Mushkin Redline XP4000 2GB Review

Name: Mushkin Redline XP4000 2GB
Brand: Mushkin

Steven B

on Nov 8th, 2005,

in Memory.

Manufacturer: Mushkin

Value and Conclusion »

Test Setup

Test System
CPU:	Intel P4 561 (3.6 GHz)
Motherboard:	Abit AS8 (i865 PE)
Memory:	2x 1024 MB Mushkin Redline XP4000 2GB
Video Card:	NVIDIA 6600GT
Harddisk:	Western Digital 74 GB Raptor
Power Supply:	OCZ Powerstream 520 Watt
Software:	Windows XP SP1, ForceWare 77.72

We will be testing this memory at lowest timings at the highest FSB, because that's what enthusiasts are using to get maximum performance out of their memory.

Performance

The first test we did, was test how the memory performs at a stock frequency of 200 FSB. We tested both 2-3-2-5 and 2.5-4-4-8 timings. The modules' SPD at 200 FSB is 3-3-2-8. Here you won't see a very fair comparison because the processor is running at 3.6 GHz opposed to the 2.8 Ghz it is running at 2-3-2-5. But you are able to see how much the processor speed affects the results of the benchmarks.
During testing I used 2.8V just to keep the voltage at a constant. I found that slight voltage increase to 3.14 gave me head room to hit 280 FSB at 3-3-2-8 but it was very unstable and thus I conclude that more voltage doesn't make a huge difference.
I also do not feel safe running any RAM in my computer above 2.8 V for 24/7 use because in most cases memory is only meant to run higher voltages for benchmarking. The last test "JEDEC DDR-400A" is for comparison with a generic DDR module running at JEDEC standard timings, but once again my processor was using a 18x multiplier.

Mushkin Redline 2GB XP4000
CPU Clock & Memory Ratio	Memory Speed	Memory Timings	Everest Read	Everest Write	Everest Latency	Quake 3 Timedemo	3DMark 2001SE	SuperPi Mod 1M
14 x 200 1:1	200 MHz	2-3-2-5 2.8V	5655 MB/s	1966 MB/s	83.1 ns	396.6 fps	16416	46.36 s
14 x 230 1:1	230 MHz	2-3-2-5 2.8V	6574 MB/s	2145 MB/s	91.6 ns	421.7 fps	17317	40.95 s
14 x 250 1:1	250 MHz	3-3-2-8 2.8V	6528 MB/s	2272 MB/s	82.9 ns	470.5 fps	18367	37.40 s
14 x 265 1:1	265 MHz	2.5-3-2-5 2.8V	7564 MB/s	2598 MB/s	78.8 ns	481.4 fps	18976	35.51 s
14 x 275 1:1	275 MHz	3-3-2-8 2.8V	7547 MB/s	2619 MB/s	76.0 ns	498.3 fps	19236	34.19 s
14 x 280 1:1	280 MHz	3-3-3-8 2.8V	7568 MB/s	2653 MB/s	75.6 ns	501.5 fps	19396	33.80 s
14 x 286 1:1	286 MHz	3-4-4-8 2.8V	8114 MB/s	2380 MB/s	75.1 ns	33.1 s	not stable
JEDEC DDR-400A	200 MHz	2.5-3-3-8 2.8V	5730 MB/s	1932 MB/s	95.1 ns	451.0 fps	17942	37.75 s

Now this memory is very versatile, its got some really great bandwidth and timings for a 2 GB kit. At 230 MHz it was running timings tighter than most TCCD and TCC5. At 265 is was running with timings tighter than some BH-5 and all TCCD and TCC5 chips. I found the RAM to be max. Video Bench stable at 280 and SuperPi and Bandwith benchmark stable at 286. My results were done on a i865 platform which doesn't have a strong memory controller like the Athlon64, FX, and X2 series of AMD processors. But just these results prove that this memory is great on all platforms.

For easier comparison with other modules, we set a maximum voltage of 2.8V and tested until we found the highest clock frequency and fastest timings for this memory. The benchmarks Everest Read, Everest Write and Quake 3 were run. We then calculated the performance increase in percent compared to some standard DDR-400 memory running at JEDEC standard timings (2.5-3-3-8). The average percentage of the three benchmarks is listed in following table: