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Introduction
From
its humble and somewhat elitist beginnings the PC
has exploded into one of the great phenomenons of
our age. As its power and speed have increased so
manufacturers have had to find ways to work smarter
and more efficiently but one thing nobody can dictate
the course of is the way we the users think and very
often this can be the weak link. With faster processors
comes heat but it's the user who must organise efficient
cooling. With more transistors comes increased power
requirements but it's the user who must ensure the
best quality power supply is fitted. And with motherboards
supporting every faster bus speeds and bandwidth so
it is the user who must make sure every component
in that data chain is manufactured to the highest
quality, the tightest tolerances and the most reliable
of contructions.
Memory
has always been a critical part of your computer's
data handling ability but with dual channel platforms
like NVIDIA's nForce and nForce2 and Intel's E7205
(Granite Bay), Springdale and Canterwood chipsets
your choice of memory becomes doubly important. Throw
in generic, no name stuff to save a few notes and
you'll get what you paid for with low performance
and high latencies at best and system instability
and corrupt data at worst.
nForce Dual Channel Memory
With
any pair of memory modules your system can only ever
be as good as the worst of the two and although buying
high quality memory like Corsair's XMS series can
reduce the risk of any performance degradation caused
by running your memory in pairs there's really only
one genuinely safe way to make sure you're getting
the best and that's by getting someone to test it
for you. That someone in this case is Corsair themselves.
On
the bench today I have Corsair's latest memory innovation.
Available in 512MB (2x256MB) and 1GB (2x512MB) capacities
and in PC2700 (333MHz) and PC3200 (400MHz) speeds,
Corsair's new TWINX is factory tested matched memory
modules guranteed to operate in pairs at
an impressive 2-2-2-6 with a command rate of 1T.
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Available Configurations
- TWINX512-2700LL:
512 Mbytes, 333 MHz, low latency module pair,
kit consists of two matched CMX256A-2700LL
DIMMs
- TWINX512-3200LL:
512 Mbytes, 400 MHz, low latency module pair,
kit consists of two matched CMX256A-3200LL
DIMMs
- TWINX1024-2700LL:
1 Gbyte, 333 MHz, low latency module pair,
kit consists of two matched CMX512-2700LL
DIMMs
- TWINX1024-3200LL:
1 Gbyte, 400 MHz, low latency module pair,
kit consists of two matched CMX512-3200LL
DIMMs
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The
memory we are testing is what I'd guess will prove
to be the most popular of the range, twin 256MB PC3200
modules giving a total capacity of 512MB.
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Part
Number
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Speed
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Size
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Organization
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Package
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CAS
Latency
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Memory
Type
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RAM
Type
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Specification
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| TWINX512-3200LL |
400
MHz |
512
MB |
2x32Mx64 |
2x184
DIMM |
2-2-2-6-T1 |
Twin
Modules |
32Mx8 |
TWINX512-3200LL
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Here's
a look at the specs :
XMS
ULTRA LOW LATENCY
- Plug-n-FragTM
Auto-Configuration
- Boots
automatically using low latency values
- Tested
at ultra-low latency settings
~ (2-2-2-6), command rate of 1T
- Legendary
Corsair reliability and service
MEMORY
KIT FEATURES
- 512
Megabytes of memory
~ Two CMX256A-3200LL memory DIMMs
- Dual
channel testing environment
~ 200MHz NForce2-based test setup
- Tested
and packaged in pairs
~ Modules tested together in Asus A7N8X-based test
setup
- Packaged
together immediately following system test
- Benchmarked
using both Nforce2 and Intel "Granite Bay"
chip sets
- Lifetime
warranty
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