The Return of 2-2-2: Corsair 3200XL & Samsung PC4000

Conclusion

Corsair has done a great job in bringing DDR 400 2-2-2 memory timings back to the memory market. The Samsung DDR500 chips used in their new 3200XL are very capable of 2-2-2 timings, and not just at DDR400. In our testing, 3200XL performed at 2-2-2 all the way to DDR450. They then went on to DDR500 at the still excellent timings of 2.5-3-3, giving end-users a very wide and useful range of memory performance.

Samsung rates the same memory chips as DDR500 in their DIMMs, but we think that is a very optimistic rating for a DIMM which can barely reach DDR500. The Samsung PC4000 has no headroom over the DDR500 speed, topping out at DDR508. There is no doubt that these memory chips are special, and deserve perhaps a DDR466 rating, but not 500. Corsair's rating of DDR400 2-2-2 with incredible headroom to DDR500 better emphasizes what is really unique and desirable with these new memory chips.

While the Samsung parts did not perform quite as well overall as the Corsair versions, that is more the result of smaller single-sided DIMMs than the inherent superiority of one DIMM over the other. Corsair produces excellent memory and has lavished more attention on the PCB and SPD, but Samsung also has an excellent product in their own memory made with the same memory chips. Also, Corsair paid a bit of a price with their optimized SPD on the latest Socket 939 motherboard benchmarks, where the Samsung overclocked to a significantly higher speed than the Corsair. We expect that this has more to do with the fact that Socket 939 boards were just released, and Corsair will likely have a quick fix to the issues that we found with 3200XL on Socket 939 dual-channel.

You now have 2-2-2 timings as a choice again, and the fact that both OCZ and Mushkin have announced a similar product based on the new Samsung chips means that you will have even more choices in the marketplace. Corsair says that they have committed to the bulk of Samsung's production of the new chips, and only time will tell if 2-2-2 will be mainly a Corsair and Samsung product, or whether other memory makers can also compete with this new memory chip.

The bigger question is how does the new fast memory compare to what you can already buy in the market? The answer is mixed. The new 2-2-2 is not as fast as the discontinued Winbond BH5 in our benchmarks. While we have removed discontinued products from our results, you can easily check earlier reviews and see BH5 is still faster. However, among currently available memory, the new 2-2-2 parts are among the best available, particularly in the DDR400-450 range. Above that sweet spot, from 450 to around 533, OCZ EB series performs faster, and EB is nearly as fast in the 3200XL's best 400-450 range. There is also Kingmax DDR500 Hardcore and OCZ 3700 GOLD Rev. 2, which shadow 3200XL across the entire range and reach even higher at the high end of the range.

There is no doubt that buyers will be impressed with the 2-2-2 ratings of Corsair 3200XL, and they should be. In the DDR400-450 range, it is one of the fastest memories that you can buy. However, it is not a knock-out product that significantly outperforms the best from the competition. It is just another excellent choice. The best range for 3200XL is DDR400 to DDR450. Above this range, performance is still excellent, but there are other memory products that perform better and do nearly as well in the 400 to 450 range.

Corsair has done a great job with 3200XL. If your memory needs are for top performance on Intel from 400 to 450, 3200XL is the top choice. If your overclocking concentrates more on the 450 to 500 range, the 3200 XL is still a good choice, but OCZ EB is a better choice. On the Athlon 64, OCZ3700EB is still a better choice, but that may soon change with Corsair updates to the 3200XL SPD. It is great to have choices in the memory market, and Corsair 3200XL is clearly one of the top memories that you can currently buy. Corsair pioneered this new 2-2-2 memory and even if every other memory maker eventually comes to market with a similar part, Corsair deserves praise for first seeing the potential of the new Samsung PC4000 memory and being the first to market with a new DDR400 2-2-2 product.