DDR3 Round-Up: Core i7 Performance Analysis

Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600 MHz / Kingston HyperX DDR3 1800 MHz
Kingston’s HyperX modules have never had the enthusiast appeal as Corsair’s XMS series, but they have been lock-step in line with Corsair for every major evolution of the high-end enthusiast memory market. The latest generation HyperX DDR3 modules sport an updated heatsink design which we feel is one of the most attractive on the market, matching a dodger blue aluminum alloy heat-spreader with a brushed aluminum piece on top. The modules are also significantly shorter compared to Corsair’s Dominator, which is a good thing, assuming the heatsinks are powerful enough to handle the heat created by these modules.

We were able to test two of Kingston’s new HyperX DDR3 series. Our HyperX DDR3 1600 MHz modules (KHX12800D3LLK3) ran with 8-8-8-24 latencies by default, whereas the second kit (KHX14400D3K3) runs at 1800 MHz with 9-9-9-24 latencies. Both modules have the exact same external design and are impossible to tell apart on appearances alone. Interestingly enough, both modules were able to overclock to roughly the same level, peaking out at 2050 MHz at 1.9V voltage levels. It looks to us that both these memory kits are using a vast amount of identical components between them, and might even be using the same memory chips underneath, just re-purposed for different markets.

They cost about the same, too, so it’s really up to you which you would prefer. Higher clock speeds with higher stock latencies or slightly lower clock speed with slightly lower latencies. From a performance perspective, as you’ll see later, the 1800 MHz with higher latencies typically performs a tick better, so this would get our nod. All in all, really nice modules from Kingston, and a nice evolution of the HyperX line. Kingston tends to play it a bit more conservative than Corsair or OCZ, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. In our time testing these modules, the number of incompatibilities with motherboard with Kingston modules has been close to nil, which we can’t say for some of Kingston’s competitors.