Corsair's TWINX 1024-3200XL v1.2 & TWINX 1024-4400C25PT Memory kits

For our last batch of tests, we set each kit to run with their SPD timings, 2-2-2-5 for the TWINX1024-3200XL and 2.5-4-4-8 for the TWINX1024-4400C25PT, and raised our test system's FSB as high as possible.  To minimize the affect our Pentium 4 2.4GHz CPU had on the overclocking results, we raised the voltage slightly for the CPU to 1.7V and the memory up to 2.85V.  As we moved the FSB higher with the 3200XL modules, the latencies were automatically lowered to 2-4-4-8.  With these timings, we were able to get as high as 250MHz for the front side bus.  We manually attempted to raise the latencies even further in order to achieve a higher overclock, however, any attempt at running benchmarks at speeds higher than 250MHz caused the applications to lock up and/or spontaneously reboot the system.  The 4400C25PT modules fared even better.  They were rated for 2.5-4-4-8 operation for as high as 275MHz (DDR550), and we just about reached that level with our current setup.  We maxed our system out at a 266MHz FSB, which meant the RAM was effectively running at 532MHz. 

Performance Comparison with SiSoft SANDRA 2005 Raw Bandwidth

Corsair TWINX1024-3200XL 250MHz FSB (DDR500)

Corsair TWINX1024-4400C25PT 266MHz FSB (DDR532)

As we mentioned, the Corsair TWINX1024-4400C25PT modules overclocked higher than the TWINX1024-3200XL, by an additional 16MHz, albeit while running at slightly higher latencies.   The performance results clearly point out what the added overclock meant to the memory bandwidth.  The 4400C25PT kit was able to put up scores in SANDRA that we're nearly 400 points greater than the 3200XL. 

Performance Comparison with PCMark04 Overall Memory Score

The overclocked PCMark04 scores mirrored SANDRA's results, in that we saw a large gap between the overclocked 3200XL and the 4400X25PT.  Although the original scores were on par with each other, the 3200XL modules gained "only" about 500 points while the 4400C25PT's score was increased by nearly 850.   We can clearly see the kind of gains we can get while overclocking with Corsair Memory installed, without a hit in system stability.

In-Game Performance Comparisons With Wolfenstein: ET System Memory Affects Framerates?  You Bet!

So, how does this effect real-world performance?  Well, we took one last look at Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory with each set of memory overclocked as high as we could go.  In our first overclocking results, both memory kits saw increases of approximately 10 frames per second.  Raising the speeds even further while simultaneously raising the latencies resulted in an additional 17 frames for the 3200XL kit.  The 4400C25PT based system jumped up 27 frames per second, reaching as high as 146.5fps.  That's an overall 23% increase in framerates over the original test.