Thoughts and final rating
Intel's engineering excellence has put system memory manufacturers in a quandary. The latest 3rd Generation Core chips, also known as Ivy Bridge, have up to 8MB of the appropriately-named Smart Cache, whose job it is to ensure that slower system memory is accessed as infrequently as possible. Clever chip architecture means that switching out from generic DDR3-1,600 modules to some 2GHz-plus sticks doesn't pay the handsome dividends achieved in years gone by.
Patriot's Viper 3 DDR3-2,133 CL11 kit, rated to perform to specification at just 1.50V, is solid from construction, performance and price viewpoints. Producing a three per cent performance uplift over DDR3-1,600 memory in the best real-world application test, this kind of memory, priced at under £50, can be recommended to enthusiasts who want the last drop of performance from their systems, preferably with the CPU overclocked.
Bottom line: a decent effort at producing high-speed memory ostensibly for Intel's latest PC platform, Patriot's Viper 3 does exactly what it says on the tin, and aggressive pricing of just £47.99 for an 8GB pack makes it more than competitive against its peers.
The Good
Looks goodEasy to setup in the BIOS
Runs to spec at 1.50V
Under £50 for an 8GB DDR3-2,133 kit
The Bad
Shows little real-world benefit over slightly cheaper RAM for most usersHEXUS Rating
Patriot PV38G213CK1 (8GB)
HEXUS Awards
Patriot PV38G213CK1 (8GB)
HEXUS Where2Buy
The reviewed memory is available from here.
HEXUS Right2Reply
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