When we review memory DIMM modules often it's all about memory timings and the highest frequency possible, especially the latest high-end generations memories can manage 2000+ MHz.
The latest reviews all however have shown that after 1600 MHz performance you will need to seek really hard to see a noticeable difference in performance. Hence most of our recommendations always have been this: it's better to get more memory than faster memory as long as you stick to say 1333 MHz.
We feel that more memory is rather important, and in that trend memory manufacturers have started to increase the density of DIMM modules. Where 1 and 2GB DIMM modules have been the standard, we now see very good progress in 4 GB DIMM modules.
Today we'll do things a little different, G.Skill designed a 8GB low voltage DDR3 kit (2x 4GB) that can be set at 1600 MHz yet still run a CAS latency of 7. And that is truly interesting because the denser the ICs get, the higher latency typically gets.
So against all rules and odds, we'll pop this 175 EUR dual-channel kit on a triple channel motherboard. See, typically we test at triple channel 3x2 GB at 1333 MHz as baseline. This kit offers more 2GB more memory, we'll pursue the performance of 8GB in dual-channel with that memory clocked at 1600 MHz CL7 on a triple channel motherboards/processor.
The end results will be very interesting, our test suite software will be run of the mill, we'll simply take all standard PC configurations and processors and compare this memory seated on a Core i7 965/X58 setup and evaluate it to the baseline performance of other chipsets/processors and their respective reference baseline performance.
Will these dual-channel 4GB DIMMs be slower than tripple-channel ? Will performance drop opposed to other configurations? Nope, the end result is a PC that, when directly compared to the triple channel Core i7 965 based PC, is something that is slightly faster, though marginal .. it is very interesting to observe.
F3-12800CL7D-8GBTDD (4GBx2)
So the memory kit tested today come from that G.Skill Trident series armed with PSC ICs all packed nicely under the heat spreader design of the DIMM module.
- Series - Trident+ Turbulence II
- Model F3-12800CL7D-8GBTDD
- Type 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM Tech Spec
- Capacity 8GB (2 x 4GB)
- Speed DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
- Cas Latency 7
- Timing 7-8-7-24
- Voltage 1.65V
- Dual Channel Kit
- Heat Spreader
- Compatible with Intel P55 chipset Manufacturer Warranty
- Parts Lifetime limited
- Labor Lifetime limited
The P55 motherboards recommendation is there because this is dual-channel kit. Now despite what many people think, that doesn't mean you can't use it on a triple channel X58 motherboards, no Sir .. in fact we'll be pursuing exactly that today.
The memory itself is maximize the utmost stability and a user friendly experience. That doesn't mean that this memory won't work at other motherboards, contrary, we gave it a try and if you manually tweak the BIOS settings yourself you can achieve advertised frequency and performance quite easily.
Once installed in the BIOS if supported, select the XMP profile for the memory and after a reboot you are good to go.
If you do not have an XMP profile option in your BIOS, set the 7:8:7:24 timing manually and make sure you set DIMM voltage to 1.65V ... this literally is 10 seconds work.
This trident F3-12800CL7D-8GBTDD eight gigabyte DDR3 kit is available for just over 200 USD or roughly 179 EUR. But head on over to the next page where we'll startup a product photo-shoot after which this article will dive into a benchmark session. Hey, we know you like it !
from : guru3d.com
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