Mushkin Redline XP4000: Winbond with Voltage Be Damned

OCZ started it all with their VX series memory. Combine Winbond die chips with voltages of up to 3.6V and you can likely reach over DDR500 at the fastest 2-2-2 timings. That grew into a successful line of OCZ VX memory that ranges from Value VX to a VX rated at DDR 500 2-2-2. Value VX impressed us with bang for the buck in our Value RAM roundup, and DDR500 2-2-2 VX is the fastest memory (in terms of bandwidth) that we have tested on the AMD Athlon 64 platform.

Now, Mushkin has introduced their own Winbond chip memory designed for high voltage and DDR500 2-2-2 performance. It's a natural fit for Mushkin, given their long working relationship with Winbond. It was only a matter of time until Mushkin managed to put together memory that could give the OCZ VX a run for the money.

Whoever at Mushkin came up with the Redline name should be congratulated. It's nice to see a memory with a catchy name instead of confusing model numbers with even more confusing naming schemes. Even the bright red heatspreader "says" Redline. But in the end, buyers grab the high voltage memory and a DFI nForce4 (or OCZ DDR Booster) for the performance. So, how does Mushkin Redline stack up in the all-important performance area?