Corsair Dominator PC2-10000: Fastest DDR2
by Wesley Fink on January 31, 2007 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Overclocking Performance (Highest Speed)
The Corsair Dominator PC2-10000 is rated at DDR2-1250 5-5-5-18 at 2.4V. Unfortunately we could not even come close to this memory speed on the ASUS P5W-DH 975X motherboard. The memory topped out at DDR2-1067 at 4-4-4-12 timings on the ASUS. This was certainly not a surprise since Corsair made it very clear the Dominator 10000 should be paired with an NVIDIA 680i motherboard for best performance. We were also told the Dominator 10000 had been reported to perform very well on recent P965 boards designed for overclocking, such as the ASUS Commando.
On the EVGA nForce 680i SLI motherboard the Dominator 10000 performed well beyond specifications and expectations. The rated speed of DDR2-1250 was completely stable at 5-4-4-12 timings at 2.4V - considerably better than the rated 5-5-5-18 timings at that speed. It is important to keep in mind that Dominator 10000 is designed for speed and not low latency. This memory is not happy at CAS 4 at very high speeds - it requires CAS 5 at top speeds. If you are looking for lower latency at top speeds Corsair PC2-8888 or OCZ Flex XLC-9200 are better choices.
Corsair Dominator PC2-10000 also matched the highest overclock ever reached on the 680i at DDR2-1315. With a rated speed of DDR2-1250, there was hope a new speed record could be reached. Dominator 10000 did not set a new record, but it did match the highest speed in past testing. Two other memories we have tested are in the same performance ball park with Dominator 10000 - the sister Dominator PC2-8888 and OCZ Flex XLC 9200. Both the 8888 and the Flex XLC are a better match to the 975X motherboard, but all three memories are similar speed demons on the NVIDIA 680i.
The Corsair Dominator PC2-10000 is rated at DDR2-1250 5-5-5-18 at 2.4V. Unfortunately we could not even come close to this memory speed on the ASUS P5W-DH 975X motherboard. The memory topped out at DDR2-1067 at 4-4-4-12 timings on the ASUS. This was certainly not a surprise since Corsair made it very clear the Dominator 10000 should be paired with an NVIDIA 680i motherboard for best performance. We were also told the Dominator 10000 had been reported to perform very well on recent P965 boards designed for overclocking, such as the ASUS Commando.
On the EVGA nForce 680i SLI motherboard the Dominator 10000 performed well beyond specifications and expectations. The rated speed of DDR2-1250 was completely stable at 5-4-4-12 timings at 2.4V - considerably better than the rated 5-5-5-18 timings at that speed. It is important to keep in mind that Dominator 10000 is designed for speed and not low latency. This memory is not happy at CAS 4 at very high speeds - it requires CAS 5 at top speeds. If you are looking for lower latency at top speeds Corsair PC2-8888 or OCZ Flex XLC-9200 are better choices.
Corsair Dominator PC2-10000 also matched the highest overclock ever reached on the 680i at DDR2-1315. With a rated speed of DDR2-1250, there was hope a new speed record could be reached. Dominator 10000 did not set a new record, but it did match the highest speed in past testing. Two other memories we have tested are in the same performance ball park with Dominator 10000 - the sister Dominator PC2-8888 and OCZ Flex XLC 9200. Both the 8888 and the Flex XLC are a better match to the 975X motherboard, but all three memories are similar speed demons on the NVIDIA 680i.
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Wesley Fink - Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - link
We make no attempt in our memory testing to max out the overclock on the CPU. In general we try to choose settings that will yield CPU speeds that are consisitent and relatively near stock speed - so they can be compared to other results.This CPU can OC with stability to 3.9 to 4.0 GHz as you saw in our Tuniq 120 Tower review. Running memory at high overclocks combined with high CPU overclcoks will definitely produce much higher benchmark numbers. However, the reality remains that the memory component alone contributes much less to high performance than CPU speed or the GPU used in benchmarking.
If you look closely at performance results for the 680i on p.4 you will see we included both 1:1 (same speed, really 1:2) and 5:4 linked ratio tests. The 5:4 has 20%+ higher buffered bandwidth at DDR2-1315 than the 1:1 measures at the same DDRS-1315, yet gaming performance is almost the same. Memory does make a difference in performance, but memory speed matters much less on C2D and AM2 than it did on previous processors.
sdsdv10 - Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - link
They why are companies working so hard to bring out the ultra-fast, ultra-expensive memory modules?
coldpower27 - Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - link
Bragging rights, and premium prices. They are also trying to prey on the misinformed who don't know any better.Sunrise089 - Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - link
Are you just posting to brag? That's definately a nice PC you have, but how does it compare to the one in the review? You have a much more overclocked processor AND a generation more GPU power.semo - Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - link
the second page has "2x2048" in the title. is that the name of the product? wasn't the test done on 2x1024 kit whereas the title suggests a 4gb kit.Wesley Fink - Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - link
If you check the chart on page 1 you will see Twin2x2048-10000C5DF is the Corsair Part Number for this 2GB kit with 2x1GB dimms and a Dominator Airflow fan. It has become common in the memory industry to sell memory in pairs rated by the capacity of the pair of dimms. We agree this can be confusing, but we used the Corsair Part Number to identify the modules since readers have asked us for that info in past reviews.semo - Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - link
thanks Wesley, i had a feeling it was something like that. i'll pay more attention next time.Live - Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - link
What if you put this in the DFI Lanparty UT ICFX3200-T2R/G does it beat the 680i?tuteja1986 - Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - link
Good memory but way too expensive. I would rather buy 8800GTX.tayhimself - Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - link
Who buys this junk anyway?