A-Data grabs the high speed RAM crown

Subject: Memory | December 1, 2009 - 12:24 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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A-Data might not be the first company you think about when you purchase RAM, which is why you can be forgiven for not noticing they sell a dual channel DDR3 kit @ 2200 MHZ with timings of 8:8:8:24 1T at the recommended 1.65V.  The Guru of 3D even managed to hit 2350MHz by bumping the voltage to 1.7 and could see higher speeds by lowering the timings.

Its a RAM of a different colour

Subject: Memory | November 23, 2009 - 05:47 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Do you have a friend or family member that thinks they are a tweaker, when in fact all they are is a serial hardware murderer?  Someone who swears they've never touched the BIOS settings even when you are looking at a DIMM that was overvolted to the point it has almost soldered its self to the motherboard?  You could put a password and a case lock on, but you could also try the Elixir 6GB 1600MHz kit.  Elixir, or Nanya specifically, makes chips that conform to JEDEC standards.  No matter what you do to these DIMMs, there is a maximum speed you will hit a ceiling at and not

Slap an extra 133MHz on there

Subject: Memory | November 13, 2009 - 01:58 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The new target to aim for in the land of DDR3 is 2133MHz, thanks to Kingston's HyperX T1 4GB DDR3-2133 dual channel kit.  That's PC3-17066
for those of you keeping score.  At $464 is is a big investment for 4GB of RAM, but it is the fastest kit on the market right now.  Overclocking results saw 2250 MHz at 9-9-9-24 timings, though Pure Overclock admits it was a little unstable and 2200MHz was their highest stable overcl

Lynnfield's memory condition

Subject: Memory | October 30, 2009 - 12:51 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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iXBT Labs explores the new world of Lynnfield's onboard memory controller and its abilities and disabilities.  For instance the controller can do more with single bank modules than with the more common dual bank DIMMs.  They examine just how increasing the frequency of the memory compares with increasing the amount of memory available to the processor.  Drop by for some interesting results; it seems the days of the 32bit operating system were just yesterday, but it seems that they ended a while

Sector 5 will make your P55 come alive

Subject: Memory | October 7, 2009 - 01:50 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Patriot has revamped their Viper line to accommodate Lynnfield, dual channel kits like the Patriot Viper II 'Sector 5'  are popping up all over.  A speed of 2GHz @ 8-8-8-24 gives you
plenty of raw bandwidth to keep your i5/i7 system happy and while Bjorn3D could only get a 136MHz overclock out of the DIMMs, it is possible a different motherboard might squeeze a bit more performance out of this kit. 

So what if it is dual channel - 2.4GHz @ 9-9-9-24!

Subject: Memory | September 22, 2009 - 12:39 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Sure, Legit Reviews did have to push the voltage over spec to 1.75V and bump the QPI up to 1.35 but they hit a huge memory overclock.  It wasn't even necessary to go that far to get to 2200MHz; they simply asked for it from the DIMMs and they provided, no voltage tweaks or any other BIOS tinkering needed.  Read about Kingston's insane HyperX DDR3 4GB 2133MHz Memory, but

Corsair Dominator Memory achieves Intel XMP Certification for Core i7-870 and 860

Subject: Memory | September 15, 2009 - 11:22 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 15, 2009 - Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer memory, power supplies and flash memory products, including solid-state drives, today announced that both 4GB and 8GB Dominator memory solutions have passed Intel's XMP-Ready certification for the newly-introduced Core i7-870 and Core i7-860 CPUs.

The 8GB Dominator GT 1600MHz CAS 8 (CMD8GX3M4A1600C8) is part of Corsair's award-winning Dominator memory solutions. It is qualified and guaranteed to run at a frequency of 1600MHz with tight timings of 8-8-8-24 at a voltage of 1.65V.

Not just for AMD fans anymore

Subject: Memory | September 10, 2009 - 05:24 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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With the arrival of Lynnfield comes a new interest in dual channel DDR3.  Many may opt for a pair of 3GB DIMMs, or four 2GB DIMMs there are quite a few that will settle for 4GBs of total system memory, especially if it is fast.  Take Kingston's  HyperX KHX1600C8D3K2
which is designed to run at 1600MHz, but was easily pushed to over 2000MHz by Overclockers Club.  The latencies and voltages had to be changed so little that it seems the memory multiplier lock that stopped the

Corsair Launches High Density DDR3 Memory for Core i5 and Core i7 Processors

Subject: Memory | August 28, 2009 - 11:35 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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FREMONT, Calif., Aug. 27, 2009 - Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer memory, power supplies and flash memory products, including solid-state drives, today announced a new set of high density products for Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors. These DIMMs are available in dual and triple channel configurations and are specifically tuned for Intel CPUs.

