OCC has published a new review on the Mushkin Ascent XP3 16000 2 x 1 GB

Having to test modules rated for 1000 MHz (2000 MHz effective) presents some unique challenges. First of all, you need a board that can push 1000 MHz+ on the northbridge. Second, you need a chip that can run speeds of 500+ MHz to run 1:1 when testing. Well, we have the next best thing. Since my poor Q9450 just won't let me play in the 500 MHZ range, I had to look at the alternatives. The modules are designed to run on an nVidia 790i SLI chipset based motherboard, so thats what I did. Because of FSB holes, or a poor divider, I was not able to gain any speed over 2000 MHz at the rated latencies of 9-9-9-24. So instead of going higher, I decided to try and see how tight I could run the latencies. 2000 MHz at the stock volts of 1.9 to 2.0 volts and 9-9-9-24 was a cake walk. Heck, it should be. Now it got a little interesting. First up was 9-9-8-24, good so far. Then down to 9-8-8, then 8-8-8 - I thought this looked promising. After a few hours of test and repeat, latencies of 8-8-8 were a reality at 2000 MHz. Hmmm, let me push my luck at 8-7-7-24. Surprisingly, this fell after another session of test and repeat benchmarking. "Can there be more?" I asked. Well, yes there was. CAS 7 was a no go at 2000 MHz, but 8-7-6-24 was good. However, it would lock up randomly in a few tests. With the voltage adjustments I had been successful with, they still would not allow it to happen. So, I figured I'd start low-balling the voltage to the DIMMs, and ended up at 1.82 volts for my game and benchmark stability.

Mushkin Ascent XP3 16000 2 x 1 GB Review