| Kingston HyperX 2GB DDR3-1600 Dual Channel Memory Kit
|
The Basics:
In the last two reviews of Kingston HyperX products at Bigbruin.com I have mentioned that while the review samples had an older style heatspreader installed, anyone buying a kit for themselves would get something that looked a bit different. The below left image shows the new heatspreader design, and is the first time I have seen it first hand. It is definitely sleek and stylish, and this type of design seems to be the norm for most memory manufacturers these days.
 
One side of each module features a data label, and a close up is provided in the above right image. You get a bunch of manufacturing data, including the model number, as well as the operating voltage. I would also like to see complete details on speed and timings, as many other manufacturers are now doing.
The two images below show an edge view of the two modules in this kit. The thermal tape makes a consistent bond between the memory chips and the heatspreader, so heat transfer should be about as good as you could expect. I am still more in favor of heatspreaders for style and protective purposes, but they aren't called stylespreaders or protectionspreaders. But, if a DDR3 kit was in need of assistance to dissipate heat, it might be a kit like this. The 1.9V required to operate these modules may create more heat than many other high speed kits that run with between 1.5V and 1.8V.
 
Configuration:
The Kingston HyperX 2GB DDR3-1600 Dual Channel Memory Kit was installed in a system with the following components for this review:
» Intel E6850 dual core processor
» ASUS P5E64 WS Evolution Intel X48 ATX motherboard
» Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB hard drive
» PC Power and Cooling 750 Quad Silencer power supply
» ASUS EAH3870 TOP Overclocked Radeon HD3870 graphics card
» Windows Vista Home Premium
With the modules installed, I booted into the system's BIOS and was honestly confused. I have become so used to XMP profiles making it a one click affair to run at 1600MHz, that I kept trying to enable an XMP profile that did not exist. Once I did get into Windows I immediately went online to investigate, and found that this kit does lack either an XMP or EPP 2.0 profile for cost cutting purposes. The modules default to PC3-8500 specifications (1066MHz), and you must manually overclock in order to run at 1600MHz.
The below left screenshot was taken from the SPD tab of CPU-Z to confirm the profiles included with this Kingston HyperX DDR3 kit. You get three to choose from, 914MHz, 1066MHz, and 1220MHz. None are remotely close to the advertised speeds, so I doubt most people will be interested in any of these profiles. The below center screenshot shows the information from the Memory tab with the system booted at default settings; 1066MHz with 7-7-7-20 timings.
  
While it wasn't all that difficult to get up and running at 1600MHz, I have become spoiled by the simplicity of XMP profiles. After a couple minutes in the BIOS the system was ready to roll with the memory at the advertised specifications. The above right screenshot shows the memory tab once again, this time at 800MHz (1600MHz DDR3). After some successful preliminary testing at these speeds it was time for some overclocking and some in depth performance testing.
|
|
|
|
