Mushkin XP2-8500

Verdict: Fast RAM, but unreasonable UK pricing lets this kit down.

Naming products simply and logically is a surprisingly unfashionable practice in the world of RAM, so it's refreshing when we see a product name that manages to clearly indicate what the product is.

The Mushkin XP2-8500 is rated as PC2-8500, with latency timings of 5-5-4-12. This sounds better than more common 5-5-5-15 timings, although, in practice, it's the first number in this sequence, the CAS latency, that has the most effect on performance. The sticker on the side of the DIMMs, which states the high 2.35V voltage requirement, suggests that this memory won't be averse to running at higher speeds though.

Raising the voltage to 2.4V proved to be fruitful, as the memory was happy running at 1,190MHz, or 1,200MHz when the timings were slackened to 6-6-6-18. This time last year, a 130MHz overclock from PC2-8500 memory would have been phenomenal but, with DDR3 creeping onto the shelves, the DDR2 memory market has reached full maturity, and with it has come great overclocking potential. Nearly every company sent us fast kits to review.

Sadly, there's also no getting away from the price of the Mushkin memory though. In the USA, 2GB of Mushkin PC2-8500 RAM is available for $130, or roughly £65 at current exchange rates. Therefore, £190.36 is an unreasonable price for RAM that's outperformed by cheaper kits.