Let’s start with a little blurb from A-DATA:

“A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., the global leader in memory products, has again released new DDR3-1600+ under Plus Series right after DDR3-1333+. Since Intel has improved its core technology, most of it could easily overclock to 400 MHz FSB that automatically increase memory clock to DDR3-1600. A-Data DDR3-1600+ is going to be the mainstream of overclock product.

DDR3 memory module consumes 30% less power than DDR2. The main benefit of DDR3 comes from the higher bandwidth made possible by DDR3’s 8 bit deep prefetch buffer, whereas DDR2’s is 4 bits, and DDR’s is 2 bits deep. 

Over the years, A-DATA has built a reputation for consistently high quality. To ensure stable operation over extended periods of usage, the DDR3-1600+ passes burn-in testing and rigorous dual-channel capability testing. The highest quality standards are maintained at every stage in the production process, to create a first-class memory product that combines high stability with high performance. Using a 128MBx8 pin layout, the DDR3-1600+ is available in 2GB (1GBx2) and 4GB (2GBx2) Dual channel kit version. Timing recommendations for overclocking are provided, making it easy for even beginners to implement overclocking.”

That said, let’s have a look at the kit…

Specifications:

Suitable for: Desktop PCs
Module Type: 240Pin Unbuffered-DIMM Non ECC
Capacity Available: 4GB Dual Channel Kit (2GBx2); 2GB Dual Channel Kit (1GBx2)
IC Configuration: 128M x8
Transmission Bandwidth: 12800MB/Sec PC3-12800
Cas Latency Timing: 8-8-8-24
Working Voltage: 1.65V~1.85V

Test Setup:

Motherboard: Asus Maximus Extreme, Intel X38 Chipset.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8600, 45m, E0 Stepping.
PSU: Enermax Galaxy 1000w.

All Sub timings left on Auto.

Testing:

Stock

1.80v

Still at 1.8v - Performance Level 7 (PL7):

1.9v

Still at 1.9v - Performance Level 7 (PL7):

I am afraid it wasn’t stable to do 32m but maybe with some more time spent with sub timings it would pass.

Conclusion:

I am very impressed with this kit. Ideal for gaming or your general usage PC. The one other 2×2GB kit i have ever used really struggled to get near to 800 MHz with 2v through them. this kit can do cas 7 at 1.8v. Pretty impressive. The head room for more MHz once again isnt on par with 2×1Gb kits but as said this would be more suited to a gaming rig or photo editing etc than to hardcore benching.

Many thanks to A-Data for supplying this kit for review http://oc.adata.com.tw.

Crucial don’t need an introduction so I will skip the really basic stuff.

Crucial’s Ballistix Tracer line is aimed at gamers and case modders who want something a bit fancy. With surface-mount LEDs along the bottom of each stick, as well as flashing LEDs at the top that match RAM activity, the Tracer line is certainly eye-catching. The model up for review here is Crucial’s first for DDR3, but instead of releasing a product at the high-end of DDR3 capabilities, Crucial have picked a fairly pedestrian set of MHz and timings for launch- 666MHz at 6-6-6 latencies. The lower spec allows a more competitive street price (no doubt in part to offset the bling,) and if that is coupled with the undeniably unique look, Crucial have the potential to be onto a winner.

Packaging

I believe I received a very early set of sticks that came in single-stick blister packs, therefore I cannot comment. For a case-modders line, blisters with an interesting background would be a better style of presentation than a plain cardboard box. Heres hoping Crucial are learning to show themselves off a bit more strongly- bling does sell, especially to the casual shopper!

The Kit

The heatspreders are a flat black with chrome edge. The yellow, outlined-in-red lettering stands out very well from the base colour. The PCBs are black.

When installed, the sticks display only their blue “under-lighting” for the first few seconds of boot, then the red and green activity LEDs kick in.

Test setup, notes, drawbacks and assumptions

Motherboard: Asus P5E64 WS Pro, Intel X38 Chipset, BIOS 0702.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, 45nm, C0 Stepping.

Two low-speed 80mm fans were positioned over the RAM at all times.

All voltages were measured directly with a multimeter. I do not trust software readings. Ever.

There is more than one place to measure ground on a motherboard. If a PSU ground line is attached to a mobo hold-down screw and used as a measuring point, it reports a higher voltage than if the casings of the I/O plugs are used. I find the difference to be around 0.1V. For this review, I used the PSU ground line as a reference level. This is the worst case scenario voltage. ie… if I report 1.80V in the review, it would have been closer to 1.70V if I had used the I/O casing.

My motherboard does not allow VDIMM values of less than 1.75V if using the previously mentioned ground spot

A MAXMEM value of 600MB was used to limit the effect of random data scatter in RAM. The results should be more consistent using this method.

vNB values were changed where necessary to allow the RAM MHz to be stable. If values significantly higher than normal are used, they will be stated.

I did not spend hours finding the absolute limits of the RAM, I picked ballpark numbers that should be within reach of most owners. There will obviously be some variation between sets, so posting results obtained from the ragged edge would give a skewed review.

Due to the way these sticks arrived, I do not think I received a matched set. its possible that retail sets will have higher ceilings.

No tweaks were used to speed up SPi32M. The longer the test, the better sign it is for stability anyway.

Testing

I will not insult the in-house test procedure or quality assurance by testing at default, so I will jump straight into the RAMs capabilities for tweakers and overclockers:

Sadly, I had very little luck in testing the kit below its rated voltage. No worthwhile results were obtained.

