEDs would be more of a novelty than useful tool but during overclocking I found myself using the LEDs to tell me whether the system was going to POST or not and knowing when the system is really working by taking a quick look at the RAM is kind of handy. If you have a windowed case, not only do the LEDs look good, but they also can serve some function.

Page 6 : Performance

Performance testing of memory revolves around testing the bandwidth that the memory can push at the various stages of the overclocking. That is exactly what we will be doing here with this Corsair 2GB kit. For the benchmarking, I will be using SiSoft Sandra, Everest Ultimate edition, and the memory test suites in PCMark 04 and 05. A 1M digit calculation in SuperPi will also be run as the calculations are heavily dependant on the performance of the RAM in the system. The last of the benchmarking software I will put the Corsair TWINX 2048-3500LLPRO through is 3DMark 01SE. Yes it is the oldest of Futuremarks benchmarking suite but it is still one of the best of the 3D series because it tests overall system performance in addition to the GPU.

The games I will benchmark are Unreal Tournament 04, Far Cry, and Half-Life 2. They will all be run with BenchEmAll and all benchmarks will be repeated three times with an average of the three runs being plotted. All the memory speeds used are at a 1:1 ratio with the CPU. Let's get to the results:

SiSoft Sandra Memory Bandwidth

Everest Memory Bandwidth

Everest Latency

Futuremark PCMark 04/05 Memory Suite

Obviously the standardized climb in results from 200MHz to 248MHz means that the memory is responding as it should to the overclock and providing some solid gains along the way. Even when the timings are loosened up the added speed provides an increase in bandwidth so running these modules at CAS 2.5 at the 248MHZ mark will be the best performance option.

Futuremark 3DMark 01SE

SuperPi 1M Digits

As with the bandwidth tests, the pure performance testing reveals a similar pattern in performance increase as the frequency is increased on these modules. The results are really good and show a large improvement in the systems ability to crunch numbers with the higher speeds.

Games

I chose to benchmark the three games due to their reliance on the CPU and the system more than the GPU. No surprise here either with a steady climb in frame rates as the system speed increases. My final thoughts will be provided in the last section on the next page.

Page 7 : Conclusion

I spent a lot of time trying everything I could think of to squeeze more out of these modules while keeping Windows stable and you have seen the results I have come up with. Is 2GB necessary for most people yet? I think that time is coming or already upon us and especially for those with specific needs then 2GB is definitely required. The system seems to be more responsive with a lot of programs open or running in the background and with no stutters or brief pauses. The tight timings offered with the Corsair TWINX 2048-3500LLPRO makes it an excellent choice for your jump to 2GBs of memory.

For overclockers, you are not going to get amazing 1:1 performance with this kit, but 248MHz is still pretty good for an overclock with a CAS of 2.5. This memory did run at a command rate of 1T throughout testing with both my E3 3000+ Venice and in some basic testing with my D0 3000+ Winchester. This is good to know as some have had concerns with the memory controllers being able to run 1T in older processors before the E6 stepping. If you are running the new Asus A8N32-SLI DELUXE, then you are guaranteed these timings and frequency as they are tested on that motherboard before packaging at a command rate of 1T.

The other added bonus with this Corsair kit is the required voltage to get the maximum performance out of these modules. At 2.8v, most motherboards should have no problem squeezing everything out of this kit, so even those on a budget with a less than ideal motherboard and an in-expensive, older CPU can benefit and maximize the potential of the Corsair TWINX 2048-3500LLPRO kit.

Advantages

• Guaranteed 2-3-2-6 1T @ 219MHz
• 1T command rate with older D0 and E3 memory controllers
• Only 2.8v required for maximum performance
• Activity LEDs can serve a purpose

  Disadvantages

• Not an amazing but respectable overclock

  I would like to thank Corsair for providing this sample for review.