Appearance and thoughts
Mushkin has always had a particular way of doing things.
A case in point is what care and attention Mushkin has to packaging. The modules are enclosed within an air-filled bag that's deflated by pulling out the black stopper on the top-right side. This way, it's almost impossible to damage the modules whilst in transit. The air pressure exerted on both sides ensures that modules are locked firmly in position. Incidentally, the bag is also re-usable, should you wish to send the modules on, and I reckon it also adds a touch of class. Silly fun can be had by putting your hand inside the deflated bag and blowing up.
Premium memory simply isn't premium enough if it ships without cool-looking heatspreaders, is it?. There is, of course, a valid technical reason for having them on memory that's likely to be used at up to 3v. Aluminium 'spreaders should take care of any localised hotspots that are generated by the chips underneath and radiate it away to other parts of your case. Mushkin reckons the modules' voltage ranges from 2.5v-2.8v, but I can see many enthusiasts trying their hand with a toasty 3v+. Strangely, Mushkin doesn't state the associated timings on the labels. I'd be using extra-large print to advertise the 2-2-2-5 timings on this particular pair.
More of the same on the back. Jet black 'spreaders have become synonymous with Mushkin's enthusiast-orientated line but we've also seen them ship with a purple anodised finish. There's absolutely no difference in specification; just make sure it's LII V2 that you're purchasing.
The company uses a custom 6-layer PCB to maximise signal integrity throughout the modules. Our 2x512MB sticks featured 16 256MBit chips, with 8 on both sides.