Corsair TwinX1024-3200XL Memory Review

Enthusiasts want fast memory with aggressive timings. Luckily for you and I, Corsair have just released some new PC3200 DDR memory which is rated to run at 200 MHz, with a CAS latency of 2-2-2-5! Of course, we couldn't wait to get our hands on some of this memory for testing!

This new Corsair XL line is surely a sign of good things to come, but you may have to wait a little while before other memory manufacturers release anything like it. Over the next few pages PCstats will be testing out a set of Corsair TwinX 1024-3200XL DDR 512MB memory modules, using the above-mentioned 2-2-2-5 memory timings at 200MHz. Sweet memory, indeed. These chips sport Corsair's standard black aluminium heat spreaders.

If you're into overclocking, you'll be interested to hear that Corsair's own internal tests show this DDR RAM is capable of running up to 250 MHz, with timings of 2.5-3-3-7 (with a modest voltage increase)! That means this memory should be faster than equivalent PC4000 DIMMs. We'll be testing this ourselves naturally, but it does indicate just how flexible this memory could be for the overclocker.

As usual we plugged the memory into our AMD Athlon64 test system first, setting the timings to their most aggressive. Starting at the stock 200MHz, we slowly raised the memory speed. The first signs of instability came at 212 MHz. These were cleared by increasing the VDIMM voltage to 2.8V. Continuing on, the TwinX 1024-3200XL DDR memory hit the wall at 225 MHz. No matter what we did we could not push it any further.

On our Intel test system, the TwinX 1024-3200XL DDR memory began to show errors at 215MHz. Raising the VDIMM voltage to 2.8V helped at first, but after 217 MHz the memory hit another barrier. I lessened the memory timings to 2.5-3-3-7, and was able to go up much higher. The TwinX 1024-3200XL DDR memory finally maxed out at 260MHz. Next up, a few benchmarks with Corsair's DDR....

Memory Test Methodology
PCstats tests DDR memory on two major CPU platforms - the AMD Athlon64 and the Intel Pentium 4 - because RAM behaves differently on each processor architecture. For instance, Intel users tend to run their memory at high speeds with high latency settings, and in general that works quite well for Intel-based computers. It would be detrimental to system performance if you were to run the same DDR memory settings on an AMD Athlon64 system, since latency plays a much larger role in system performance. Because much of our audience is made up of enthusiasts, PCstats also runs overclocking tests so you can get an idea of how far the memory can be pushed.

On both Intel and AMD test PCs, we're only interested in seeing how high we can go with the memory running 1:1. Running with other dividers puts the overclocking bottleneck elsewhere, not with the system memory. On the Pentium 4 test system we sometimes use higher latencies in our tests, as latencies are not as important. With the AMD Athlon64 test system, the DDR RAM latency must run at 2-2-2-5 or the memory's tightest possible timings, as quick access is more important to the CPU design.

PCStats Test System Specs:

system 1 system 2

processor:
amd athlon64 3200+

intel pentium 4 2.4c

clock speed:
10 x 200 mhz = 2 ghz
9 x 225 mhz = 2.03 ghz

12 x 200 mhz = 2.4 ghz
12 x 260 mhz = 3.12 ghz

motherboards:
asus k8v dlx, k8t800

abit ic7-max3, i875p

videocard:
asus radeon 9800xt

ati radeon 9800xt

memory:
2x 512mb corsair twinx 4000*
2x 512mb ocz pc3200 plat ltd ed.
2x 512mb corsair twinx 3200 xl**

hard drive: 40gb wd special ed 20gb wd hdd

cdrom: msi x48 cd-rw/dvd-rom nec 52x cd-rom

powersupply: vantec stealth 470w pc power & cooling 510w

software setup
windowsxp build 2600
via 4in1 4.51v
catalyst 4.8

windowsxp build 2600
intel inf 5.02.1012
catalyst 4.8

benchmarks
business winstone 2002
sisoft sandra 2004
pcmark2002
pcmark04
3dmark2001se
ut2003

* - memory was running 3-4-4-8 ** - memory was running 2.5-3-3-7 when overclocked on intel test system