Test System

     Today I'll be using two different test systems. Test system #1 is based on the ABIT NF7-S nForce2 motherboard. This system is complimented by an AMD Athlon XP 2700+ processor and an ABIT Ti4200-8x video card. This system is also running SATA RAID with a pair of WD Special Edition 80gb hard drives with SATA converter cards.

     Test system #2 is equipped with the ABIT KX7-333R motherboard based on the VIA KT333 chipset. This system doesn't have quite the power house CPU as the first system does, but the unlocked AMD Athlon XP2200+ will still work nicely. This system will be using a single IBM 60gb hard drive. The video card will be an older GeForce3 64mb.

     As of the date of this review, all the latest drivers and bios updates were used when testing the memory. The latest version of SiSoft Sandra will be used to benchmark the memory as well. Okay, let's test Corsair's new TWINX memory kit and see what it can do!

nForce2 Dual Module Tests

Test System #1
166MHz FSB
Turbo Memory Timings

Test System #1
166MHz FSB / 180MHz FSB / 190MHz FSB
Turbo Memory Timings

     This is the first opportunity I've had to play around with an nForce2 motherboard, and I have to say that I have mixed feelings about the nForce2 so far. As for this ABIT board, the dual channel memory scores are outstanding! However, you notice I stopped overclocking at 190MHz FSB. Even at 190MHz, I really had to play with voltage settings to get it stable. But even then, I wouldn't call it "100% stable". The good news is, the memory is not at fault as you will see later on in the review. Now let's take a look at the memory scores with just one stick of Corsair XMS memory.