Corsair 4400C25: Taking Samsung TCCD to New Heights

Test Results: Corsair XMS4404v1.1

To be considered stable for test purposes, Quake3 benchmark, UT2003 Demo, Super PI, Aquamark 3, and Comanche 4 had to complete without incident. Any of these, and in particular Super PI, will crash a less-than stable memory configuration.

AMD Test Results

Corsair XMS4404v1.1 (DDR550) - 2x512Mb Double-Bank
CPU Ratio at 2.4GHz	Memory Speed	Memory Timings & Voltage	Quake3 fps	Sandra UNBuffered	Sandra Standard Buffered	Super PI 2M places (time in sec)	Wolfenstein - Radar - Enemy Territory fps
12x200	400 DDR	2-3-3-10 2.5V 1T	501.0	INT 2641 FLT 2764	INT 6051 FLT 601	82	108.2
11x218	436 DDR	2-3-3-10 2.6V 1T	510.1	INT 2680 FLT 2855	INT 6439 FLT 6372	81	109.7
10x240	480 DDR	2-3-3-10 2.75V 1T	522.7	INT 2903 FLT 3095	INT 6684 FLT 6609	80	112.0
9x267	533 DDR	2.5-3-3-10 2.75V 1T	533.3	INT 3045 FLT 3266	INT 6972 FLT 6885	78	113.3
8x305 (2.44GHz)	Highest 1T Mem Speed 610 DDR	2.5-3-4-10 2.8V 1T	569.2	INT 3248 FLT 3467	INT 7531 FLT 7441	77	116.6
8x318 (2.54GHz)	Highest 2T Mem Speed 636 DDR	3-4-4-10 2.85V 2T	568.7	INT 3088 FLT 3149	INT 7011 FLT 7549	76	122.6
9x295 (2.75GHz)	Highest Performance 590 DDR	2.5-4-3-10 2.8v 1T	572.8	INT 3346 FLT 3538	INT 7712 FLT 7549	72	122.9

Corsair handily turns in the highest memory performance that we have yet seen on the Athlon 64. The highest 2T value of DDR636, the Highest 1T value of 610, and the Top Performance of 9x295 at 1T are all records on the AMD platform. It is clear that Corsair aimed for best performance at the top with this DDR550 memory, since performance at DDR400 is not up to the same standards achieved at the top. Corsair says that modules will typically do 2-2-2 timings at DDR400, but the best that we could do at any voltage is 2-3-3 at DDR400. Corsair selected Samsung TCCD chips for absolute best performance at the top and they clearly succeeded in reaching this goal. The compromise was a bit less performance at DDR400 - at least with the modules we tested.

Intel Test Results

Corsair XMS4404v1.1 (DDR550) - 2x512Mb Double-Bank
Speed	Memory Timings & Voltage	Quake3 fps	Sandra UNBuffered	Sandra Standard Buffered	Super PI 2M places (time in sec)	RCW-ET fps
400DDR 800FSB	2-3-3-5 2.5V	331.0	INT 2720 FLT 2728	INT 4457 FLT 4453	130	70.1
433DDR 866FSB	2-3-3-5 2.55V	358.1	INT 2910 FLT 2827	INT 4784 FLT 4802	120	77.4
466DDR 933FSB	2-3-3-5 2.65V	384.5	INT 3107 FLT 3187	INT 5162 FLT 5189	112	83.0
500DDR 1000FSB	2-3-3-5 2.75V	409.1	INT 3348 FLT 3396	INT 5567 FLT 5561	104	89.6
533DDR 1066FSB	2.5-3-3-5 2.75V	430.3	INT 3580 FLT 3623	INT 5947 FLT 5851	98	94.9
572DDR 1144FSB	2.5-4-4-6 2.85V	450.1	INT 3763 FLT 3799	INT 6348 FLT 6273	93	97.8

The pattern is similar on the Intel memory platform, although the domination by Corsair at the top of the performance charts is not nearly so clear. Corsair lags the best TCCD memory in performance at DDR400, but by DDR466, the superior high-end performance of Corsair DDR550 has established itself. As speed further increases, the advantage of the Corsair DDR550 widens.

After looking at both Intel and AMD performance results, it is obvious that Corsair has binned Samsung TCCD for this memory with the clear goal of performance at the top. Corsair rating the memory at DDR550 instead of the DDR400 used in most other TCCD memory is clearly justified with this emphasis on the top-end of memory performance. Corsair had to compromise DDR400 performance a bit - at least on the modules that we tested - to achieve the incredible top-end results that we see in these benchmarks.