Mushkin has been around since 1994, and has gained a reputation as a performance and overclocking brand. Their signature Frostbyte heatsink was developed back in 2005 and this year saw the introduction of the Ridgeback heatsink. Kits equipped with the Ridgeback heatsinks are part of the Blackline series of RAM. As such, the RAM may come labeled as either Blackline or Ridgeback.
Mushkin was kind enough to send a sample of their Blackline RAM for review. Our review sample arrived with Blackline labels and Ridgeback packaging.
…and in case you forgot what a stick of memory looks like without the package, six small screws can be removed to disassemble the heatsink.
The Ridgeback heatsink is an interesting design. The two panels contacting the RAM are held together by a ridged rail, six screws and some mildly adhesive blue thermal material. It’s also slightly taller than the memory modules, but not so much that it should interfere with other components.
Let’s see how it performs…
Specs
Mushkin DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800)
- 4GB (2x2GB)
- DRAM Ratio: 2:12 (on 133MHz BCLK)
- tCL: 6
- tRCD: 8
- tRP: 6
- tRAS: 24
The Blackline RAM contains standard SPD settings as well as XMP settings. A word of caution though: The XMP settings were correctly applied by the motherboard as far as the memory timings are concerned, but the voltage was not set properly…it was left at the board’s default 1.5V. I didn’t catch this right away because there weren’t any stability problems. It could be that all of the kits will work this way, or I may have just gotten a particularly good sample. If you have problems running with the XMP profile active, this would be the first thing to check.
Overclocking, etc
Testing does show that latency just doesn’t matter much outside of synthetic benchmarks. This is because the speed gains from overclocking offset any losses incurred from higher latency. In other words, relax the timings a bit and go for higher clock speeds for best results.
In the ECS P55H-AK review, I was able to push the BLCK to 150MHz using the Blackline’s XMP profile resulting in a clock speed of 900MHz, or DDR3-1800 with timings of 6-8-6-24 at stock voltage. This time much beter results were obtained—the BCLK was pushed to 178 MHz for a speed equivalent of DDR3-2133 on timings of 10-11-11-27.
Again, this kit ran through most of the benchmarks at its rated timings at the motherboard’s default voltage of 1.5V. I say most of them not because anything failed; once the mistake was caught, the voltage was raised to its recommended 1.65V and the tests were re-run. The results didn’t change from the voltage bump, so if you’re looking for an energy efficient system such as an HTPC, you might consider the Blackline RAM as well.
Core i3/i5 users should also be aware that running DDR3-1600 RAM could be problematic. The memory controllers on those CPUs do not support the DRAM ratio of 2:12 required for DDR3-1600 speeds, meaning a minimum BLCK of 160MHz to achieve those speeds.
Benchmarking
The setup:
- Intel Core i7 870
- Noctua NH-14 heatsink
- ECS P55H-AK Black motherboard
- Mushkin Blackline 4GB DDR3-1600 RAM (6-8-6-24 1.65V)
- Mushkin Blackline 4GB OC DDR3-2133 (10-11-11-27 1.65V)
- Corsair XMS-3 4GB DDR3-1600 RAM (9-9-9-24 1.8V)
- Radeon 4850
- WD Caviar Blue 320GB HD
Each test was run three times. The scores you see here are the average of those runs.
The individual tests for PCMark Vantage shows a virtual tie between the Mushkin and Corsair RAM when clocked normally. The music suite is the only oddity here, and it may be a bit more latency sensitive than the other tests. Overclocking does put the Mushkin kit definitively ahead in the gaming suite and further increases its lead in the music suite, but everything else is still too close to call.
Mushkin holds a slight advantage in bandwidth. The latency does help a bit, but not enough to make a big difference. Overclocked, on the other hand, provides a 20% boost in bandwidth over stock speeds. Not bad at all.
Latency is exactly as expected. The tighter timings of the Blackline are clearly visible.
H.264 encoding is a draw. Video encoding just isn’t helped noticeably by faster RAM or lower latency; it’s bound by CPU speed.
MP3 encoding takes advantage of the extra speed overclocking provides, but not enough to make a real difference.
Gaming, like video encoding, is a virtual tie except for the Enthusiast mode where frame rates are so low you wouldn’t want to play to begin with.
Conclusions
When it comes to overclocking, the important thing to remember is that memory isn’t what will get the big numbers, but it can be a deciding factor in how well your system overclocks. If your memory is unable to reach high clock speeds, your system’s potential will be limited. On the other hand, a good RAM kit will go a long way in squeezing every drop of performance out of your system.
The Mushkin Blackline is a great kit. It’s designed from the ground up for gaming and overclocking, and it does both incredibly well. Even better is the potential to run its rated timings below the recommended voltage. Its current price of $119 puts it right in line with other kits of identical specs. The only caution warranted with this memory is making sure there is enough clearance with your heatsink; it is slightly taller than normal, but the gigantic Noctua NH-D14 heatsink that was used had no clearance issues. I have no problem recommending this kit, and it is certainly deserving of the Icrontic Stamp of Approval.
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