Best Overclock

Everyone wants to know the best overclock, well we decided to push the ram and the system as far as we could get it and this is the best we can do with what we got and the time we had to do it in. This is a super overclock without a doubt and the results were mixed as the system was stable under 2D Windows environment, but under 3D this clock would cause some issues.

Make no mistake a HTT of 250MHz on a multiplier of 11 with our ram/cpu ratio @ 1:1, is hard to do and with the right components and cooling it can be done without a hitch. But you have to remember this is all done on a SLI system fully configured for SLI operations using 2 PNY 6800 Ultra's. That in its self is a feat because of the fact SLI does not always like a maximum overclock and can give one less headroom, configured this way. Our maximum stable overclock for using 3D games was 248 MHz, for some reason at 250 the system would choke, so I would say it is our hardware limitation as the ram can theoretically offer more headroom.

To some of you this might be an easy task with your hardware, but if you are using hardware like ours and want to take advantage of its best possible performance yields, I highly recommend the eXtreme Performance 2GB XP4000 Dual Channel pack. This ram smokes and allows us to reach a 250MHz HTT using our hardware in SLI!

Battlefield 2 & 2048 MB Systems

I don't care who you are, where you are from, what you know and how you know it, the fact is and will be until something is done about it, BF2 is resource hog and very memory dependent! While its a great game title and can provide hours of fun and excitement the game has issues! One thing I noticed right away is how well BF2 benefits from 2 gigs of ram. I am NOT kidding, this game title became so smooth and enjoyable, it put the game back on my list as my all time favourite shooter. Having generally stuck with 1024 MB of ram in most of my systems, I have come to realize that with today's systems, applications and game titles you really need more than 1024MB of ram in your system.

If you are a die-hard Battlefield 2 fan and want better performance, then with out a doubt, get another gig of ram or at least if your in the market for new ram, try the Mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB XP4000 and watch BF2 run like a champ. Not only will your PC run better and handle extreme duty use, but it will help BF2 like night and day! Unless Spice and or EA put out a serious patch to fix such memory issues, then the current fix is more ram.

Final Thoughts

The Mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB XP4000 dual channel pack is one heck of a bottleneck reducer and one of the fastest set of Mushkin modules to pass through our test beds. Our system ran at a HTT of 250 MHz for the first time since we put this rig together and that says alot about the ram we have stuffed in this rig over the last few months. The Mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB XP4000 comes with excellent stability, functionality and looks giving users a real world synthetic maximum read/write of over 7000 MB/s using the latest popular benchmarking utilities.

Our test conclude that the Mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB XP4000 is a major leap in performance on our system and with the extra resources that are needed on today' systems, Mushkin give's you capacity and performance for the future. Soon 1024MB is no longer going to be the standard for computer users on the cutting edge of technology and as we see more and more proprietary systems shipping with 2048 MB of ram is a testament to the times.

The executable and dependency files for Battlefield 2 can grow to 1.8GB + in size, putting a very heavy load on the system, causing it have a BSOD and other issues. If you have 2 gigs of ram in your system, your swap file will not lag you out and cause glitches from read write hits to the HDD and that’s the entire point of temporary storage also known as extended ram. If you have the means and will, then I suggest this ram to anyone looking for excellent performance and stability.

To get to a 250 MHz HTT we had to bump the CPU core voltage to 1.5+ volts, other than that the system was tested as a matter of just bumping up the HTT and allowing the SPD tables to configure the system. So in short, we didn’t spend a lot of time tweaking the system. It was as simple as that and we wanted to keep it simple.

If you are in the market for larger capacity storage and would like to get better performance over using additional sticks of ram to achieve the same ram capacity, you owe it to your system and yourself to invest in these modules. The 2GB size opens up our system, so we get less swap file activity, which will rob your system of performance. These modules are bad ass and should be on anyone’s short list of upgrades.

Mushkin's eXtreme Performance 2GB XP4000 is a real screamer and puts out excellent results in a real world test environment. We use the test beds we test with and our tests are not done under ideal conditions or open air environments. We tested this system as a daily user with all our resources and processes running in the background. We did not configure for the best possible scores to show you high numbers, we simply stuffed the ram, ran some tests and what you see is what you get.

Mushkin hits a home run with MVKTECH and with the results we see here, we will be keeping this bad boys stuffed in our system for future reviews because of the fact we get the highest over clock of all time and the fact we get the best performance to date. Enough said!

Pros

• Excellent headroom for such dense capacity
• Sports the new Mushkin designed heat spreader
• Operates at well over 7000 MB/s at a moderate over-clock
• Run's signifcantly cooler over previous module design
• Runs at 2-2-2-5 timing at 200 MHz HTT
• Competively priced
• Excellent warranty
• Customer service and support

Cons

• N/A