Review: PC2700 revisited

by Tarinder Sandhu on 19 March 2003, 00:00

Tags: Corsair

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TwinMOS PC2700 CL2

Let's have a look at the modules we're investigating today. Firstly, the TwinMOS offering.

256MB of unbuffered 2.5v SDRAM DDR on a single side. If you keep up with system memory, you'll know that Samsung PC2700 CTL RAM caused quite a stir last year by running at DDR-400 speeds with ease, often with ludicrously tight timings. 8 TwinMOS-branded 32M chips line the top side. 6ns modules are used to get us to the requisite PC2700 speeds.

The label reveals that this is TwinMOS CL2 RAM. Without bogging you down in technical details, one of the largest increases in system memory's performance comes when you can lower the Column Address Strobe (CAS) latency down from the standard 2.5 to 2 clocks. By lowering the time it takes for the memory to deliver data to the CPU should increase performance in memory-dependant applications. Other timings do have an impact on DDR's performance, but it's widely accepted that a CL2 is one of the key drivers of DDR RAM performance.

Specifications

  • 256MB of unbuffered SDRAM PC2700 (DDR-333) DDR RAM

  • 8 x 32M TSOP chips on one side

  • 2-7-3-3 timings

  • 6ns modules

  • Modules on a single side, hence double the density of the Crucial's chips

  • 184-pin