Configuration:

The following system was used to evaluate the Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB 2133MHz memory kit...

» Intel Core i5 2500K LGA 1155 Quad Core @ 3.7Ghz (OC to 4.7Ghz w/1.38v)
» ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe Motherboard (Rev 1.0, 3603 BIOS)
» Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Heatpipe CPU Cooler
» OS Disk: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" SATA III 6Gbps
» Storage Disk: Western Digital 1TB 7200 hard drive SATA 6Gbps
» 2x nVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 graphics cards (SLI)
» OCZ 750W Fatal1ty Modular Power Supply
» Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case
» Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit operating system w/latest Windows Updates

Pictured below are the stock CPU-Z charts for the Kingston HyperX Beast 2x8GB 2133MHz kit. Note the stock timings are 11-12-11-30-1 @ 1.6 volts.



Overclocking:

Three approaches were attempted to establish the performance ceiling of the Kingston HyperX Beast 2x8GB kit. Each approach is not considered a success until the default test in MemTest86 has looped continuously for 12 hours. We did not exceed DRAM voltages of 1.7v for our testing.

First we attempted to maximize the clock speed, with no regard for timings. This memory was not capable of running at speeds higher than the rated 2133MHz. Even after increasing the timings to 13-15-13-35-2 with 1.7 volts we were unable to successfully POST, let alone boot into Windows.

Next we tried to push the memory at its rated speed (2133MHz) with a combination of tighter timings and higher voltages. We successfully dropped the timings from the stock values of 11-12-11-30-2 @ 1.6v down to 10-11-10-27-1, also at 1.6v. Trying for CL9 timings resulted in a non-POST condition.

Finally we under-clocked the memory to 1866MHz and further tightened the timings, while increasing the DRAM voltage. With this approach we were able to hit 9-9-9-24-1 @ 1.5 volts. We are providing this information on the graphs in the testing section simply for informational purposes.

Proceed to the next page to find out which memory setting yielded the greatest performance gains.