Having just gone over a few photos of the Mushkin Ascent memory we are studying today, we are already fairly versed in the outlined specifications of these modules. You see, there isn't a whole lot to discuss when it comes to memory specifications that the sticker on the modules doesn't already explain completely. Fortunately for you, we won't have to listen to me babble on about the same specifications for a half a page because the Ascent eVCI heat sinks are going to provide more than enough discussion for us today. Let's first take a quick look at the specifications of the Mushkin Ascent 996625 PC3-12800s for those that missed it on the stickers in the last section, then we will focus the lens on the heat sinks and try to see what is underneath them.

As mentioned, there really isn't a whole lot to the specification sheet for a kit of memory. Mushkin has gone very aggressive with their ratings on this memory going with 7-7-6-18 timings as opposed to the standard 7-7-7-20~22. This won't result in a world of difference in performance but every little bit helps. So with a quick look at the rated frequency and timings of this kit out of the way, let's move on to the rather beefy and impressive looking heat sinks.

Removal of the heat sinks was attempted but it was very clear early on that Mushkin wasn't messing around with their thermal adhesive. It was holding on with a death grip only matched to that of the Corsair memory, and that is a positive thing. This should indicate a great thermal bond between the ICs and the heat sinks vapor chamber but it also unfortunately means we won't be seeing the underside of the heat sinks. We will just have to settle for the graphics that are available from the Mushkin web site.

The idea behind these heat sinks is that the ICs dump the heat into the vapor chamber which evenly distributes the heat load and eliminates any hot spots. The vapor chamber then passes the heat on to the aluminum shell of the heatsink which dissipates it into the environment. The whole premise is quite interesting and we really would have liked to see more but with the risk for rendering the modules useless quite high, we will refrain. This also means we have no idea what ICs are being used on this memory so we will be flying blind when it comes to overclocking. Mushkin for obvious reasons has declined us the information we seek about the ICs but we can't blame them for this stance.