Several weeks ago, we began hearing about a brand new Corsair memory based on new Samsung chips that promised 2-2-2 memory timings at DDR400. Since common knowledge has been that 2-2-2 died with Winbond BH5, we were very interested in seeing what all of the commotion was about.
Corsair announced the availability of their new 3200XL modules on May 26th. This was followed the next day with announcements of similar products by OCZ and Mushkin, also based on the new Samsung chips. Samsung themselves also contacted AnandTech in this same time frame to ask if we would like to review their newest DDR500 memory. We asked all four manufacturers if they could supply us review samples of the new memory. Upon our return from Computex, both Corsair and Samsung had samples waiting for us.

Since the demise of Winbond BH5 memory chips, 2-2-2 memory has essentially been dead at DDR400. Corsair and others have produced DDR400 2-2-3 and 2-3-3 parts based on Winbond CH5 and other memory chips; however, 2-2-2 all but vanished as supplies of Winbond BH5 and BH6 disappeared. Other manufacturers like OCZ took a different route with innovative products like Extended Bandwidth memory that is extremely fast, but does not depend on the lowest CAS timings for best performance.

The new modules based on the new Samsung chips don't just promise DDR400 2-2-2 performance like BH5. They actually promise a great deal more with headroom to DDR500, something we never achieved with even the best modules based on Winbond BH5. Do these new products live up to their claims?

Corsair 3200XL PRO

Corsair has introduced 3200 Xtreme Low Latency modules in both their regular Black or Platinum heatspreaders and as the PRO version with activity LEDs on top of the module. All 3200XL modules are double-sided 512MB DIMMs sold as a matched pair and rated at DDR3200 2-2-2-5. Corsair claims a very wide range of available overclocks to about DDR500 with typical DDR500 timings of 2.5-3-3-7.

Test DIMMs were a matched pair of 3200XL PRO with the activity LEDs.

Click to enlarge.

We first saw the LEDs in our review of Corsair XMS4000 PRO. Corsair uses the PRO designation to indicate LED activity lights on the memory, but otherwise the 3 memories appear to be the same capacity and using the same Samsung memory chips.

While the Samsung chips used in the new 3200XL are actually rated at DDR500, Corsair has chosen to highlight their outstanding 2-2-2 performance capabilities at DDR400. The SPD is also optimized for fast DDR400 performance.

Corsair 3200XL Specifications

Corsair 3200XL Memory Specifications
Number of DIMMs & Banks	2 DS
DIMM Size Total Memory	512 MB 1 GB
Rated Timings	2-2-2 at DDR400
Rated Voltage	2.75V

The only specification that might prevent using 2-2-2 in all systems is the specified 2.75V rated voltage at DDR400. Most high-end motherboards can provide this voltage, but some mainstream motherboards do not have adjustable voltage, and default memory voltage is 2.5V on many boards. You should check your specifications to make sure that you can support the voltage needs of the new 3200XL modules.

Samsung PC4000

Samsung is one of the world's largest memory manufacturers, and a new product introduction is usually accompanied by white papers and extensive specifications for the new memory. This introduction of DDR500 memory appears a quieter affair as all we have received was a pair of 256MB DIMMs for testing.

Test DIMMs were a matched pair of PC4000 256MB single-sided DIMMs.

Click to enlarge.

The memory chips used by Samsung in their new DDR500 memory have no identification on the chip itself that would alert us to the their DDR500 rating.

In fact, the chips are stamped with the same ID that we have seen on other Samsung DDR400 parts.

We wish Samsung had provided double-sided DIMMs or 4 SS DIMMs as they did for our launch review of Samsung DDR466. Two single-sided DIMMs are a bit slower than 2 double-sided DIMMs or 4 SS DIMMs on the Intel 865/875 platform. That makes the pair of single-sided Samsung DIMMs at a performance disadvantage before we even run any performance tests. We explored this fact in our Searching for the Memory Holy Grail - Part 2, and it is also detailed in Intel white papers as shown in the table below from Intel.

