Corsair Dominator TWIN3X2048-1800C7DFIN G DDR3 Memory Kit

Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - by Marco Chiappetta in Misc
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Compatibility and XMP Testing: Before we sat down in front of our test machine to evaluate the Corsair TWIN3X2048-1800C7DFIN G kit, we installed it into some of the systems we had available at the time to see if there were any compatibility problems to speak of.  We tried the sticks in five different systems, powered by various Intel chipsets. We tested these modules on the following platforms...

Brand Model Chipset
Asus Blitz Extreme P35
Asus Maximum Extreme X38
Asus P5E3 Premium X48
Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 X48
Gigabyte GA-P35T-DQ6 P35


With the exception of the Asus Blitz Extreme, which we used for the benchmarks in this article, to quickly test these modules on the other boards all we did was install them, power up the systems, made sure Windows booted and then we ran SiSoft SANDRA's burn-in wizard for a few minutes. We didn't experience any issues whatsoever. The memory kit worked perfectly in all of the platforms we tested.

While the kit was installed in the Asus P5E3 Premium, we should also note that we experimented with XMP and found that the TWIN3X2048-1800C7DFIN G was configured properly by simply enabling the necessary features via the BIOS.

HotHardware's Test System
Not all are created equal...

Core 2 Duo E6750
(2.66GHz Dual-Core)

Asus Blitz Extreme
(P35 Chipset)

Super Talent W1600UX2G7
Kingston KHX11000D3ULK2/2G
OCZ OCZ3P1600EB2GK
Corsair TWIN3X2048-1800C7DF
Corsair TWIN3X2048-1800C7DFIN G

GeForce 8800 GTX
On-Board 10/100/1000 Ethernet
On-Board Audio

WD "Raptor" 74GB Hard Drive
(10,000 RPM SATA)

Windows XP Pro SP2
DirectX 9.0c

 

 

How we configured our test systems:   When configuring our test system for this review, the first thing we did was enter the system BIOS and set the motherboard to its default configuration. The hard drive was then formatted, and Windows XP Professional (SP2) was installed. When the installation was complete, we installed all of the necessary drivers for our components, and removed Windows Messenger from the system.  Auto-Updating and System Restore were also disabled, and we setup a 1024MB permanent page file on the same partition as the Windows installation.  Lastly, we set Windows XP's Visual Effects to "best performance", installed all of our benchmarking software, defragged the hard drive and ran all of the tests. Throughout all our benchmarking, we had the memory voltage set to their default values, unless otherwise noted.

 

Performance Comparison with SiSoft SANDRA XI
Raw Bandwidth and Latency

We began our testing with SiSoftware's SANDRA, the System ANalyzer, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant. SANDRA consists of a set of information and diagnostic utilities that can provide a host of useful information about your hardware and operating system. We ran SANDRA's Memory Bandwidth and Latency tests on a Core 2 Duo E6750 powered test bed with the Corsair TWIN3X2048-1800C7DFIN G memory kit installed.  The BIOS was manually configured to the kit's rated frequency and timings, using a combination of multiplier, FSB strap, and FSB manipulation in an effort to keep the CPU speed as close to its default of 2.66GHz and to keep the different reference configurations as close to the same clock speed as possible.  The breakdown of different "stock" configurations is as follows:









In all of the various SiSoft SANDRA benchamrks, the Corsair TWIN3X2048-1800C7DFIN G kit came out on top, but only by a small margin.  This kit has the same specifications as the TWIN3X2048-1800C7DF kit, so it should offer essentially the same performance.

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By recoveringknowitall on Feb 20, 2008

As always your benchmarks are thorough and comprehensive.

I wonder how much faster this ram is than DDR2 @ 800/1066 in a realworld scenario... in other words if all things were equal(except of course the chipset and ram)would I really be able to notice a difference?

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By jtm55 on Feb 20, 2008

Hi All

IMHO not enough to write home about.

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By Marco C on Feb 20, 2008

You can see DDR2 vs. DDR3 performance in this article:

http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/Intel_X38_Express_Chipset_Debuts

And not enough to write home about? :) 2GHz memory speed with nothing more than a bump in voltage...that's no joke...

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By recoveringknowitall on Feb 20, 2008

BigWop:
2GHz memory speed with nothing more than a bump in voltage...that's no joke...

I agree and benches are nice, but will there be a tangible benefit for a gamer? I realize that's a pretty general question. My next board purchase will no doubt contain an X38 chipset and I'm debating between a DDR3 cappable model or 1 that supports DDR2 in which case I can simply slap the ram I already have in there.

 

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By jtm55 on Feb 20, 2008

 Hi All,

Fair enough.  

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By werty316 on Feb 20, 2008

 Talk about one sweet memory kit, great job on the reivew.

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By BiteMe1MoreTime on Feb 21, 2008

  I'd darn near kill to get my hands on a set of this stuff to replace my current DDR3, that Crosair clocks like a MoFo..............Stick out tongue

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