Corsair XMS3 DHX 1600MHz 4GB Memory Kit
Test System
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
Motherboard: GIGABYTE X38-DQ6 (Supplied by GIGABYTE)
Hard Disk: 500GB Western Digital SE16 (Supplied by Western Digital)
Graphics Card: GIGABYTE 9800GX2 (Supplied by GIGABYTE)
Cooling: GIGABYTE 3D Galaxy II (Supplied by GIGABYTE)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista SP1
Drivers: Intel INF 9.0.0.1008, ForceWare 175.16
Today's test bed consists of the same X48T motherboard and graphics card setup, so not much has changed. We did our tests with the OCZ XMP1600 modules which clocked close to the Corsair memory; its clocking max was 1700MHz, so not too shabby.
Our stock clocks as always are 1333MHz as this is the highest JEDEC standard recognised for DDR3 memory at this time. It may go up to 1600MHz but that's not happening yet.
In our overclocking tests we used 1600MHz which is the highest XMP Intel supports, so 1600MHz was tested with both modules and then we went to Max OC. For our OCZ, that was 1701MHz; Corsair without heatsinks 1610MHz and with heatsinks 1760MHz. An FSB/memory divider of 1:2 was used.
EVEREST Ultimate Edition
Version and / or Patch Used: 2006
Developer Homepage: http://www.lavalys.com
Product Homepage: http://www.lavalys.com
EVEREST Ultimate Edition is an industry leading system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for enthusiasts PC users, based on the award-winning EVEREST Technology. During system optimizations and tweaking it provides essential system and overclock information, advanced hardware monitoring and diagnostics capabilities to check the effects of the applied settings. CPU, FPU and memory benchmarks are available to measure the actual system performance and compare it to previous states or other systems.
Starting in synthetic bandwidth tests, at 1333MHz both kits come in identically; the extra 2GB size doesn't help the Corsair here.
When we go to 1600MHz levels, OCZ has a lower timing profile of 8-8-8-24 without the XMP profile enabled, so it gets a better overall bandwidth. When overclocked, only using the fan setup managed to keep the Corsair in front; it falls behind without the fan due to lower clock speeds.
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