The Basics:
When I first opened the plastic case, I thought there was a big problem. Something was rattling, and it turned out that one of the heatspreaders was not attached to the memory. I initially thought the worst, but then I realized the film was still over the adhesive, so it was obviously intentional. This not only lets you inspect the memory chips, but it also allows you to check out how the heatspreader works.
The G.Skill DDR3-1600 Pi Series memory modules have a rather funky looking heatspreader, which upon closer inspection impressed me from a design and engineering perspective. The below left image shows that each module is protected by an aluminum heatspreader with what looks like the spiral binding from a notebook on top. These loops are similar to what many other manufacturers implement, except they have a bit of three dimensional appeal to them. The data label found on each module provides all the information you would want to see, such as capacity, speed, timings, and voltage.
 
Compared to other kits I have reviewed, these seem light weight, and the difference has to be in the heatspreader. The thickness seems about the same as usual, but perhaps the material has a lower density, or the lack of clips may help explain that.
The image below takes a look at the end of one of the modules to show off how the two sides of the heatspreader come together. The two sides aren't quite identical, as one features a groove and the other a shaft, which forms a slot that locks them together. Since one heatspreader was not fully installed, I could slide it up and down the slot, and eventually I slid it to the position necessary for final installation. Then I simply peeled back the film from the thermal tape and hinged it closed. It lined up perfectly with the mating side, and uniform contact was made with each chip.
Before closing things up for good, I took a picture of the memory chips in order to look them up online. There is an M with a ring around it that indicates that these are Micron brand chips, and the markings read 8DD22 D9JNM. I looked this information up at both Google.com and Micron.com, and some information was available on the "D9JNM" portion. It appears that these chips are rated for 1333MHz, CL9 operation at 1.5V. G.Skill has done some work to stretch these all the way to 1600MHz, CL7 operation at 1.9V.
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