Corsair PC3500 XMS Memory

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Motherboards | Power Supplies | Memory | Systems | Video Cards

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Brian Kristensen
Kurtis
Corsair
Apr. 1, 2004

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Overclocking

First thing's first. If you are even considering memory that requires a bit of BIOS tweaking, there is no doubt in my mind that you will see how far you can push it before it bleeds (or causes your computer to not POST... whichever you prefer)!

I used my trusty ABIT IC7-MAX3 with a lovely Pentium 4 2.4C. With the timings set to the recommended 2-3-3-7, I was able to get to 448 MHz, 15 MHz past Corsair's recommended 433 MHz. However, I did have to push the voltage up to 2.8v to maintain stability.

Using the most aggressive timings available on the IC7 (2-2-2-5) and a voltage of 2.8v, I was only able to reach 428 MHz. Interestingly enough, 214 MHz at 2-2-2-5 performed slightly better than 433 MHz at 2-3-3-7. However, the overclock to 448 MHz still yielded the best results overall.

Test System

To get the full advantages of the PC3500 memory, I opted to use the ABIT IC7-MAX3, which utilizes Intel's 875P chipset, and a Pentium 4 2.4c. Because the multiplier is locked on P4s, increasing the memory speed and FSB causes the CPU clock speed to increase as well.

Test Rig:

Pentium 4 2.4c
ABIT IC7-MAX3
PowerColor Radeon 9800 XT (Catalyst 4.2)
200 GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9
LiteOn 16X DVD-ROM
Soyo Raptor 400W Power Supply
Windows XP Professional (latest updates)

The following memory was used during testing:

512 MB Corsair XMS PC3500 @ 400MHz (2-3-3-7) / CPU @ 2.4 GHz
512 MB Corsair XMS PC3500 @ 433MHz (2-3-3-7) / CPU @ 2.6 GHz
2x (Dual Channel) 512 MB Corsair XMS PC3500 @ 433MHz (2-3-3-7) / CPU @ 2.6 GHz
512 MB Crucial PC3400 @ 400MHz (3-3-3-8) / CPU @ 2.4 GHz

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Page 3 of 6

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: A Closer Look
Page 3: Overclocking / Test System
Page 4: SiSoft Sandra 04 / Aida32
Page 5: PCMark04 / ScienceMark2
Page 6: Super Pi / Conclusion

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13 User Comments

1 - Posted by Kurtis on May 26, 2003 - 9:28 pm

Me likey memory. Memory go vroom vroom. Fast memory poppie wheelie... ok anyway, this memory is badass. Check out the review

2 - Posted by brbubba on May 27, 2003 - 9:59 pm

Hmmm couldn't get it running at 200+ mhz. I have the Corsair 3200 XMS and I have gotten it running nicely at 200 mhz on an Asus a7n8x deluxe. Haven't tried going higher though. :roll:

3 - Posted by Brian on May 27, 2003 - 10:35 pm

We are getting an NF2 Ultra mobo in a few weeks, and we shall see how it does on that.

4 - Posted by keithwalton on May 29, 2003 - 5:52 am

Just like to say im running a pair of that memory (with silver heat spreaders) in my current system. which is a P4 2.4 'C' running at 3Ghz on a epox 4pca3+ mobo (i875p)
Nice speeds if i do say so myself :-)

http://www.soton.ac.uk/~kajw102/mem.JPG

K

Edit i forgot to mention thats running at 1Ghz FSB, with memory on a 5:4 ratio (400Mhz) with timings of 2-5-2-2

5 - Posted by Kurtis on May 29, 2003 - 12:30 pm

:shock: yeah me too... yeah... :cry:

6 - Posted by ChefJoe on June 10, 2003 - 9:09 pm

Two weeks later. NF2 ?

7 - Posted by Brian on June 10, 2003 - 9:29 pm

I have the NF II Ultra board in front of me right now. I am fairly busy though, so I cannot tell you when we will test the ram on it. Soon though.

I am looking forward to it as much as you all :-)

8 - Posted by ChefJoe on August 6, 2003 - 11:02 am

bump

9 - Posted by Kurtis on August 6, 2003 - 12:17 pm

soon, very soon :)

10 - Posted by MaNiAk21 on August 6, 2003 - 2:00 pm

Manufacturer? Model? So we can change our, 'Can't wait for the Nf2U review' to 'Can't wait for the [Manu] [Model] review.' :)

11 - Posted by Kurtis on August 6, 2003 - 2:03 pm

DFI NF2 Ultra LanParty Motherboard

12 - Posted by MaNiAk21 on August 6, 2003 - 2:05 pm

Oh, and... MIDGETS! MIDGETS! haha

13 - Posted by AkXb70 on April 2, 2004 - 10:16 pm

Throughout the review, you said DDR400 was PC3400, this isnt true as DDR400 is PC3200 if you would read the specs on current motherboards and if you multiply the 400X8, which is where PCxxxx ratings come in

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