Test Methodology and Overclocking
All four of our assorted memory kits are tested using their default XMP profile, the specifications of which are detailed in the below table.
Comparison Memory |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corsair Vengeance 8GB | G.Skill Ripjaws-X 8GB | Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer 4GB | Kingston HyperX Genesis 4GB | |
| Model Number | CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 | F3-12800CL7D-8GBXH | BL2KIT25664ST1608RG | KHX2133C9AD3X2K2/4GX |
| Capacity | 8GB (2x4GB) | 8GB (2x4GB) | 4GB (2x2GB) | 4GB (2x2GB) |
| Speed | 1,600MHz DDR3 | 1,600MHz DDR3 | 1,600MHz DDR3 | 2,133MHz DDR3 |
| Timings | 9-9-9-24 | 7-8-7-24 | 8-8-8-24 | 9-11-9-27 |
| Voltage | 1.50V | 1.60V | 1.65V | 1.65V |
| Price* | £85 | £110 | £70 | £80 |
| Cost per GB* | £10.63 | £13.75 | £17.50 | £20.00 |
| *Approximate, correct at time of writing | ||||
Test bench |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5 2500K (3.3GHz, 6MB L3 cache, quad-core, LGA1155) | ||||||||
| Motherboard | Intel DP67BG | ||||||||
| Storage device | Crucial 256GB RealSSD C300 (SATA 6Gbps) | ||||||||
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (1,024MB, ForceWare 266.66) | ||||||||
| Power supply | Corsair AX750 | ||||||||
| Operating system | Windows 7 Ultimate SP1, 64-bit | ||||||||
Benchmarks |
|---|
| AIDA64 v1.60.1300 (download) |
| SiSoft Sandra 2011.4.17.43 (download) |
| MaxxMEM2 - PreView v1.91 (download) |
| HEXUS.PiFast (download) |
| Cinebench R11.5 (download) |
| PCMark Vantage v1.0.2.0 (download) |
| 3DMark 11 v1.0.1.0 (download) |
| Formula 1 2010 (homepage) |
| Just Cause 2 (homepage) |
| Power Consumption |
Overclocking
Overclocking on Intel's Sandy Bridge platform is a cause of contention among the enthusiast community, and it's clear to see why; overclocking is limited to multiplier-unlocked K-series CPUs, and even then there's little room to manoeuvre on other fronts.
When it comes to memory overclocking, Sandy Bridge offers little-to-no wiggle room for adjusting the system base clock, leaving users one option; increase the memory multiplier.
With that in mind, we're providing a very rough estimate of the overclocking ability of our four memory kits. We start by leveling the playing field by running all four kits with modest 9-9-9-24 latencies at 1.65V, and then go up to 12x, 14x and 16x multipliers to see which modules maintain stability at the increased speeds.
1,600MHz (9-9-9-24-2T) |
1,866MHz (9-9-9-24-2T) |
2,133MHz (9-9-9-24-2T) |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Corsair Vengeance 8GB (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C90) |
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| Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer 4GB (BL2KIT25664ST1608RG) |
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| G.Skill Ripjaws-X 8GB (F3-12800CL7D-8GBXH) |
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| Kingston HyperX Genesis 4GB (KHX2133C9AD3X2K2/4GX) |
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As illustrated by the above table, Corsair's 8GB Vengeance kit wouldn't do 1,866MHz with 9-9-9-24 latencies. It managed 1,600MHz at 8-8-8-24, but to go up to 1,866MHz we had to increase latencies to 9-10-10-24.
No such problems with the other three kits, though, all of which managed to maintain stability at 1,866MHz with 9-9-9-24 latencies. That's the limit, though, as with voltage kept at 1.65V, none of our kits could manage 2,133MHz without sacrificing latency.