techPowerUp! Forums - TwinMOS Speed Premium PC3200

Introduction

The TwinMOS Speed Premium PC3200 memory modules are geared towards the casual overclocker, who wants to get more out of his PC. Those modules are built using TwinMOS/TwinMOS PC3200 chips which have been selected to allow overclocking to DDR450 without any previous experience in overclocking. While the tests are performed at TwinMOS, the price does not increase.

Official Press Release

Quote:

Though this model is labeled DDR400, it has outperformed standard DDR400 modules. Moreover, all overclocking settings have been completed before shipping, so users can easily enhance the speed to nearly 450MHz without operating complicated BIOS setup. Most importantly, Speed Premium DDR400 is compatible with most motherboards on the market. Currently this series offers both 256MB and 512MB memory capacity. In addition to using matched dies of the latest wafer process technology, advanced ADVAN-TEST T5585/T5593 also have been applied to all modules before shipping to ensure their stability and compatibility is superior to products of the same category from other manufacturers.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...ide_small2.jpg

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...ide_small2.jpg
The PCB is made by Brainpower and has Revision No. B6U808

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...Chip_small.jpg
The chips are PowerChip TSOP, rated by Twinmos for 4.4 ns. That is why every module should be able to run 227 Mhz (1000/4.4).

Specifications

Double Data Rate architecture
MRS cycle with address key programs
- CAS latency: CL2, 2.5
- Burst length: 2, 4, 8
- Burst type: Sequential & Interleave
2 variations of refresh
- Auto refresh
- Self refresh
Serial Presence Detect support
2 Banks to be operated simultaneously or independently
Package: TSOP
184 edge connector pads
Clock frequency: 133/ 166/ 200 (2.5-3-3-X) MHz
SSTL-2 interface: 2.6 Voltage +/- 0.2v

Test System

AMD Athlon-FX53 (max: 2.9 GHz)
MSI K8N Neo2 (Bios 1.5b1 - max HTT: 345 MHz) (nForce 3 Ultra, DualChannel)
X800 XT PE
Antec 550 W PSU

Overclocking

After some testing we could reach 202 MHz @ 2-3-3-X-1T and 227 Mhz @ 2.5-3-3-X-1T, completely stable. So the memory is able to reach the advertised DDR450 speeds, but not much more. Increasing voltage from 2.6 V up to 3.6 V did not yield any higher overclock. Reducing the timings to 3-4-4-X-2T did not help either.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...erclocking.jpg

Testing

The first thing we noticed was that the memory has absolutely no problems running at a command rate of 1T. Value memory often can't run at 1T and requires a command rate reduction to 2T, resulting in a loss of about ~200-300 MB/s.
Now the benchmarks:

SiSoft Sandra 2005 Memory Bandwith
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...testsandra.jpg

<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3">
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">RAM Timings</th>
<td>Int (MB/s) </td>
<td>Float (MB/s)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">200MHz at 2.5-3-3-7-1</th>
<td>6029</td>
<td>5986</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">200MHz at 2-3-3-7-1T</th>
<td>6046</td>
<td>6000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">202MHz at 2-3-3-7-1T</th>
<td>6094</td>
<td>6047</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">227MHz at 2.5-3-3-7-1T</th>
<td>6827</td>
<td>6775</td>
</tr>
</table>

Everest Memory Latency
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...esteverest.jpg

<table class="resulttable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3">
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">RAM Timings</th>
<td>ns </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">200MHz at 2.5-3-3-7-1</th>
<td>55.3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">200MHz at 2-3-3-7-1T</th>
<td>53.7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">202MHz at 2-3-3-7-1T</th>
<td>53.2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">227MHz at 2.5-3-3-7-1T</th>
<td>48.9</td>
</tr>
</table>

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...locking202.jpg
202MHz @2-3-3-7-1T

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/T...g227_small.jpg
227MHz @2.5-3-3-7-1T (click the image for big version)

Conclusion

First of all, we would like to thank TwinMOS Germany for letting us test their memory modules.

TwinMos' Speed Premium PC3200 memory modules are targeted at value oriented users who want to overclock some, without losing their warranty. The only thing TwinMOS should have added are heatspreaders to protect the tiny resistors etc, it is quite possible to rip off one from a memory module's PCB.
Build quality of the modules is good, thanks to the Brainpower PCB and there are no compatibility issues, even on Socket939 (which is the most challenging platform for memory).

<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>

256 MB for ~40 USD and 512 MB for ~80 USD

</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>

Can run 1T command rate on S939
Cheap
Good quality
Great compatibility

</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>

Not much overclocking headroom
Looks

</td></tr>
<tr><th>7.0</th>
<td>A solid alternative to cheap CL 2.5 memories like MDT, Infineon, Kingston ValueRAM, and others which belong to the same performance category.
Good memory for every standard PC, not enough overclocking headroom for serious overclocking.</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td> </td></tr>
</table>