TargetPC :: Mushkin PC133 CAS3 vs. PC100 CAS2

*FSB (MHz)*	*Proc. Speed*	*Stable?*
99	644	PC100, PC133
100	650	PC100, PC133
123	806	PC100, PC133
133	866	PC100, PC133
137	891	PC100, PC133

CAS2 Test Results

*FSB (MHz)*	*Proc. Speed*	*Stable?*
99	644	PC100, PC133
100	650	PC100
123	806	PC100
133	866	None
137	891	None

Performance Difference

Using SiSoft Sandra 2000 Professional, the performance increase at 100 MHz FSB is measured at over 15%. This could translate into a 15% boost for those applications that are specifically memory intensive such as various voice recognition programs and other non 3D FPU tasks. There is a small boost for 3D gaming, but the gain is cut to around 5-8% and is highly game dependent.

CAS3 100MHz FSB Speed

CAS2 100MHz FSB Speed

Conclusion

If performance drives you to get up in the morning, then by all means get all RAM with the CAS2 rating. It's worthy to note that for overclocked FSB's up to 123 MHz, the PC100 CAS2 strip will achieve the best performance. At FSB's beyond 123 MHz, both strips performed equally at the slower CAS3 setting. The bottom line is that you get what you pay for and Mushkin RAM is very good indeed.