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 Posted: February 17, 2004
Author: Jason Kohrs
Manufacturer: Corsair
Source: Corsair
PCMark 2002 Memory Benchmark:
FutureMark's PCMark2002 is a "multipurpose benchmark, suited for benchmarking all kinds of PCs, from laptops to workstations, as well as across multiple Windows operating systems." Available free to download, anyone can test their system and use FutureMark's online result browser to see how they stack up with the outside world. The results as they relate to the memory are provided below as a single number, with the units referred to as Marks...
Unlike the Sandra benchmark where the Corsair memory held a slim edge over the GeiL at lower clock speeds, the PCMark 2002 results show a much more substantial margin of victory for Corsair. And once the memory reached its rated speed of 250 MHz, I was quite impressed to see the score crack the 10000 Mark barrier.
PCMark 2004 System Benchmark:
An updated version of the previous benchmark, the PCMark 2004 results are presented below as an overall system score, with the same units of Marks...
To complete the clean sweep over the GeiL memory at lower speeds, the Corsair memory holds the edge in PCMark 2004 as well. Of interest here was the minimal gain from 240 MHz to 250 MHz... 6 Marks, whereas other rises in memory speed resulted in far more substantial increases in score. I rebooted between every set of tests, but on this test in particular I rebooted several times and kept running the tests at 240 and 250 to see if the results were consistent. They were.
Conclusion:
The physical quality, attractive design, and impressive benchmark results confirmed it for me... The Corsair TwinX1024-4000PRO kit is serious business. Not only did it outshine its on hand competition, searching the web shows that these memory modules match up well against high performance memory from other manufacturers, as well.
The exceptional performance does come at a price, which to me is the only serious downside associated with this memory. The TwinX1024-4000PRO matched memory pair is no doubt intended for the serious game player, overclocker, or performance enthusiast who might not find the $387 (US) price tag to be out of line for what they get. A search of PriceGrabber doesn’t turn up much in the way of 1 GB PC4000 kits, but the results it does have are all priced less than $387.
Other than the price, two other items deserve mention somewhere closer to my list of “Cons” than to my list of “Pros”. As I mentioned previously, I am not overly convinced of the necessity of the LED activity lights. Although they do look cool in action and appear to accurately reflect the status of the memory, most people could probably make do without them. The second item of interest is that the heatspreaders get much warmer than any other DDR that I have used. We all know heat is the enemy of all electronics, and the elevated levels experienced can help but make me wonder what the long term effects will be. The interface between the individual chips and the heatspreader seems to be very tight, so perhaps the heat is just being transferred away from the chips more efficiently that I am used to. That may be true, but I have also used DDR without heatspreaders whose bare chips didn’t feel particularly warm.
If you want the performance offered by the Corsair TwinX1024-4000PRO, but want to save some money, investigate the non “PRO” version of the same memory (which eliminates the LEDs), or any of the wide selection of Corsair speeds stretching from PC2700 all the way up to an amazing PC4400.
The performance is without a doubt top-notch, but with a price tag closing in on $400 US, I have to knock a half star off the final rating, and award the Corsair TwinX1024-4000PRO 4.5 out of 5 stars... “Readily Recommended”.
Final Rating (4.5 out of 5 stars):  
Pros:
• High quality construction and attractively designed
• Backed by Corsair’s solid reputation, lifetime warranty, and extensive online tech-support
• LED activity lights are unique feature
• Overclocking! Easily take your Intel P4 C up to 1000 MHz system bus (and beyond)
Cons:
• Pricey, sells for approximately $387 (US)
• Heatspreaders run warmer than I am used to
• LED activity lights look cool, but not particularly necessary
Special thanks to Corsair for providing the TwinX1024-4000PRO Memory to BigBruin.Com for review!
Please drop by the BigBruin.Com forum, and feel free to discuss this review.
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