Corsair XMS2-5400UL

Conclusion:

With our results at hand, we were admirably pleased by what we had seen from Corsair's XMS2-5400UL modules and just how easily we were able to push the RAM beyond its rated specifications. Comparing our numbers when at 4-4-4-12 timings and then again at the impressive 3-2-2-8, there were evident benefits in many of the benchmarks. In Doom 3, there was a 1.5 frame improvement over the looser timings, where as some FreeBench and RAMspeed tests were able to greatly benefit from these tighter values, but when compiling and encoding we noticed barely any difference in the results, as it is mainly CPU bound. When the 5400UL was compared directly against the Mars DDR2-667, the Kingmax was a surprising performer. In a portion of the tests the Elpida-based RAM was able to outperform that of the Micron "Fatbody" D9 while at SPD values for the XMS2, however, the tighter CAS 3 timings was no match for Kingmax especially when it came down to the floating point memory performance through RAMspeed. When we reached DDR2-800 speeds while timed to 3-4-4-8 we were quite pleased to say the least considering the recently reviewed Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 was rated for 4-4-4-12 and didn't offer much headroom for overclocking. When handing out any type of award, or disapproval, here at Phoronix we are always a little hesitant whether or not the product is simply a fluke or is truly wonderful, and in the case of the Corsair XMS2-5400UL, it is phenomenal. In fact, with the XMS2-5400UL it may be very well some of the best memory ever conceived by the talented engineers at Corsair. Keep in mind, however, although a majority of recent Intel motherboards will be able to handle this DDR2-667/675 at 3-2-2-8 or 3-3-2-8, only a select number of motherboards will be able to surpass the 1000MHz mark but even so this RAM is simply remarkable.