Mushkin Ascent XP2 8500 4GB DDR2 Evaluation
Mushkin has been a leading name in high-performance memory for some time now and have been putting out products to warm even the pickiest enthusiast’s heart. Their latest release, the Ascent series, is no exception to their running tradition of quality, high-performance products.
We have had the chance to play around with a 4GB XP2-8500 5-5-5 Ascent series RAM.
So let’s find out if you really do get more with Mushkin.
Product: Mushkin Ascent XP2-8500 DDR2 1066 4GB Kit (2x2GB)
Author: Sean Kalinich
Reviewed on: August 30th 2008
Product cost: $139.99 (at Newegg.com)
Manufacturer: Mushkin
Spelling and Grammatical editor: Planetx64 Staff
{mospagebreak title=Packaging and Accessories}
Packaging and Accessories:
Not since GiEL have I been impressed with the packaging a kit of RAM came in. It seems that most RAM manufacturers are happy with low cost and flimsy packaging. Now you would think that with the reduction in cost on the cheap wrapper we would get a reduction in cost on the RAM itself. That is usually not the case. Mushkin has decided to break from that tradition. The XP2-8500 kit arrived in box about the size of a DVD case. There was a stylish black slip cover that displayed the Mushkin name and the catch phrase “With Mushkin you get More”.
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They are right, slipping off the cover I found that this kit of RAM also ships with 3DMark Vantage Advanced edition. This is the first time I have seen RAM with a bundle.
The RAM itself was also impressive with hefty black heat-spreaders adding to the classy look.
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{mospagebreak title=Specification}
Specifications:
According to Mushkin’s website the XP2-8500 has the following specifications:
DDR2 – 1066
Latency 5-5-5-15 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)
240 Pin
Unbuffered
Voltage 2.0-2.1v
Dual-bank 256Mx64
Chip Density 128Mx8
Mushkin also uses a different heat spreader on the Ascent series. It is a high density aluminum heat spreader which Mushkin has dubbed eVCI (Enhanced Vapor Chamber Interface) and it adds a bit of weight to the module. This new setup also has extended fins at the top for increased cooling.
{mospagebreak title=Performance}
Performance:
RAM is a picky item to test, There is no real performance boost to be had from faster RAM like there is with a faster GPU. It is more an overall effect. Granted there are a few applications that will show a gain from speeding up your RAM. I selected a few of these and ran the Mushkin XP2-8500 at its stated speed of 1066 with default timings and then at its maximum stable overclock.
Maximum stable OC for this evaluation was the fastest I could run the XP2-8500 and complete all tests in a single run. CPU multiplier was adjusted to keep the overall CPU speed as close to the original as possible.
My Max OC turned out to be 1333 this was at 6-7-7-18 Voltage was a at 2.12 Now this was with a Quad Core CPU not overclocked, With my QX9770 OC’d to 490×8 the memory topped out at 1176MHz(5-5-5-16) at 2.12v Still neither is anything to sneeze at.
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Test System:
Intel QX9770 3.2GHz (Stepping C0)
Asus P5Q Deluxe (BIOS 0803)
4GB (2GBx2)Mushkin Ascent XP2- 8500 DDR2 1066
GIGABYTE GV-R485-512H-B ATi 4850 512MB (2x for Crossfire testing)
Western Digital RaptorX 150GB 10k RPM HDD
Plextor PATA BluRay drive.
CoolerMaster 850Watt PSU (RS-850-EMBA)
Corsair Nautilus 500
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate x64
The Tests:
FutureMark Fun:
What evaluation would be complete without a FutureMark test in it?
We threw both of the current Vantage flavors at the XP2-8500.
3DMark:
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3DMark Vantage Stock |
3DMark Vantage 1333MHz |
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No these are not the same screenshot. Something odd has happened, the GPU score when up slightly while the CPU score dropped while the XP2-8500 was at 1333. This allowed the system to produce the exact same score.
FutureMark:
Now this is more like what we are looking for, the increase to 1333MHz shows an improvement in both 32 and 64 bit test suites.
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PCMark Vantage Stock |
PCMark Vantage 1333MHz |
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32 Bit |
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HyperPi 0.99b
HyperPi is a good test of memory performance and stability.
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HyperPi Stock |
HyperPi 1333MHz |
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It looks like the increase to 1333 has really affected memory performance. We show a slowdown in HyperPi from 1066 to 1333.
Everest Ultimate:
Here we see the increase in bandwidth potential from the bump up to 1333MHz
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Everest Ultimate Stock |
Everest Ultimate 1333MHz |
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Sisoft Sandra:
Again in Sandra we see the same trend of performance gained while running the XP2-8500 at a higher speed.
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Sandra 2009 Stock |
Sandra 2009 1333MHz |
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Lightwave 3D –x64
Our overclock of the XP2-8500 yielded a performance decrease of two seconds.
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LightWave 9.3 x64 Stock |
LightWave 9.3 x64 1333MHz |
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Cinebench R10 x64
Cinebench shows a slight improvement over the stock memory.
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Cinebench R10 Stock |
Cinebench R10 1333MHz |
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AutoGK:
Here at last we see a large improvement with the 1333MHz overclock knocking roughly 6 minutes off of the encode time.
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AutoGK 2.45 Stock |
AutoGK 2.45 1333MHz |
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Photoshop:
Photoshop showed better performance with the faster RAM speed but again nothing to write home about.
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Gaming:
Gaming is not something that you will usually see any performance improvement with faster RAM unless you are talking about the jump from 800 to 1333 or 1600MHz when used with CPUs that have those FSBs. However I did want to run a couple of games and see if getting closer to the 9770s 400MHz FSB would show any improvement.
Assassin’s Creed:
Here I did not see much in the way of frame rate improvement, but there was a noticeable “feel” to the game with the XP2-8500 clocked to 1333. Level load times also seems quicker.
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BioShock:
Interestingly Bioshock shows a decent performance improvement in terms of frame rate.
Levels seemed to load faster as well and the AI seemed to respond faster.
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{mospagebreak title=Value}
Pricing and Warranty:
You can find the Ascent XP2-8500 kit around the Internet for about $140.00 ($139.99 at Newegg.com)
If you add up what you get in this package you can see that it is a pretty impressive price.
Mushkin offers a lifetime warranty on their products, for RMA and support assistance you can visit Mushkin’s support page
{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
So do you really “Get more with Mushkin”? The simple answer is yes you do. The Ascent XP2 8500 modules from Mushkin are probably the best 4GB kit I have worked with. Other 4GB kits can be very picky about voltage, heat clock, pretty much everything that the Mushkin XP2 8500 wasn’t. It is great stuff and with the extra cooling provided by the eVCI it is not going to dump a ton of extra heat into your system.
Overclocking was a mixed bag as not every application saw a performance gain from the extra speed and I could not match the memories max clock when the CPU/FSB was pushed up. Still even at just under 1200MZ the Mushkin was rock solid and performed very well. I would have no problems shelling out the $140 for this kit and can recommend it without reservation.
