Corsair XMS 3200XL Memory
Overclocking & Latency Testing:
As always we must overclock and push new technology to the edge and find the breaking points. Lately Legit Reviews has been going for stability and quality of our overclocks rather than showing a single benchmark and showing off unstable results. All the numbers that you will see below have been found to be stable via RST Pro2 testing. When it came to overclocking the Corsair XMS 3200XL memory we found the max overclock to be 510MHz DDR with the most relaxed timings possible; 3-4-4-8, 1T with PAT disabled. This is a 110MHz increase over default and is a great overclock in our opinion. We also found it interesting that the CAS Latency didn’t play a big role in overclocking this modules. By this I mean we were able to hit 500MHz+ on the memory at either CL 2.5 or 3. The numbers shown below represent the best bandwidth that we acheived. This was found to be at tighter timings with Performance Mode (PAT) enabled. It should also be noted that on the ASUS P4C800E-Deluxe motherboard the memory voltage only goes up to 2.85Vdimm, so it’s possible that these modules have more headroom if more voltage is available.
Tight Timing Overclocking (2-2-2-5):
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At 215MHz FSB with the memory set at a 1:1 ratio we hit the wall of the XMS 3200XL memory at the tightest timings possible. We could go past this point if we disabled the Performance Mode, but when we did we noticed a decrease in memory performance. Below is a shot of the memory bandwidth we were seeing with Corsair XMS 3200XL when overclocked to 430MHz.
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We are seeing roughly 5300 MB/Sec of data transfer at 2-2-2-5: 1T timings! That is not a score to laugh at from PC-3200 memory!
Loose Timing Overclocking (2.5-3-3-6):
Now here is the kicker! Take a look at what this memory can do at timings of 2.5-3-3-6!
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We are getting 506MHz from our PC-3200 memory at very agressive timings! If you recall this memory is orginally rated by Samsung to operate at DDR500, so we were hoping to see some numbers like this.
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Now this is the kind performance bandwidth that we all want to see! 6100MB/Sec is some serious data transfer and we are getting it from a PC-3200 part.
Conclusions:
Nathan Kirsch’s Thoughts:
I remember sitting and talking with DRAM industry insiders about six months ago at a trade show and everyone agreed that 2-2-2 memory timings were a thing of the past. It came as a pleasant suprise when I first heard the news that Corsair was coming out with another 2-2-2 part. Sure there is nothing revolutionary about these memory modules, we have all seen modules with 2-2-2 timings, but not lately! What the Corsair XMS XL series does is bring back the performance levels we once took for granted!
The question that seems to be hitting my inbox is are these new modules with Samsung TCCD rev “F” IC’s actually a Winbond BH-5 IC replacement. In all honesty the performance is on par with the discontinued Winbond IC’s! Even better yet the overall performance that I have seen from the samples I have is better. My old PC-3200 Winbond BH-5 modules couldn’t run 506MHz at 2.5-3-3-6: 1T timings!
Corsair is planning on the XL series replacing the LL series so the price points should virtually be the same. So as far as Price versus Performance it’s a complete no brainer. I can only hope that Samsung can keep producing these new IC’s and maybe coming out with more speed grades! At the time of writing Corsair has informed us that these modules have already shipped to Fry’s B&M (brick and mortar) and will soon be filling the warehouses of your favorite online retailer. This is not a paper launch!
Bravo to Corsair for being the first to notice that the Samsung TCCD IC’s are something special and putting them to market! Once again Corsair proves why they are a leader in the performance memory market! I highly recommend Corsair’s XMS 3200XL memory for anyone looking to build or upgrade a performance system!
Legit Bottom Line:
Corsair’s XMS 3200XL memory brings back tight timings and great performance at almost any frequency (400MHz-500Mhz) & platform!
If this memory does not suit your needs check to see if Corsair has any that do!
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