DDR400 (1:1) Performance	DIMM Configuration	Single-Channel or Dual-Channel
1	4 DS	Dual Channel
2	2 DS or 4 SS	Dual Channel
3	2 SS	Dual Channel
4	4 SS/DS Mixed Matched Pairs	Dual Channel
5	Any DS	Single Channel
6	Any SS	Single Channel

It is also normally the case that in the exact same configuration of 2 DIMMs in a dual-channel 512MB total memory will often perform a bit poorer in some benchmarks than 1GB total memory.

Samsung PC4000 Specifications

Samsung PC4000 Memory Specifications
Number of DIMMs & Banks	2 DS
DIMM Size Total Memory	256 MB 512MB
Rated Timings	3-3-3 3-4-4-8 SPD at DDR500
Rated Voltage	Unspecified

As one of the world's largest suppliers of memory, Samsung has extensive specifications for their memory chips and DIMMs on their semiconductor website. We were more than a little surprised that a search for the memory chip part number and the DIMM part number indicated the memory to be a 400/333/266 part. It appears that Samsung is either binning standard production chips for DDR500 performance or they are doing modified production runs that will eventually result in a new part number and timings.

Intel Performance Test Configuration

For consistency, we first tested both the new Corsair 3200XL and Samsung PC4000 on our standard Intel Pentium 4 Memory testbed. The hardware for evaluating OCZ 3700EB is the same used in our earlier reviews of DDR400 and faster Memory.

OCZ 3700EB: Making Hay with Athlon 64
OCZ 3500EB: The Importance of Balanced Memory Timings
Mushkin PC3200 2-2-2 Special: Last of a Legend
PMI DDR533: A New Name in High-Performance Memory
Samsung PC3700: DDR466 Memory for the Masses
Kingmax Hardcore Memory: Tiny BGA Reaches For Top Speed
New Memory Highs: Corsair and OCZ Introduce DDR550
OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 2: The Universal Soldier
OCZ 4200EL: Tops in Memory Performance
Mushkin PC4000 High Performance: DDR500 PLUS
Corsair TwinX1024-4000 PRO: Improving DDR500 Performance
Mushkin & Adata: 2 for the Fast-Timings Lane
Searching for the Memory Holy Grail - Part 2

All test conditions were as close as possible to those used in our earlier memory reviews. We have also eliminated from our charts any memory that has been discontinued, including Winbond BH6 versions from several vendors and earlier versions of several current memory products.

INTEL 875P Performance Test Configuration
Processor(s):	Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz (800MHz FSB)
RAM:	2 x 512MB Corsair 3200XL PRO (DS) 2 x 256MB Samsung PC4000 (SS) 2 x 512MB OCZ 3700EB (DS) 2 x 512MB OCZ 3500EB (DS) 2 x 512MB Mushkin 2-2-2 Special (DS) 2 x 512MB PMI4200 Gold (DDR533 DS) 4 x 256MB Samsung PC3700 (DDR466 SS) 2 x 512MB Kingmax DDR500 Hardcore Series (DS) 2 x 512MB Kingmax DDR466 Hardcore Series (DS) 2 x 512MB Corsair XMS4400v1.1 TwinX (DS) 2 x 512MB OCZ PC4400 DC Kit (DS) 2 x 512MB OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 2 (DS) 2 x 512MB OCZ 4200EL(DS) 2 x 512MB Mushkin PC4000 High Performance (DS) 2 x 512MB Corsair TwinX4000 PRO (DS) 2 x 512MB Mushkin Level II PC3500 (DS) 2 x 256MB Adata DDR450 (SS) 2 x 512MB Adata PC4000 (DS) 2 x 512MB Corsair PC4000 (DS) 2 x 512MB Geil PC4000 (DS) 4 x 256MB Kingston PC4000 (SS) 2 x 256MB Kingston PC4000 (SS) 2 x 512MB OCZ PC4000 (DS) 4 x 256MB OCZ PC3700 GOLD (DS)
Hard Drives:	2 Western Digital Raptor Serial ATA 36.7GB 10,000RPM drives in an Intel ICH5R RAID configuration
PCI/AGP Speed:	Fixed at 33/66
Bus Master Drivers:	875P Intel INF Update v5.00.1012, SATA RAID drivers installed, but IAA NOT installed
Video Card(s):	ATI 9800 PRO 128MB, 128MB aperture, 1024x768x32
Video Drivers:	ATI Catalyst 4.6
Power Supply:	Vantec Stealth 470 Watt Aluminum
Operating System(s):	Windows XP Professional SP1
Motherboards:	Asus P4C800-E (875) with 1016 Release BIOS

We have found the fastest performance on Intel 865/875 to be achieved at Cycle Time or tRAS of 5, or the fastest tRAS setting that is stable with the tested memory. Intel platform benchmarks were run with the fastest stable tRAS timings.

