Corsair Memory unveiled its latest developments in high performance module design, Dual-path Heat Xchange (DHX) technology.

The technology will be available in the latest memory product line from Corsair also launched today, the DHX XMS2 DOMINATOR Series. The advances provided by DHX enable the world?s first PC2-8888 C4 (1111MHz at CAS Latency 4) speed rating on a production pair of 1 GByte modules.

The DHX XMS2 DOMINATOR PC2-8888 C4 module will also feature a Corsair DOMINATOR Airflow fan that provides increased air circulation through the module heat sink. To complement the launch of the PC2-8888 module Corsair will also offer a lower cost PC2-8500 C5 module for customers who want the added features of DHX without requiring the additional speed boost provided by the PC2-8888 C4 solution.

Dual-path Heat Xchange (DHX) is a patent pending heat sink technology that substantially increases the memory module?s thermal dissipation so that the heat generated by the RAM cells can be more efficiently removed from the module. RAMs that run at lower temperatures enjoy improved performance and extended reliability.



Since traditional heat spreaders are only attached to the back surface of the memory packages there is no direct thermal path for the heat coming from the surface of the RAMs to escape through. The new Dual-Path Heat Xchange (DHX) technology developed by Corsair engineers uses two paths for the heat to escape from a memory device.

The first path is through the leads of the BGA chips into the printed circuit board (PCB). When BGA devices are soldered on to a memory module, an all-metal thermal path is created from the surface of the RAM to the copper ground plane of the PCB. This thermal path provides very efficient heat removal.

In order to maximize the performance of this thermal path, a special PCB was constructed. The height of this PCB was extended to allow installation of a dedicated heat sink. This heat sink is used to dissipate the heat generated by the RAMs on the module which has been conducted into the copper ground plane of the PCB.

The second, more typical thermal path is through the back of the BGA packages and into high-performance extruded aluminum heat sinks. Overall, the module has four heat sinks, two connected to the RAMs and two connected to the PCB. These heat sinks were designed specifically for the personal computing environment, with fins oriented both in latitudinal and longitudinal orientation to take advantage of air provided by CPU fans as well as case fans.

The thermal design of the DOMINATOR module is optimized for the use of impinging airflow. Forced air from directly above the module can be used to further enhance the performance of the module. Corsair has developed a DOMINATOR Airflow fan which is designed to be matched with the DOMINATOR heat sinks and allow even more heat to be removed from the DHX XMS2 DOMINATOR modules. This fan unit contains three 40mm tachometer-controlled fans to provide impinging airflow to the memory subsystem. The moderate RPMs required to provide adequate forced air mean the DOMINATOR Airflow fan is nearly silent.

The DOMINATOR heat sink assemblies using DHX technology, with the addition of DOMINATOR Airflow, allows Corsair to guarantee module reliability at over 2.5 volts (2.4 volts, +/- 5%). The combination of this extended voltage and reduced operating temperature allows Corsair to offer modules guaranteed to perform at PC2-8888, or 1,111 MHz, at CAS 4 settings.

As with all other new Corsair XMS modules, the DHX XMS2 DOMINATOR modules are also shipped with Enhanced Performance Profiles (EPP), the new open standard for the Serial Presence Detect (SPD) jointly developed by NVIDIA and Corsair.

The new DHX XMS2 DOMINATOR Series and the DOMINATOR Airflow accessory will be available at retailers by the first week of September. Expected retail prices for these modules are from $600-$650 for the TWIN2X2048-8888C4DF and $380-$400 for the TWIN2X2048-8500C5D. The DOMINATOR Airflow is expected to retail for under $25.00.