However, if I kept the voltage at 1.80V I was able to tighten up the timings:

680MHz 6-5-5 1T, 1.80V:

Nothing to be ashamed of! I could not improve on the MHz at that voltage, but by increasing the juice by 0.1V I obtained another 40MHz:

720MHz 6-5-5 1T, 1.90V:

If the timings are loosened to 7-6-6 1T at default voltage (remember that 6-6-6 2T is the default) the ceiling is lifted up to 780MHz!

780MHz 7-6-6 1T, 1.80V

Again, adding 0.1V to the supply offered another 40MHz:

820MHz 7-6-6 1T, 1.90V

I see a pattern emerging… will it continue further?

880MHz 8-7-7 1T, 1.80V

adding another 0.1V to supply 1.90V….

920MHz 8-7-7 1T, 1.90V

Conclusion

For a low-spec RAM kit, this RAM offers a real range of MHz and timings options. Irrespective of FSB, there will be a good RAM performance option awaiting. Crucial did not have to use ICs of this quality given the rated spec, I am pleasantly surprised!

The CrucialUK site lists this at £108, which is £33 higher than the plain Ballistix equivalent. I believe this is in part due to it being a new line. The primary appeal of this RAM lies in its appearance- the look is still unrivalled. If it appeals, I would say this RAM is a very good buy- its range of working settings sees to that and act as a very nice bonus to the appearance. If the look doesnt float your boat…buy the plain Ballistix- it will probably have the same quality.

The downside is that Nehalem is near launch. Much has been made of the recent warnings about VDIMM values over 1.65V, and this kit will probably not be suitable for that limit. All major RAM manufacturers are working on the new JEDEC DDR3 spec, and Crucial will have revised tri-channel kits by the time it matters. Given that Nehalem maturity (and lower prices!) are still several months away, I beleive this RAM still has a place in enthusiast-level rigs.

My thanks to Crucial UK for the review sample.

Best place to buy is direct from source: http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/part…KIT12864TA1336

Update!

I was asked about tRAS performance, so heres two runs with tighter settings: tRAS of 12 at 666MHz and 14 at 880MHz. Setting it to 10 at 666MHz provided a no-boot, and attempting 12 at 880MHz resulted in the same. No voltages increases were necessary- 1.80VDIMM was used for both.

860MHz 7-6-6 1T, 2.00V

900MHz 7-6-6 1T, 2.10V

I appreciate that these results need higher VDIMM than some higher-rated kits, but remember the baseline of 666MHz 6-6-6 please.

Corsair CM3X1024-1800C7D 2×1GB DDR3 memory kit

Today we look at the offerings of Corsair’s CM3X1024-1800C7D 2GB DDR3 kit bundled with the added Corsair Dominator DHX cooling as standard.

Here’s what Corsair have to say about it:

“The Dominator Series TWIN3X2048-1800C7DF G is a 2048MByte kit of DDR3 SDRAM DIMMs built using Corsair’s latest high performance heat sink with Dual-path Heat Xchange (DHX) technology coupled with a Corsair Airflow Fan. This part delivers outstanding performance in the latest generation of dual-channel DDR3-based motherboards. It has been tested extensively in popular DDR3 motherboards to ensure compatibility and performance at its rated speed. This memory has been verified to operate at 1800MHz at latencies of 7-7-7-20 at 2.0V VDIMM.”

Impressive, now onto the specifications…

Specifications:

Timings: 7-7-7-20
Frequency: 1800 MHz
Voltage: 2.0v

Packaging

What’s in the Box?

A close up to see just how well these modules are made and the excellent packaging that the kit comes in.

Dual-path Heat Xchange Diagram Optimized fins to maximize ambient airflow through the module array. Extruded aluminium heat sinks to maximize convective heat dissipation

Dominator DHX cooling.

Test Setup:

Motherboard: Asus P5K3, Intel P35 Chipset
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850, 65nm, G0 Stepping

The Asus P5K3, Intel P35 Chipset motherboard offers a lot of over-clocking options and allowed us to test the memory kit that Corsair sent, as you can see in the Screen shot I was able to boot up with 7-7-7-20 timming @ 2000MHz with no problems at all and the system was rock solid.

With only a speed from the CPU of 4500MHz the final time in supper PI 1m was just a tad over 11 seconds which is not to bad given that the operating system was fully blotted with applications still operating in the background.

Some Super PI 32m
A small amount of voltage increase of 0.2 volts needed to run the 32M test but still very good at 2.2 volts to the memory for this sort of speed, again do not look at the total time taken as this test was just to see how far the Ram would go.

A quick run with Wprime 32m and 1024m to see how well the total stability of the system with these ram speeds showed it had know problems at all.

Sandra Bandwidth.

Next up was to see just what sort of MHz this ram could do:
Unfortunately the ram was not able to do much more even with slacker timings, But still very impressive.

But what sort of MHz could the ram do with tighter timings, not to bad with settings of 6-6-6-18 @ 1780MHz.

Conclusion:

Rating:

Speed: 98 / 100 
Value: 90 / 100

I have no doubt at all about this memory and its Capabilities’ in the right hands and with a fully optimised operating system the worlds your oyster.

my experiences in the last few days with this DDR3 memory kit from Corsair has definitely improved my outlook for DDR3 memory and its future acceptance by the enthusiast crowd and with Lifetime warranty cover you cannot go wrong with this supper fast set of memory, that’s providing you can stump up the £300.00 price tag, but if you have the cash and want the best then this set of Corsair’s memory is for you.