Date: February 3rd, 2004
Article by: Nathan Glentworth (Owner, Head Editor & Hardware Reviewer)
Product was donated by: Corsair Memory
<--Shop for High Speed PC4400 Corsair Memory

CORPORATE PROFILE

Corsair has many years of experience in qualifying high-performance memories, and has developed a knowledge base and track record which is among the best in the industry. Corsair also has strict standards for product qualification; any changes in design, bill-of-materials, and/or supplier, must be re-qualified prior to shipment to end customers. These high standards, while somewhat time consuming, have resulted in a very robust product, with extremely few failures, returns, or compatibility problems. Corsair's Compatibility Lab also tests our memory for compatibility with major system platforms, including motherboards from all the industry leaders. Our web site provides an up-to-date reference on which memory is the best fit for which motherboard. Careful memory qualification is required to help eliminate the uncertainty of the interactions between different components in a given computer system. Corsair has implemented a qualification procedure that is among the most stringent in the industry. While such a strong qualification procedure cannot eliminate risk entirely, it ensures that the parts are as robust as possible, and are suitable for today's mission-critical applications.

MEMORY INFORMATION

Corsair has a great online slide presentation which will brief you with all the information you need to make an educated memory purchase. Check out the in-depth presentation HERE.

PRODUCT INTRODUCTION

Contrary to the what the two mainstream chip manufacturers would want, overclocking is a strong and growing portion of what is driving computer sales today. To counter against the overclocking onslaught, chip manufacturers have in both cases locked the chip multiplier and locked the enthusiast out of pushing the CPU core high than stock. For example, Intel(r) has successfully locked the end user out of the ability to manipulate the multiplier for a couple of years now.

So what is left to facilitate overclocking?

Well, for the Intel P4C user, the only way to overclock is through the frontside bus.

CPU Speed = Multiplier x FSB


2.4Ghz Intel P4C = 12 x 200Mhz (Note: Intel P4C FSB is Quad Pumped which is 200Mhz x 4 = 800Mhz)

Seeing that the multiplier is locked at 12 for this example, the only option is to increase the frontside bus.

The memory I will be reviewing today will technically allow you to raise your frontside bus to 275Mhz. Seeing this is DDR (dual data rate) memory, you double the 275 to 550Mhz to get the actual speed your system takes advantage of.

For the normal everyday computer user, this memory would be deemed a major overkill if you only use it at PC3200 speeds. This memory is directly targeted at the overclockers on the market that want blistering memory speeds through overclocking without having to overclock PC3200 memory. The PC4400 memory will do 275Mhz at 2.75volts bearing in mind you have a good quality motherboard to accomplish this feat.

As I will explain later in the review, don't expect this memory to overclock this high on a budget board. High quality components are a must for stability and performance.

That being said, on with the review...