Mushkin Redline XP4000: Winbond with Voltage Be Damned
by Wesley Fink on May 16, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
OCZ started it all with their VX series memory. Combine Winbond die chips with voltages of up to 3.6V and you can likely reach over DDR500 at the fastest 2-2-2 timings. That grew into a successful line of OCZ VX memory that ranges from Value VX to a VX rated at DDR 500 2-2-2. Value VX impressed us with bang for the buck in our Value RAM roundup, and DDR500 2-2-2 VX is the fastest memory (in terms of bandwidth) that we have tested on the AMD Athlon 64 platform.
Now, Mushkin has introduced their own Winbond chip memory designed for high voltage and DDR500 2-2-2 performance. It's a natural fit for Mushkin, given their long working relationship with Winbond. It was only a matter of time until Mushkin managed to put together memory that could give the OCZ VX a run for the money.
Whoever at Mushkin came up with the Redline name should be congratulated. It's nice to see a memory with a catchy name instead of confusing model numbers with even more confusing naming schemes. Even the bright red heatspreader "says" Redline. But in the end, buyers grab the high voltage memory and a DFI nForce4 (or OCZ DDR Booster) for the performance. So, how does Mushkin Redline stack up in the all-important performance area?
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devonz - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
Ok, maybe I'm missing something, but there seems to be no mention of active cooling being necessary for the OCZ VX modules. Is that correct and why would there be such a difference between the two if they are basically the same chips at the same voltage?Joepublic2 - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
#18, thats why you use memtest86+, prime95 and some type of looping 3d-demo (or the games you play) to confirm stability. My processor has 25% increase over its nominal clock frequency at the default voltage (overvolting is what wears out dialectrics and causes electromitigration, increasing the frequency alone doesn't put any additional stress on the silicon). My motherboard has a 30% increase over the nominal frequence at the default voltage. And my graphics card has a 16% increase on the core and a %10 increase on the memory, but I don't push it because it already runs so damn hot. And yes, I can notice a difference, although admitably only when archiving, extracting and encrypting very large files and when playing demanding 3d games (the only taxing things that I do with my computer). If I did any scientific calculations, CAD/CAM or rendering, it would make a perceptible difference as well. I haven't ever had a program crash, return a bad result, or had the computer crash, either.Tujan - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
Buffered,Non-Buffered Ram ?Is this two physically different ram modules.? Certainly would want the Buffered results seen if where to have a choice bearing on performance.
Say you purchase 'Redline ''Buffered''""...or Redline ''unbuffered'"" .
What they do here,physically remove the 'unbuffered modules,and replace with 'buffered modules.
The NF4 supports 'buffered,or unbuffered memories ? This is a specific setting to make sure within the BIOS ?
fitten - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
#17, there is no such thing as "super stable". It's either stable or it isn't. Having "one memory related crash per week" is not a stable system. Besides, with overclocking, the best result you can get is a hard crash because then you know for sure you've pushed something too far.(Before anyone starts yapping about Windows or the like crashes happening more than stability crashes, my Windows XP boxes - I have 3 that run 24/7 - have uptimes as long as the times between patches that require reboots - granted, that isn't as long as I'd like - or power outages - which we've had two in the past month that were down for longer than my UPSs could keep the machines running.)
I used to overclock everything all the time, then I learned a few things about circuits, CPUs, and digital hardware in general and I also grew up. Stability for me is more important than any 10% overclock that I could ever get. Even if I could get a 100% overclock at the cost of stability, I wouldn't take it.
JonB - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
On a moderately OC'd DDR motherboard at normal voltages, wouldn't these be super super stable? I know the price is extreme, but some applications (like video or sound editing) need stability first, then speed. If it could stop just one memory related crash per week, the extra money would be worth it.ksherman - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
is it possible to compare DDR1 to DDR2 in these tests? Ive always heard that they were slower because of the latency, but sometimes here on Anandtech, slower sometimes means 3-5% difference, which isnt much...erinlegault - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
I think the true test of extreme ram will be once we see some OC tests on the Athlon 64 X2. I'm sure two processors can make use of the higher memory bandwidth.Also, looking ahead. Does anybody feel that the active ram cooling of the Abit AN8 Fatal1ty SLI mobo is enough to cool this ram?
JustAnAverageGuy - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
#12Welcome :)
Brian23 - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
I agree with ZeboWesley Fink - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
#1 & #3 - Our Editing engine is inserting spaces randomly. The original does not have these hiccups. Thanks for listing the locations of the extra spaces - they have been corrected. We are trying to find and correct the problem with the inserted spaces