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Test Setup

For this review, we started out with the best performing Intel 975X motherboard we had in house, our excellent Asus P5W DH, and paired it with an Intel Quad Core QX6700. When we had problems making the Mushkin XP2-9200 run at PC2-9200, Mushkin suggested we try the Asus P5B-E ... and we did, with an E6400. The first set of Mushkin XP2-9200's would not meet spec on the P5B - but after we informed Mushkin of this, they sent us another pair, which as you will see not only meet, but beat spec on the P5B-E.

We also tried the Mushkin XP2-9200 on the Gigabyte 6 Quad N680SLI-DQ6 where the memory was not only able to run at spec - but noticeably exceed it.

We will be comparing the Mushkin XP2-9200's with some of the best modules out there - like the OCZ FLEX XLC memory modules we reviewed a few weeks ago, and Corsair extreme memory, the power house Dominator PC2-8888 which we reviewed last month. Needless to say, this should prove extremely interesting, interesting indeed.

Benchmarks

Software used during testing consisted of the following:

• Windows XP Professional
• NVIDIA ForceWare 93.71 graphics drivers 
• RightMark Memory Analyzer
• SiSoft Sandra 2007
• WinRAR
• Doom 3

In order to keep the testing as fair as possible, we will use the following test platform:

• Intel Core 2 Quad QX6700 (Kentsfield) 2.66GHZ 1066MHZ FSB 8MB L2
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (Kentsfield)
• Asus P5W DH Deluxe motherboard
• Asus P5B-E Deluxe motherboard
• Gigabyte 6-Quad N680SLI-DQ6
• Asus P5N32-E SLI motherboard (review soon to be published)
• Corsair XMS2 "Dominator" PC2-8888 memory
• Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC2-8000
• Corsair PC2-8500 memory
• SuperTalent low latency PC-6400 2GB kit
• OCZ PC-8888 memory
• XFX GeForce 7800 GT

As normal, we'll discuss our overclocking adventures at the end of the article. However, in the results you'll see in the following pages we include overclocked benchmarks to show you what gains you might get if you also achieved similar overclocks - our test systems were all stable at the settings shown with air cooling. The chart labels incorporate a lot of information about the test configuration. The first line shows the socket type and the model of the processor. Since all the processors shown are dual core devices, we did not specify that on the charts.

The second line shows the "FSB/HT clock rate" x "CPU multiplier"  and the effective DDR memory speed. Please note that all DDR2 tests were run at 4-4-4-12 timings where possible.

Methodology

As usual, I will be concentrating on seeing how far I can push the Mushkin XP2-9200 memory compared to these other  DIMM's - how fast can they go with the stock timings, and our favorite 4-4-4-12 timing?

Ok, enough talking... let's get on with the testing!