Price to performance ratio is an overhead taken into account during all phases of computer construction. The all-mighty budget rules each and every decision made during the planning and purchasing phases. While trade-offs can be made to keep the overall price down, there are components that can be cut too deeply -- The Big Three! Graphics cards, Processors and Memory modules collectively dictate how well the system will perform. PC Gamers have the biggest disadvantage (relating to how much money will be spent) because everything we put in the box has to be absolutely top notch. Two words folks; Frame Rates! Benchmark scores are based on them, arguments have been caused by them, and numerous web pages are dedicated to them!

     Overclocking has progressed from a black science to a mainstream art form. Many first time system builders are even buying components based upon their ability to overclock. While it may be true that a single overclock to one system component only brings marginal performance gains, overclocking all of The Big Three simultaneously can seriously reap the whirlwind.

     While bus speed may be the most important consideration when purchasing memory, there are other timings that also have their own affect on system performance.

     Corsair "Extreme Memory Speed" memory modules hit your PC like a bottle of Viagra. XMS3200-C2 RAM is factory certified to run on a 200MHZ bus with a CAS latency of 2, 1T command rate, and 3T timings on the Precharge and RAS-CAS delay. These timings can be set very aggressively on a 166MHZ bus at CAS:2 and 2T Precharge and RAS-CAS delay. 512 Megabytes packaged on a 6ns -  32M x 8 DDR SDRAMS  Dual Inline Memory Module. The memory is integrated with an aluminum heat spreader, either black or platinum colored. Though some companies are trimming down their warranties, Corsair still offers a lifetime warranty on their XMS memory modules.

     Official support for the DDR-400 (PC-3200) memory standard remains sketchy.  While JEDEC has not made any solid decisions to accept PC-3200 as an industry standard, many motherboard manufactures have teamed with chipset architects VIA and SiS to produce mainboards that utilize a DDR-400 memory bus. Being named as PC-3200 confirms that JEDEC has recognized the technology and require that the memory be referred to by its Maximum Available Bandwidth (3.2Gigs/Sec) rather than its bus speed. While all of this may seem like good news, there are still flies in the ointment.

     To obtain these aggressive timings and high memory bus speed, motherboard manufactures have had to make concessions. The most pronounced being the number of modules you can run on the bus at one time, with one being the magic number. With most motherboards, running two memory modules limits your memory bus speed to DDR-333 (PC-2700.)  While this flurry of numbers is sure to be confusing, it all comes at the swing of an era as DDR-II is poised to make its release.