“As memory may be a paradise from which we cannot be driven, it may also be a hell from which we cannot escape.” –John Lancaster Spalding, Aphorisms and Reflections. In computer terms, simply put, choosing the right brand and model of memory will mean all the difference between bliss and agony in the daily life of ones personal computing. Brand X may sound nice and the price tag may be pretty inviting compared to other like brands, but will it live up to your expectations or leave you with an ever growing list of “colorful metaphors” to throw at the computer when it Blue Screens for the twentieth time?

Nowadays, memory and all of its buzzwords can be just as confusing to the average consumer, if not more so, than many of the common PC terminologies. You’ll hear things like Dual Channel, PC3200 this, PC4000 that, CAS latency, and cryptic number arrays like 2-3-3-6 that one can only guess heralded from the days of WWII and the old Enigma machines. Due to the common use of all these buzzwords amongst all the various manufacturers, how does one go about setting themselves apart from the others when your product sounds nearly identical to all the other Dick and Jane’s in the market?

Well, you could go the road that Corsair decided to travel by taking their already successful PC4000 XMS line of memory modules and give them a new suit to hit the town with. Being that case modding is an entire industry in and of itself, what better way is there to stand out than come up with something that’ll be sure to strike a nerve with the community?

To that end, Corsair devised a new memory heat spreader that not only has an increased surface area for better heat dissipation, but also adds an array of LEDs that show activity within the modules themselves, giving a throwback to the old days of Night Rider. So is it just all lights and glitter or is there still a powerful beast within that has merely been given a makeover to help differentiate it in a crowding market of plain Jane’s? We’ll put it through the paces and see just how well it performs at all levels of speed from your standard 200Mhz FSB up to Corsair’s official rating of 250Mhz and beyond…we hope.