Corsair 2GB XMS PC4000 Platinum

When building or upgrading PC’s today, people always encounter the nagging question of whether it’s truly worth it to go 2GB or not. Is it really worth the extra money, usually near double, to go from 1GB to 2GB? Obviously, the answer depends on the types of games you play primarily. If you plan on playing the likes of Battlefield 2, F.E.A.R. and future titles to their full potential, there should be no doubt in your mind that you want 2GB. Prices continue to plummet, so there is no real need to stick with 1GB unless you are on a serious budget.

It’s no wonder then, that companies who specialize in memory are rushing to push out as many 2GB kits as they can, that come in many varieties. To date, this is our third 2GB kit review, and you will see more in the near future. So, we know that 2GB is a smart deal, so now it’s a matter of buying the fastest memory that fits your budget. As always, let’s go through the Corsair bio, then move onto the heart of the review.

The modules we are taking a look at today, were just announced last Wednesday. In that press release, they promise very fast modules at an extremely competitive price. At the time of writing, these modules are $280.00US over at NewEgg, so that latter fact is absolutely true.

Not only does more memory make a difference in our gaming, but faster memory can make even as much of a difference. The standard DDR speed is 200MHz, but these roll in at 250MHz, so we already have a large benefit there. As is the norm for these speeds, this kit has stock timings of 3-4-4-8, and the voltage requirement is 2.75. If you are the type of person who hate to see high timings, don’t worry about the CAS latency of 3… our benchmarks will prove that these are not bad timings at all.

Taking a closer look at the modules themselves, we can see that there is nothing too fancy about them. They arrive in a blue backed blister pack, which do a fantastic job of keeping the modules protected during travel. The heat spreaders are the standard Platinum style, a flat silver color. One benefit here is, that you can’t easily get noticeable fingerprints on these ones! Beneath the heat spreader, we have Samsung based UCCC chips. UCCC is somewhat notorious for being a good overclocker, and being a terrible overclocker. We will soon see what case we have with these modules :)

The heat spreaders are kept on securely with a simple clip, that can be removed if you want to take them off. If you are not careful, the clips will scrape on the heat spreader as you are removing it, so you will want to be careful. I’m always a wary one for taking off heat spreaders, because with my luck I know I will take a chip with it.