 Decent, but not extraordinary Strengths: Reasonable price, nice heat spreaders
Weaknesses: Don't buy the specs
Summary: Corsair makes good memory modules and has a good reputation, but let's be frank. These, just like Crucial Ballistix modules, aren't what they appear to be.
These are not 4-4-4-12 modules. They're 5-5-5-15 and are programmed as such in the serial presence detect (SPD) EEPROM. Unless you are willing to tork around with memory timing and voltage, they'll run like any other decent PC2-5300 memory module, only they'll look slicker in the process.
I'll give credit to Corsair, though. Their spec sheet for these modules does say "SPD programmed at JEDEC standard
5-5-5-15 values". This is a step up from Crucial who doesn't even bother telling you what's programmed into their SPDs.
OTOH, I can't say that I'm impressed by this statement on their same spec sheet: "100% tested at 675MHz in high
performance DDR2 motherboards".
What a joke! I work in the semiconductor industry, and we don't test products this way. We actually measure timing parameters to make sure our chips meet the specs we publish. Our customers wouldn't buy chips that we claim are tested in some kind of a motherboard. Given what test cost actually add to a product, I doubt Corsair's "100% tested" claim amounts to jack squat in terms of reliability or performance.
So, reasonable performance if you run them at spec. Looks nice and can be had for a decent price after rebate. But other than this, you're better off buying the standard line products from Kingston or Crucial if you don't want to deal with rebates, because these Corsair modules don't bring anything special to the party apart from looks.
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