Mushkin Blacklines
Today I've got a kit of Mushkin's Blackline performance DDR3 modules. Mushkin is based out of Denver, Colorado and have quite the product portfolio. They also happen to be fully employee-owned, which is something nice to see in this day and age. It appears everyone who has reviewed Mushkin memory has noted the employee-owned bit and for good reason, employee-owned companies have been shown to have increased both efficiency and overall production. Anyways, I have clearly been living underneath a rock for a decade and plan on seeing if all this yields memory modules worth their background.
If you are like me and unfamiliar with the Mushkin product line here is a short primer. First up are the Redline modules which are their top-bin kits currently featuring their Ascent heatsinks. The next tier is their Blackline modules, which we have here today in their FrostByte heatsinks. The last performance tier is their Silverline modules in the Stiletto heatsinks.
Today I'll be reviewing the 996782 DDR3-1600 Blackline 2x2GB with 7-9-7-24 timings that is listed under part number 996782. While the timings and frequency are a bit lower than what I'm used to, I still expect good things out of this kit given how well P55 overclocks memory. Priced at $129.99 shipped ($110 with MIR), these Mushkin Blackline modules match up nicely with my Kingston DDR3-1600 HyperX 2x2gb kit with 8-8-8-24 timings which are priced at $135. The $100 to $130 price bracket is currently the sweet spot for 2x2GB DDR3 kits so it takes a good bit of effort to stand out from the crowd. Let's see if these Mushkin Blackline modules are more than a docile set of 1600C7 modules.
I almost forgot, the obligatory packaging shot! I apologize for the finger marks all over the packaging. In my rush to play with these sticks I forgot to take pictures prior to opening them and it seems short of a miracle I end up with fingerprints and dust on the plastic. Not that the packaging matters too much in the grand scheme of things, it just needs to survive a few kicks and tosses from your local UPS/Fedex/USPS driver.