Test Settings

We ran our standard suite of memory performance benchmarks. The following settings were tested with both Corsair 3200XL and Samsung PC4000:

1. 800FSB/DDR400 - the rated speed of Corsair 3200XL and the highest stock speed supported on 875/865 and K8T800/nF3/SiS755 motherboards
2. 866FSB/DDR433 - a common rating and overclock for high-speed memory
3. 933FSB/DDR466 - another common memroy speed rating
4. 1000FSB/DDR500 - the rated speed of Samsung PC4000 and a standard speed rating that we have used in testing the highest speed memory available and
5. Highest Stable Overclock - the highest settings we could achieve with this memory and other memory that we have tested

These are the same general settings used in benchmarking other memory in the above list of memory tests. DDR400, DDR500 and Highest Memory Speed have been used for all benchmarking. DDR433 and DDR466 have only been tested in the past for modules with this speed rating, and are included where available.

Intel Test Results: Corsair 3200XL PRO

To be considered stable for test purposes, Quake3 benchmark, UT2003 Demo, Super PI, Aquamark 3, and Comanche 4 had to complete without incident. Any of these, and in particular Super PI, will crash a less-than stable memory configuration.

Corsair 3200XL PRO (DDR400) - 2 x 512Mb Double-Bank
Speed	Memory Timings & Voltage	Quake3 fps	Sandra UNBuffered	Sandra Standard Buffered	Super PI 2M places (time in sec)
400DDR 800FSB	2-2-2-5 2.5V	326.4	INT 2900 FLT 2942	INT 4525 FLT 4532	128
433DDR 866FSB	2-2-2-5 2.75V	353.0	INT 3069 FLT 3148	INT 4852 FLT 4875	119
466DDR 933FSB	2-3-3-6 2.75V	369.1	INT 3237 FLT 3219	INT 5181 FLT 5196	113
500DDR 1000FSB	2.5-3-3-7 2.75V	394.1	INT 3346 FLT 3379	INT 5568 FLT 5575	106
506DDR 1048FSB	3-4-4-7 2.85V	-	-	-	-

The most astounding result in our tests was the ability of Corsair 3200XL to run at 2-2-2-5 timings all the way to DDR450. This is the highest FSB that we have ever achieved with 2-2-2 timings. Corsair's claims of an extremely wide range of overclocking is certainly justified, with 3200XL providing excellent performance from DDR400 to DDR500. DDR500 is the practical limit with this memory as there is virtually no head room above DDR500. 3200XL topped out at DDR506 at much slower timings than required at DDR500. As a result, there was no point to running DDR506 benchmarks as they would have been lower than DDR500 results.

Intel Test Results: Samsung PC4000

Samsung PC4000 (DDR500) - 2 x 256Mb Single-Sided
Speed	Memory Timings & Voltage	Quake3 fps	Sandra UNBuffered	Sandra Standard Buffered	Super PI 2M places (time in sec)
400DDR 800FSB	2-2-2-5 2.5VV	323.4	INT 2700 FLT 2738	INT 4509 FLT 4506	131
433DDR 866FSB	2-2-3-5 2.65V	344.7	INT 2775 FLT 2825	INT 4835 FLT 4837	122
466DDR 933FSB	2-3-3-6 2.65V	365.6	INT 2853 FLT 2880	INT 5163 FLT 5163	115
500DDR 1000FSB	3-3-3-7 2.75V	383.1	INT 2961 FLT 3029	INT 5450 FLT 55449	109
506DDR 1048FSB	3-4-4-7 2.85V	-	-	-	-

Since the Samsung PC4000 is using the same memory chips as the Corsair 3200XL, the lower performance has to be attributed to other factors. Corsair is using a different PCB and different SPD timings, which improve the Corsair performance. In addition, 2 single-sided DIMMs perform poorer than 2 double-sided DIMMs on the Intel platform, which is even stated in Intel white papers. Third, 512MB in 2 DIMMs is not as fast in some benchmarks as 1GB in 2 DIMMs.

