Mushkin PC12800 "Radioactive"

We're very glad to welcome Mushkin again to our roundup review. Since Mushkin started a separate European office we kind of lost track of them, more than time to put this right. This is what Mushkin stands for :

Founded in 1994, Mushkin is best known for producing “Enhanced” memory modules. Located at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Denver, Colorado Mushkin provides performance enhanced computer products to users worldwide. Exceptional quality, enhanced performance and unparalleled customer support are what make Mushkin products the best in the industry.
Mushkin products include an enhanced power supply line and a complete selection of memory upgrades for desktops, servers and notebooks – we offer something for everyone from business user to gamer. Our enhanced memory products are available in several performance categories from standard to extreme, with our REDLINETM series in a class of its own. Our enhanced power supply line offers superb regulation and ripple characteristics, modularity and plenty of power to supply the most demanding systems.
With customers including everyone from Apple Computer and NASA to gamers and web browsers, Mushkin knows what is important to customers - enhanced performance with uncompromised quality. With Mushkin you Get More.

What's even better for the customers in Europe, is the fact that Mushkin is now developing their own modules over here as well, resulting in today's heatspreader design. We're talking about the "radioactive" design of course, with the following call sign :



Nothing to see on first looks though, because what came into our lab was one of the most tempting memory packages I ever received:


(click for larger version)

That's right : the "radioactive" modules come in a metal box. The box has room for up to four modules, held in place by some foam specifically designed for holding the "frostbite" modules (more on that later). The sticker with the module number that doesn't stick to well on the top was actually used to "seal" the box at the front, but I peeled it off and applied it to the top myself ;-) The back of the box also has a sticker applied, more of a promotional message actually...


Packaging: more shots

Time to have a look at the module up close :


(click for larger version)

The heatsinks on these modules are still the excellent looking "frostbite" heatsinks, as Mushkin likes to call them. We reviewed one of the first frostbite equipped memory kits back in 2006, with our original DDR2 roundup. Today's frostbite heatsinks are a little different, but still the same basic design. The striking part of the modules is the color of course: these are the first banana-yellow memory modules I've seen, but they do look striking. Together with the radioactive logo they're sure to stand out inside your windowed case...


More module images

The Mushkin model numbers remain a total mystery to me actually, but here's the kit number : 998679r. When you order this kit you should get the above kit with the following specifications :

1600MHz DDR3 (PC12800)

Latencies : 7-8-7-20-2T (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS-CR)

Operating voltage : 1.65 Volts

240pin DIMM

Parity : Unbuffered

Memory size : 3x 2048Mb

With these specs, we're talking more about an "upper midrange" kit compared to the competition. These low latencies promise excellent performance; unfortunately you'll have to tune the memory yourself as the SPD of the modules provides no XMP or EPP profiles to facilitate the tuning for novice users.

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Overclocking

Let's have a look at the overclocking performance. We start off with cas 7 performance once more, which is the stock cas setting with improved TRCD (7 instead of 8) and Command Rate (1T instead of 2T timings). At these settings the modules delivered quite good results : the memory kit topped out at 785Mhz (DDR 1570), just short of the 1600Mhz DDR mark.

Unfortunately, it's at cas 8 where some disappointment set in : these modules are clearly not tuned for high latency overclocking, as our cas 8 overclocking adventure already ended at 835Mhz. What's more, cas 9 wasn't any better, topping out at the same 835Mhz, as the last thumbnail (cas 9 failure at 840 Mhz) shows. At first, we thought the Gigabyte board was failing with these memory sticks, in the end this wasn't the case though as renewed testing on a DFI X58 board provided identical results. After contacting Mushkin about this issue, they thoughtfully provided us with a second kit (a low latency 1333Mhz kit), which we'll be reviewing shortly to see how it stacks up against this radioactive kit.

To end on a positive note : the modules performed very well at low latencies, cas 6-6-6 was no problem to run at 1333Mhz, as the first thumbnail below clearly shows. Stock timings of 7-8-7 were also not a problem at 800 Mhz, and even slightly beyond that mark (up to 825 Mhz).


Testing cas 6, max cas 7, cas 7 @ 800Mhz, cas 9 fail

Next is OCZ...>