A64 benchmarks continued

3D Benchmarks are often an ambiguous tool for measuring RAM performance simply because it's difficult to dissect main memory influence from the graphic card's influence overall. For this reason I've chosen 3DMark2001SE, and Far Cry specifically because they do draw from RAM but for divaricating reasons. Far Cry based upon its powerful graphic engine demands much from a system as it surpasses even the ability of recent graphic technology and 3DMArk2001SE because it was originally intended to test cards which did share system memory. I've also included DOOM3 and UT2K3 based on the same dichotomous theory of memory usage respectively.





UT2K3 1024x768 Low Quality / Low FPS





Finally, I’ve included a Sandra screenshot indicating memory bandwidth at 250FSB, again ran with Hyper Transport at 5x (see below). Were it not for some minor system instabilities at around >250FSB this evaluation could have easily included a full series of results at DDR500 or 250FSB. As a Reviewer, however; the standard of testability must be exceedingly high. The results must be repeatable regardless. Had I raised voltages a bit and made a few more BIOS tweaks, XPERT could have ran 100% stable at PC4000 specifications, however; complicating the overclocking process by increasing the number of BIOS adjustments would have been counter-productive to my underlying theme. Which is essentially, that the performance associated with overclocking is now accessible to all. Corsair has labored to program XPERT's SPD (Serial Presence Detect) settings so any end-user can overclock with a minimum of fuss. All that was required to attain the performance seen in this review including the speeds reached below were made with three simple BIOS adjustments: raising the FSB, raising VDIMM and raising Vcore. All of which could have done in Windows with uGuru! In so far as Vcore and VDIMM are concerned these are relative based on the processor and memory. Each CPU will no doubt have its own headroom, and ofetn memory can be just as tempermental when it comes to required voltages for overclocking. Countless PC-enthusiasts have tried to forecast overclockability based on processor spec's such as "date of manufacture," "Fab location" etc... There is no concrete formula beyond end-users reporting their results and trying to find processor's from the same "batch" or even "wafer." Such information can be found in countless forums including [M]'s Forums.



Epilogue / Conlusion

It was just a few years ago a niche community of PC-enthusiasts and overclockers were hunched over their work-bench, soldering iron in one hand, "Phase Change for Dummies" in the other. Today that population is growing in leaps and bounds as the overclocking bug has literally spread like a computer virus infecting all in its path. Such a Groundswell hasn't gone unnoticed by PC-manufacturers whom have been laboring to attract the converts (or offer the antidote). In an effort to meet demands of the growing enthusiast community, manufacturers have tapped resources wherever they can, including the morphing of Server technology with Desktop, water-cooling possibly replacing air and the availability of high-speed DDR, well beyond JEDEC JESD79-2A specifications.

Motherboard makers who literally provide us with the platform, from which we can overclock, have made substantial investments in the trend. Abit revolutionized motherboard technology when they began to offer a feature known as µGURU which finally made it possible to overclock through Windows with much of the stability as if overclocking through BIOS. The point of all this is to offer overclocking type expertise to the layperson.

Today in evaluating Corsair XPERT memory I hope I've gone beyond the atypical review formula which culminates in benchmark results. Surely XPERT performs and it performs well beyond its default specs, yet XPERT provides more then great performance.

Continually displaying each module's speed, voltage and temperature the memory provides pertinent data long before you boot into Windows. Ergonomically there's nothing that can touch XPERT and it will hang tough, holding CL2 2-2-5 at DDR400, or 2-3-2-5 at DDR480. XPERT isn't budget memory at around 400USD, however; there are several brands of Low Latency 1024MB kits approaching the same price.

update: memory price fluctuations cause prices of these XPERT kits to drop fast, make sure to shop around to find the best deal

For those with windowed cases, wanting high-speed, low-latency memory, regardless of overclocking experience, this is a product for you. The XPERT is in the memory's SPD, as raising FSB does little to change its low latency timings. Given this product's versatility I would recommend XPERT for the expert, as well as anyone wanting to delve into the world of overclocking with style! I'd like to thank Corsair for providing their product for review.

Questions/Comments: forum thread