The Samsung results should not be considered as a fair performance comparison. Rather, the results clearly demonstrate the penalty of 2 single-sided versus 2 double-sided DIMMs on an Intel test bed. Credit should also be given to Corsair for the excellent quality of their PCB and SPD design used on 3200XL.

Intel Performance Comparisons

Performance of the Corsair 3200XL and Samsung PC4000 were compared to all of the memory recently tested on the Intel 875 memory test bed in:

OCZ 3700EB: Making Hay with Athlon 64
OCZ 3500EB: The Importance of Balanced Memory Timings
Mushkin PC3200 2-2-2 Special: Last of a Legend
PMI DDR533: A New Name in High-Performance Memory
Samsung PC3700: DDR466 Memory for the Masses
Kingmax Hardcore Memory: Tiny BGA Reaches For Top Speed
New Memory Highs: Corsair and OCZ Introduce DDR550
OCZ PC3700 Gold Rev. 2: The Universal Soldier
OCZ 4200EL: Tops in Memory Performance
Mushkin PC4000 High Performance: DDR500 PLUS
Corsair TwinX1024-4000 PRO: Improving DDR500 Performance
Mushkin & Adata: 2 for the Fast-Timings Lane
Searching for the Memory Holy Grail - Part 2

Memory performance was compared at DDR400, DDR500 and the highest stable overclock we could achieve that would run Quake 3, UT2003, and Super PI to 2MM places. Where the data was available, comparisons were also made at DDR433 and DDR466.

All discontinued products have been removed from benchmark comparisons. Since Mushkin claims availability of Mushkin 3200 2-2-2 Special for the next 1 to 2 months, it will be included in memory benchmark comparisons until it is no longer available for purchase.

Results are compared for Quake 3, Sandra UNBufferred Memory Test, and Super PI. SiSoft Sandra 2004 reports 2 results for each memory test - an Integer value and a Float value. Results reported in our charts are the result of averaging the INT and FLOAT scores, which are normally close in value. In other words, INT and FLOAT scores were added and divided by 2 for our reported score.

We have also added additional Memory Benchmarks for Athlon 64 Socket 939 to these standard tests on the Intel 875. Please refer to the Athlon 64 test data for comparisons of memory performance at the same CPU clock and different memory speeds. This can be found starting on Page 13.

DDR400 Performance

DDR433 Performance

DDR466 Performance

DDR500 Performance

Highest Memory Speed Performance

AMD Athlon 64 Performance Test Configuration

The recently introduced nForce3-250 and VIA K8T800 PRO chipsets finally promise a working PCI/AGP lock to Athlon 64. Earlier chipsets only had a working AGP/PCI lock on a handful of boards such as the AOpen AK89 Max. Thus far, we have tested the Epox, MSI, Chaintech, and Gigabyte nF3-250 chipset motherboards and found a working AGP lock on all these Socket 754 boards. We also found a working PCI lock on the 2^nd revision of the Abit KV8 PRO based on the VIA K8T800 PRO chipset, but we had some issues with multipliers on that board.

The same chipsets are used with the just-released AMD Socket 939 Dual-Channel processor. We are in the early stages of testing dual-channel Socket 939 motherboards, but we have been working with Asus on their A8V Deluxe based on the VIA K8T800 PRO chipset. Early revisions had no PCI/AGP lock and limited overclocking, but Asus made a hardware revision to shipping boards, which added a working AGP/PCI lock. The board has also improved through a number of beta BIOS to the point where the most recent beta BIOS has fixed many of the issues with overclocking on the Asus A8V. We have been able to achieve 1:1 overclocks as high as 265 FSB on the A8V with the latest BIOS.

While it is far too early to establish a standard memory test bed with a Socket 939 board, we have been experimenting with the working AGP/PCI lock to allow effective testing of Athlon 64 memory performance. With Intel moving to DDR2 in the upcoming 915/925X, we will likely move DDR testing to an Athlon 64 Dual-Channel test bed in the near future.

