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Product:
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Corsair XMS4400 TwinX Memory Kit |
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Price:
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$550 (CAN) / $419 (U.S)
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Supplied By:
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Corsair
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Author:
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Shatterstar
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Date:
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April 7th, 2004
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Rating:
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Benchmarking & Testing:
To start performance tests, I assembled the following pieces of hardware to complete the system:
- Asus P4C800 Deluxe Motherboard
- Intel Pentium 4 2.4C CPU
- 2 x Western Digital 120GB SATA 8M cache HD
- Vantec Stealth 520W Power Supply
- ATI Radeon 9600 Pro video card
- Windows XP Professional, SP1
- Stock processor cooling was used in every test
- Case cooling consisted of 3 x 80mm fans and 1 x 120mm fan
The PCI and AGP bus were locked at 66MHz / 33MHz respectively and remained at these settings during the
length of the testing period. For those individuals using an Asus P4C800 Deluxe Motherboard, the DRAM
Frequency (jumper free section) option in your BIOS will need to be set to 400MHz in order to achieve
a memory bus and front side bus ratio of 1:1. The front side bus was raised in the following steps
200MHz (stock), 225MHz, 250MHz and then hopefully to a final 275MHz. At each phase of the test Prime95
was run for 5 hours, with the exception of stock speed and 275 that I wasn’t able to reach. I did run
Prime 95 for 18 hours when I hit the wall at 270 MHz. At each step of the front side bus, each benchmark
was run 5 separate times and an average taken. All benchmarks were run at random between periods of
gaming, video playing and other normal computer uses.
Stability of the system was lost once I passed the 265MHz FSB, but the system could still boot properly
into Windows. I couldn't run any text based benchmark such as Prime95, SiSoft Sandra and Aida32 without
any problems or glitches all the way to 279MHz. Benchmarks that tested the video such as 3D Mark 2001
SE or PCMark04 would either crash themselves or force the system to reboot at anything over 265MHz.
After modding a small processor fan from a 486 to fit in my system and cool the north bridge, I was
able to raise the overclock to a stable 270MHz. But I still could not reach the fable 275MHz front side
bus without the same benchmark issues cropping up.
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Raising the VCORE and VDIMM did not help stabilize the system, which was unfortunate since it achieved
270MHz at stock voltages. This has lead me to believe that better cooling of the processor, Northbridge
and Radeon 9600 Pro would help stabilize these issues. I believe the current culprit of the instability
is the Radeon 9600 Pro since all problems were related to benchmarks that test video quality. I was able
to run the system stable at 275MHz and above but only with a ratio of 3:2 on the memory and not 1:1.
During this testing phase the latency settings stayed at the recommended 3-4-4-8. This was necessary in
order to achieve a standard rating as well as work along the lines of what is stated on the Corsair
website, "Optimum Canterwood performance achieved at high bus speed and relaxed latency". To gain a
better understanding of what the numbers stand for in the latency settings of 3-4-4-8 and how they
relate to overclocking I recommend heading over to Corsair and watch the
Memory Basics Presentation.
To complete benchmark testing the follow applications used:
- 3DMark2001 SE
- AIDA32 (Memory Read & Write Benchmark)
- PCMark04
- Super Pi
- SiSoft Sandra Pro 2004
3D Mark 2001 SE: 3D Mark 2001 Second Edition is a DirectX 8 and higher based benchmark that runs
through a series of renderings and game sequences to test several aspects of the system including video
card and CPU stability and performance. A final score is then received upon completion in which can be
used to compare to an online database of thousands of results and system configurations. All default
settings were used. The scores derived in this test represent the performance margin running the Corsair
XMS4400 TwinX Memory modules in stock and overclocked modes. More information on this application can
be found here.
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AIDA32: AIDA32 is professional system information, diagnostics and benchmarking program. Like
SiSoftware Sandra, this application can extract details of all components inside a PC. The application
includes a built-in hardware database which has detailed information on 27000 components well as a full
hardware and software report that spans over 85 pages. The scores derived in this test represent
synthetic benchmarks based on this particular system matched against rival chipsets. Memory bandwidth
scores are split between read and write modes for stock and overclocked settings. More information on
this application can be found here.
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Click image for larger view
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PCMark04: PCMark04 is an application based benchmark and a premium tool for measuring overall PC
performance. It uses portions of real applications instead of including very large applications or using
specifically created code. This allows PCMark04 to be a smaller installation as well as to report very
accurate results. In this particular test scores were derived using the Memory Test Suites in normal
and overclocked modes. More information on this application can be found
here.
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Super Pi: Super Pi is a program that computes Pi to a set amount of decimal places and returns a
time result. Similar to the other benchmarking software used, users compare their result as a basis for
a performance indicator. I will be using the 1M option, which calculates Pi to 1 million decimal places.
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Click image for larger view
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SiSoftware Sandra Pro 2004: SiSoftware Sandra Pro 2004 (System Analyzer, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant)
is an information and diagnostic utility which allows the user to retrieve information about the CPU,
chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, ODBC
Connections, USB2, 1394/Firewire and more. The scores derived in this test represent synthetic benchmarks
based on this particular system matched against rival chipsets. Memory bandwidth scores are marginally
apart in stock and overclocked modes. More information on this application can be found
here.
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Click image for larger view
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Conclusion:
The Corsair TwinX CMX512-4400 Memory Kit is truly an astonishing package that combines the many
qualities Corsair has become renown for; such as stability and high overclocking potential without
sacrificing overall performance. The memory kit shows it prowess once you can reach its recommended
275MHz front side bus rating, especially in a dual-channel environment. The high 275MHz front side bus
rating will probably be out of reach for low and middle tier motherboards which is why it recommended
you check for motherboard compatibility before purchasing these modules. Performance results in this
review provide a strong indication that the Corsair TwinX CMX512-4400 Memory Kit will not only allow
you to reach a new overclocking wall but to break it down and continue beyond. I was disappointed that
during my benchmark testing that I could not reach or pass 270MHz, and believe this is mainly due to
cooling issues. Once I add a better cooling solution and can stabilize the system past 275MHz, I will
revisit this review. Overall, I was impressed with Corsair TwinX CMX512-4400 Memory Kit and award
MTB's Seal of Approval and a final rating of 9 out of 10. If you have
any questions regarding this review be sure to visit the Corsair
website for more information or discuss them in our forums.
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Pros:
- Amazing stability
- Excellent front side bus support
- Designed with 875P chipset support
- Sleek and stealthy appearance
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Cons:
- Expensive
- Motherboard must support higher system voltages and front side bus rating in order
to maximize performance levels
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