We don’t need to discuss the state of DDR any further, as we have already published an informative CES 2005 Special Report that details the standard and its future directly from the manufacturers. Briefly, however, don’t expect anything exciting from DDR in the near future; at least not until something miraculous happens, like the introduction of Samsung TCCD low-latency chips that revolutionized DDR400 on a completely different level. And since, DDR2 is gradually picking up, manufacturers need something to consistently offer to the DDR enthusiasts. DDR is still a solid a standard and will be for quite some time, so the research and development must continue.

Corsair, being one of the innovative manufacturers in the industry, introduced their XPERT memory modules at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year. They weren’t going to announce them this early, but considering that they would get a lot of attention there, they decided to officially launch them, nonetheless. And quite honestly, it was a brilliant strategy, since many manufacturers didn’t have anything exciting to show, as far as their DDR product lines were concerned.

The XPERT memory modules will be under a new product line, XMS XPERT. It will co-exist with the regular XMS and XL product lines for the time being. While Corsair only has plans to offer DDR400, low-latency modules under the XPERT product range, it is possible that you might see higher clocked modules from Corsair under the same brand at a later date. According to Corsair, producing XPERT modules at higher clock speeds is extraordinarily possible, and enthusiasts can expect them down the pipeline.

The heatspreader on the modules, and the modules themselves look fairly similar in length, shape and size, but the exciting part of it is located towards the top of the units. There are actually separate LED connectors that modules get connected to for lighting effects. One connector can either power a single RAM stick or dual sticks that are adjacent to each other. The XPERT memory modules contain a special connector on the top, as well, that gets connector to the LED connector for effects. This means that traditional Corsair and XL modules will have separate operations than the ones approved for the XPERT series. In other words, you won’t be able to purchase the LED connector separately in hopes of connecting it to your current modules.

The LED connector has Corsair’s logo on the opposite side with activity LED lights on the right. You can think of the XPERT modules as being a hybrid that contains certain properties of traditional modules with heatspreaders and Corsair’s Pro modules. In the center, there is a display for marquee text.

As we stated previously, the LED connector can be connected to both modules. This means that if you have only two modules in dual-channel mode, the connector will cover the second, adjacent slot unnecessarily. Thankfully, Corsair kept this issue in mind, and you will have the option to switch the connector sides. For example, even with a single module, you can pick the side of the LED connector you want to connect the module to, which in return, will eliminate the slot issue.

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