Athlon 64 Performance Test Configuration
Processor(s):	AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Socket 939
RAM:	2 x 512MB Corsair 3200XL (DS) 2 x 256MB Samsung PC4000 (SS)
Hard Drives	Seagate 120GB IDE 7200 RPM (8MB Buffer)
PCI/AGP Speed	Fixed at 33/66
Chipset Drivers:	VIA Hyperion 4.51
Video Card(s):	ATI 9800 PRO 128MB, 128MB aperture, 1024x768x32
Video Drivers:	ATI Catalyst 4.6
Power Supply:	Antec True Power 430W
Operating System(s):	Windows XP Professional SP1
Motherboards:	Asus A8V Deluxe (VIA K8T800 PRO) Beta BIOS 1005.020

In our testing with Socket 939 boards, we found the best performance is achieved at a tRas setting of 10. All Performance Tests were run with a 10 tRas setting.

Test Settings

The Athlon 64 also has the unique feature of unlocked multipliers below the rated speed on all processors, and both above and below rated speed on the FX chips. This feature is not currently available on Pentium 4 processors. The unlocked lower ratios combined with a working AGP lock makes it possible to take a different approach to testing memory performance on the Athlon 64. It is possible to look at a fixed Processor speed and variable Memory speeds to see the real impact of just higher memory speeds on typical performance.

The standard Quake 3 (Open GL), Super PI (raw calculation performance), SiSoft Sandra 2004 Standard Buffered memory test (synthetic memory test), and SiSoft Sandra 2004 Standard UNBuffered memory test were run as usual. However, to test more effectively the effect of memory speed on performance, we expanded the benchmarks used for testing. UT2003 (Direct X 8) and Aquamark 3 (Direct X 9) were added to the memory tests to provide a broader range of performance measurements.

AMD Test Results: Samsung PC4000

Rather than just test memory overclocking on the Socket 939 Athlon 64, we compared the impact of memory speed on stock performance. The 3800+ runs at a speed of 2.4GHz with a stock ratio of 12x200. Performance was compared of the standard 12x200 to 10x240, which is also a processor speed of 2.4GHz. With the CPU operating at the same speed, the only influences on performance are the higher memory speed and the higher bus multiplier.

Standard CPU Speed and Variable Memory Speed Samsung PC4000 (DDR500) - 2 x 256Mb Single-Bank
Benchmark	3800+ (2.4GHz) 200x12 4xHT 2-2-2=10	3800+ (2.4GHz) 240x10 4xHT 2.5-3-3-10
Super PI 2M Places	85 seconds	83 seconds
Quake 3 FPS	453.0	460.0
Sandra Memory Test Standard Buffered	INT 5995 FLT 5948	INT 6671 FLT 6584
Sandra Memory Test Standard UNBuffered	INT 2702 FLT 2792	INT 2914 FLT 3068
UT2003 FPS	Flyby 290.0 Botmatch 119.6	Flyby 285.8 Botmatch 120.5
Aquamark 3 Standard Score Run	46,297	46,210

We were able to reach overclocks as high as DDR490 at 2.5-3-3-10 timings with Samsung PC4000 on the Asus A8V Deluxe. However, we were not able to reach the specified DDR500 speed on the dual-channel Socket 939 Asus A8V Deluxe.

AMD Test Results: Corsair 3200XL

We attempted to run the same tests on Corsair 3200XL, comparing a 3800+ at the standard 12x200 to 10x240, which is also a processor speed of 2.4GHz. Unfortunately, we could not find memory timings that would work with Corsair 3200XL at DDR480 on the Asus A8V Deluxe. Since the Socket 939 has just been introduced, we suspect that this is just a matter of Corsair tweaking SPD timings for higher overclocking on Socket 939 dual-channel. The Corsair 3200XL performs very well at stock speed.

Standard CPU Speed and Variable Memory Speed Corsair 3200XL (DDR400) - 2 x 512Mb Double-Bank
Benchmark	3800+ (2.4GHz) 200x12 4xHT 2-2-2=10	3800+ (2.4GHz) 240x10 4xHT 2.5-3-3-10
Super PI 2M Places	83 seconds	-
Quake 3 FPS	464.4	-
Sandra Memory Test Standard Buffered	INT 6051 FLT 5982	-
Sandra Memory Test Standard UNBuffered	INT 2890 FLT 3005	-
UT2003 FPS	Flyby 292.5 Botmatch 121.6	-
Aquamark 3 Standard Score Run	46,445	-

We do not want to leave the wrong impression here because Corsair 3200XL performed very well on the Asus A8V Deluxe up to DDR466 at 2-3-3-10 timings. With further tweaks in the 3200XL SPD, we are confident that the 3200XL can reach even higher overclocks on the Socket 939 Asus A8V Deluxe.