The 8GB and 12GB module kits feature Corsair's DHX+ cooling technology, and sport new American Racing Blue fins and highlights.

OCZ Technology Announces New DDR3 Low-Voltage Dual Channel Kits Tailored for the Upcoming Intel P55

Subject: Memory | August 24, 2009 - 04:01 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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San Jose, Calif. - August 24, 2009 - OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today unveiled low-voltage DDR3 designed specifically for the upcoming Intel P55 Chipset and subsequent Intel Core i7, i5, and i3 (Socket 1156) processors.

Is it all in the chips?

Subject: Memory | August 12, 2009 - 02:51 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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For some, simply the brand name, possibly the series name and the frequencies are all that is important when choosing RAM.  Others try to get under those heatspreaders to see which company made the ICs which are the heart of the RAM.  One particular reason for checking under the hood is the recent problems with Elpida made ICs causing difficulties for DDR3 users.  Madshrimps has received a number of different RAM kits using Elpida's new chips and tested them out to see what, if any, improvement has been made. 

They may be DIMM, but they have fans

Subject: Memory | August 4, 2009 - 05:57 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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It is a good thing that the Core i7 memory controller limits RAM voltage to 1.65V, otherwise you would never fit anything on a motherboard save your DDR3 DIMMs, the heatspreaders that are attached to the ICs and the fan assembly needed to cool them.  As it is, once low latency DDR3 hits the 1600MHz mark, the cooling apparatuses take up enough space that case choices and CPU heatsink choices are affected by them.  For instance the Kingston Hy

Better by the dozen?

Subject: Memory | July 28, 2009 - 02:58 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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GeIL has two new DDR3 kits on the market, consisting of six 2GB 1600MHz DIMMs, one with CL 7-7-7-24 timings and one with 8-8-8-28.  How does 12GB of affect performance?  You will have to drop by Techware Labs to see the actual results.  First the 6GB tests to gain both a benchmark of performance for the GeIL chips, but also to benchmark against a Corsair 6GB kit.  Then onto the 12GB testing to compare it to the previous results in the hope that the outstanding 6GB scores sc

Low voltage from a low profile name

Subject: Memory | July 20, 2009 - 12:53 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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Nanya is one of the less recognized names in the memory industry but that doesn't mean that they should be avoided, just that they are less flashy than Corsair and others.  Sitting right at the JDEC specs for PC3-12800  this dual channel kit runs 1600MHz with timings of 9-9-9-24, translating into an easy installation for newcomers to PC building.

Show a little maturity

Subject: Memory | July 14, 2009 - 05:48 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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There is no question that DDR3-200, aka PC3-16000 DIMMs are very fast, even with the timings at higher values than slower DIMMs.  There is a question about their reliability as many review sites, such as AnandTech are seeing frequent deaths during testing.  In some cases overvolting is to blame, when the voltage heads over 1.65V to allow better overclocking performance, the chances of failure also increase.  Seeing deaths at 1.50V is another thing altogether.  AnandTech gathered together a represe

Standing tall and cool

Subject: Memory | July 7, 2009 - 03:13 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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If you are running your RAM just a little over volt, feeling that temperature is holding your overclock back or just want to try to keep it alive a little longer then Kingston has a HyperX product for you; the Kingston HyperX KHX-FAN fan. As you can see in Tweaktown's review, the cooler stands quite a

No price too high for performance

Subject: Memory | June 23, 2009 - 05:59 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The OCZ Blade 3x2GB PC3-16000 isn't just about raw speed, though 2GHz memory certainly does that, it is also about not sacrificing timings, and at 7-8-7-20 they have achieved that goal too.  The sacrifice that did need to be made is the price; at $450 the entry fee is pretty steep.

These ones go all the way to 21

Subject: Memory | June 17, 2009 - 02:45 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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The price is up in the air, as they have not yet appeared on NewEgg or Pricegrabber, but you can count on a PC3-17000triple channel 6GB kit to be very expensive.  OCZ has grabbed the top 1% of their silicon and ramped the speed all the way up to 2133MHz on these new Blade DIMMs, or 2144MHz overclocked when AnandTech finished with them.  Read on to see how they fare against very tightly timed and significantly cheaper DDR3-1600.