128MB Mushkin High Performance REV3 PC133 SDRAM

Most of us know that Mushkin memory are considered to be one the best that’s available out there in the market today. As with all high quality products we were most eager to find out how well these modules performed. To do this we used SiSoft Sandra 2001 and 3D Mark 2000. We plan on updating the review once 3D Mark 2001 is eventually released. So before we go onto the actual tests here’s the test system we used for the benchmarks.

In order to test the comparative advantage of these modules, we decided to compare Mushkin’s High performance RAM modules with a Generic PC-133 module, one that you’re most likely to find out there in the market.

So up with the SisSoft Sandra scores.

Initially we decided to go with CAS 3 settings.

As the results show, the Mushkin RAM boasts almost a 15% lead even where its full potential is not utilized. The modules are rated CAS 2 at 133MHz, so lets checkout what an improvement we get.

Okay so let the results speak for themselves. Almost a 26% increase in comparison to the standard PC 133 module tells us that Mushkin’s high performance RAM are truly geared for “High Performance”

Noticing the potential of these high performance modules, we decided to tweak the system a bit more and see how well these modules will stand up to it. Our main goal was to achieve around a FSB of 143MHz. Since the generic RAM we used could not stand up to this test, only the results of the Mushkin RAM is shown.

At first I thought I was seeing things, so I decided to retest it. Same result. Performed it again and this time was sure I was not seeing things. The astounding factor is that the modules perform at this high FSB at CAS 2. Never did the system show any signs of stress. Mind you people, we were able to run Quake III and 3D Mark many times round without the system ever crashing. Like I said before, Mushkin’s High Performance RAM are hand picked for their quality, which ensures this incredible stability even at high FSB’s. I’m sure they could do more, and we’ll be posting these results at the time we update this review with the 3D Mark 2001 results. We plan on beating the 150MHz mark, so we’ll keep you posted once we actually perform the tests.

At the time of testing the memory frequencies for both modules were set at 2:2:2. We cannot see a drastic contrast between the two modules here, however Mushkin still has a clear lead.

The results never seem to comedown do they? A 5% increase is observed between 133Mhz to 143MHz, which isn’t much to talk about, yet worth noting.

Here the tests were done continuously for many times, before we actually obtained the final result. In real world tests such as the above, Mushkin again takes the lead, even though by a small margin. What matters to most gamers are these results, so obtaining a 55 FPS is pretty good indeed.

Not much to say here either. The increase in FPS in minimal.