Athlon 64 Performance

Conclusion

Corsair has done a great job in bringing DDR 400 2-2-2 memory timings back to the memory market. The Samsung DDR500 chips used in their new 3200XL are very capable of 2-2-2 timings, and not just at DDR400. In our testing, 3200XL performed at 2-2-2 all the way to DDR450. They then went on to DDR500 at the still excellent timings of 2.5-3-3, giving end-users a very wide and useful range of memory performance.

Samsung rates the same memory chips as DDR500 in their DIMMs, but we think that is a very optimistic rating for a DIMM which can barely reach DDR500. The Samsung PC4000 has no headroom over the DDR500 speed, topping out at DDR508. There is no doubt that these memory chips are special, and deserve perhaps a DDR466 rating, but not 500. Corsair's rating of DDR400 2-2-2 with incredible headroom to DDR500 better emphasizes what is really unique and desirable with these new memory chips.

While the Samsung parts did not perform quite as well overall as the Corsair versions, that is more the result of smaller single-sided DIMMs than the inherent superiority of one DIMM over the other. Corsair produces excellent memory and has lavished more attention on the PCB and SPD, but Samsung also has an excellent product in their own memory made with the same memory chips. Also, Corsair paid a bit of a price with their optimized SPD on the latest Socket 939 motherboard benchmarks, where the Samsung overclocked to a significantly higher speed than the Corsair. We expect that this has more to do with the fact that Socket 939 boards were just released, and Corsair will likely have a quick fix to the issues that we found with 3200XL on Socket 939 dual-channel.

You now have 2-2-2 timings as a choice again, and the fact that both OCZ and Mushkin have announced a similar product based on the new Samsung chips means that you will have even more choices in the marketplace. Corsair says that they have committed to the bulk of Samsung's production of the new chips, and only time will tell if 2-2-2 will be mainly a Corsair and Samsung product, or whether other memory makers can also compete with this new memory chip.

The bigger question is how does the new fast memory compare to what you can already buy in the market? The answer is mixed. The new 2-2-2 is not as fast as the discontinued Winbond BH5 in our benchmarks. While we have removed discontinued products from our results, you can easily check earlier reviews and see BH5 is still faster. However, among currently available memory, the new 2-2-2 parts are among the best available, particularly in the DDR400-450 range. Above that sweet spot, from 450 to around 533, OCZ EB series performs faster, and EB is nearly as fast in the 3200XL's best 400-450 range. There is also Kingmax DDR500 Hardcore and OCZ 3700 GOLD Rev. 2, which shadow 3200XL across the entire range and reach even higher at the high end of the range.

There is no doubt that buyers will be impressed with the 2-2-2 ratings of Corsair 3200XL, and they should be. In the DDR400-450 range, it is one of the fastest memories that you can buy. However, it is not a knock-out product that significantly outperforms the best from the competition. It is just another excellent choice. The best range for 3200XL is DDR400 to DDR450. Above this range, performance is still excellent, but there are other memory products that perform better and do nearly as well in the 400 to 450 range.

Corsair has done a great job with 3200XL. If your memory needs are for top performance on Intel from 400 to 450, 3200XL is the top choice. If your overclocking concentrates more on the 450 to 500 range, the 3200 XL is still a good choice, but OCZ EB is a better choice. On the Athlon 64, OCZ3700EB is still a better choice, but that may soon change with Corsair updates to the 3200XL SPD. It is great to have choices in the memory market, and Corsair 3200XL is clearly one of the top memories that you can currently buy. Corsair pioneered this new 2-2-2 memory and even if every other memory maker eventually comes to market with a similar part, Corsair deserves praise for first seeing the potential of the new Samsung PC4000 memory and being the first to market with a new DDR400 2-2-2 product.