Unreal Tournament 2003 - Pentium 4 @ 12x233

Unreal Tournament 2003 - Pentium 4 @ 12x250

If you read VL's TWINX1024-4000 review, you'll see that the 250+ FSB results do place that kit on a whole other level. Clock speeds being equal though, like the other benchmarks, both kits perform within percentage points of each other.

Final Words

You're probably wondering to yourself why would you spring for PC4000 ram when PC3700 ram performs at nearly the same levels? I kind of asked myself that question also, when I realized that sometimes, 250FSB isn't good enough. PC4000 can go higher, so if you're the aggressive type, look into that.

A concern I have is the amount of heat generated by the modules at stock speeds, which naturally can have a negative effect when trying to push the ram beyond that. Even at PC3200 speeds, the ram was warmer to the touch than my Kingston HyperX PC3500 modules.

Compatibility-wise, the TWINX PC3700 worked out of the box in the ABIT IC7, MSI K7N2G-ILSR, and our ABIT NF7-S Rev. 2.0. However, I was only able to get to 250FSB on the IC7 board. On both nForce 2 boards, I had some problems running 1:1 past 233FSB, which is the ram's rated speed. In my opinion, for nForce 2 setups, I think you're better off with the TWINX PC3200, which debuted with the nForce 2.

One thing to keep in mind is that any motherboard worth it's grain in salt will allow you to to run async. For example, at 250FSB, if you stick with 5:4, your ram is stuck at 200FSB. Maybe your PC3200 ram can go higher, but faster rated ram like the kit we reviewed today will give you more headroom.

The ram was rock solid throughout testing. Only problems we've had was when pushing the ram beyond spec... way beyond spec. The TWINX PC3700 is built for overclocking, and unless your needs are extreme, this kit should fit the bill.

Pros: Good performance.

Cons: Cheaper than PC4000, but still expensive. Getting past 250FSB is difficult.

Bottom Line: So where does this leave the TWINX PC3700? Well, first of all, the kit is a good 100$ USD cheaper than the PC4000 version of the kit. I suppose if post-250FSB isn't a concern, you should give this ram a good look.

If you got any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.

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