Real-world apps
Perhaps the first bandwidth-evaluation test, SiSoft Sandra, is skewed towards mid-speed sticks. We then tested with the latest version of AIDA and the Viper 3 came out a shade slower than the 2,400MHz G.Skill set. It's over 10 per cent better than a generic 1,600MHz (9-9-9-24-2T) duo from Corsair, however.
Looking good here.
Putting a real-world spin on it by running our decade-old HEXUS.PiFast benchmark, there's literally nothing in it with respect to performance. It doesn't matter what kind of dual-channel DDR3 memory you put into the Intel Ivy Bridge-powered machine.
PCMark 7 is a system-wide test that also shows little preference for faster-grade memory. There's less than a one per cent difference from best to worst result.