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Corsair PC133 CL-2, Mushkin PC133 High Performance Rev.2, Enhanced Memory Systems HSDRAM 150
The Hall of Fame (150 MHz at CAS-2)
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(Review by MS, September 20, 2000)
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The Brave and the Fast
To say it upfront: the purpose of this roundup is not to compare or rate one DIMM against the other but rather to hi-light those DIMMs that can qualify as true 150 MHz CAS-2 modules. To make life easy, we go alphabetically through the short list of DIMMs fast enough to meet all our criteria to be included in this Hall of Fame. Further, per request from Corsair, I am obliged to state that my current main employment is with Enhanced Memory Systems, however, LostCircuits is not part of this contract.
The candidates:
Corsair PC133 CAS-3
Company Website: http://www.corsairmicro.com
Corsair PC133 CAS-3 DIMM we ceceived about one year ago
Based on Micron Technologies MT 48LC8M8A2-75 chips, the oldtimer showed convincingly that age is not necessarily a preclusion from performance. On the ASUS CUSL2 the Corsair PC133 CAS-3 DIMMs were running stable up to 155 MHz:
Micron Technologies MT 48LC8M8A2-75 chip
- 3:3:3 (CAS-delay: RAS-to-CAS delay: Precharge): 155 MHz
- 2:2:2 (ditto) 137 MHz.
These numbers by far exceed even the current PC133 specifications. The same DIMM was capable of booting to Win98 at as much as 140 MHz (2:2:2) but system stability was insufficient to run excessive benchmarks.
How do the new CAS-2 DIMMs compare to the previous version?
Recently, Corsair released their PC133 CAS-2 DIMMs that have received excellent reviews in the on-line press. Basically, the question is, how much progress has been made in terms of memory technology in the last year?
Corsair PC133 CAS-2 DIMM
Micron Technologies MT 48LC8M8A2-7E chip. The "C2" and the 222 on the sticker characterize the new DIMMs as CAS-2 (2:2:2) modules
Using the same criteria as above, the new CAS-2 modules achieved the following ratings:
3:3:3
at the slowest timing settings, the Corsair PC133 CL2 DIMM had no problems at all running at 166 MHz (currently there are no boards that allow stable operation at a higher memory bus frequency). In other words, the quality of the DIMM exceeded the possibilities of the currently available chipsets, as we were not able to push it over the edge.
2:2:2
At the most aggressive timing settings, the Corsair CAS-2 DIMMs would operate flawlessly up to a memory bus frequency of 152 MHz on the ASUS CUSL2. On the MSI K7T Pro, the same DIMM would even run 153.5 MHz without a hitch (115 MHz FSB, memory bus at 133 %).
Boot into Windows was absolved up to 158 and 156 MHz on the ASUS CUSL2 and the MSI K7T Pro, respectively, however, without enough stability to run excessive benchmarks.
next page: => Enhanced Memory Systems HSDRAM 150 =>
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