A closer look
A 1GByte TwinX Matched Memory Pair of Corsair XMS4000 ProSeries RAM. Quite a mouthful, isn't it ?. What you see is two sticks of RAM, encased in oversized aluminium heatsinks. We've seen this speed of memory before, and a look at the specifications informs us that it runs with the same 3-4-4-8 latencies as the standard TwinX XMS4000 set we reviewed a short while ago. Call this the best gimmick of the year, or call it a useful extra, Corsair has decided to wow the modding and enthusiast crowd with, wait for it, LEDs built into the heatspreader, ones that show current RAM usage on each bank. Let's find out more.
The green holographic stickers are a very acquired taste, and I'm sure that we've not quite acquired it yet. The large, oversized heatsinks are a talking point in themselves. Faster RAM has seen the use of elevated operating voltages. Whereas 2.5v was standard voltage just a few months' ago, manufacturers are often stipulating 2.7v or 2.8v for DDR466+ RAM. Add the RAM's fast speed to its increased voltage, and you have the recipe for oodles of extra heat. Like CPU heatsinks, the ProSeries' has a large surface area and a number of fins. These help to increase the overall cooling area available to the modules. The heatsinks are then mounted on to the RAM via an adhesive that's a little tricky to remove. Removing it, Corsair say, will invalidate your warranty. We were eager to find out if Corsair used the same Hynix 5ns chips (DDR400 speeds, natively) as on the standard TwinX XMS4000 set.
Please note that the heatspreader was removed after testing had been completed, so as not to influence the results in any way. shape or form. The heatspreader was very carefully prised off with a screwdriver. We recommend that you do not do this personally. Note the cast aluminium heatspreader is a little different from most. It's larger, heavier and more robust-looking than most we've seen.
The modules' LED activity is shown here. There are 9 LEDs on each side, making 18 in total. The LEDs' job is to show just how much RAM access is taking place at any one time. A novel touch or a gimmick, you decide.