Hey guys, I am back.
Today we take a look at some quality DDR3 RAM from Kingston in this review. The model we received for review is Kingston Hyper X PC3-13000 2GB kit ( Model Kingston KHX13000D3LLK2/2G ).
DDR3 has been around for a while now. Though initially it really did not show any significant advantages over good old DDR2. It was expensive and it did not perform well.
But as time has passed, faster DDR3 memory became available and picture started to change. Today we take a look at the 1625 Mhz offering from the Kingston.
[BREAK=Look at the package]
The ram came in a small cardboard box.
The box houses a tetra pack which contains the ram. As you can see, Kingston is marketing this as a gamer’s memory. Our review will also focus more on this than the usual synthetic benchmarking.
The RAM is HyperX branded which is performance series from the Kingston’s stable.
The sticks are covered with blue aluminum heat spreaders. Aesthetically they look nice. Here are few photos of the kit.
[BREAK=RAM Specifications and Features]
A quick look at the RAM specifications and features.
• Non-ECC, Unbuffered
• 2GB kit (2x 128Mx64)
• DDR3-1633 CL7-7-7-20-1T latency
• RoHS Compliant
• Enhanced low power features and thermal design
• Rated Voltage : 1.9v
• Lifetime Warranty
[BREAK=The Test bed]
The Test bed and how we tested
Here are the configurations of our systems used to test this kit.
We pitted this kit against good old DDR2 platform to really see how much improvement you really get in reality.
CPU : Intel C2D E8400
Motherboards : XFX 790i Ultra SLI and Abit IX38 Quad GT
RAM : Kingston HyperX PC3 13000 and Transcend AxeRam DDR2 800
Graphic card : Gigabyte 8800GT
Power Supply : OCZ GameXstream 700W
How we tested
We used Everest memory benchmark for testing memory bandwidth. And our usual set of test games suit.
Every test was performed 3 times to make sure results are consistence and then we took an average of all the runs.
A clean install of windows was performed prior to testing.
All the game tests and audio encoding test were performed with CPU speed at 4185Mhz on both the systems.
Kingston was clocked at 1600Mhz 7-6-6-24 and Transcend AxeRam was clocked at DDR2 930Mhz 4-4-4-15.
Let’s move onto the scores
[BREAK=Everest memory and cache benchmark]
Everest memory and cache benchmark
This ram even though rated at 1625 Mhz 7-7-7, was able to run 7-6-6-24 timings at 1600Mhz without upping the voltage.
Here is the what we managed with this RAM. Over 11800 MB/s, impressive I must say.
On the other hand DDR2 ram at even 940 Mhz and tight timings of 4-4-4-15 was not even able to break 9000 MB/s
[BREAK=Unreal Tournament 3]
Unreal Tournament 3
All in game settings were set to max. 4X AA, 16XAF was forced from NVIDIA control panel.
Game was ran at 1680x1050.
Here are the numbers
As you can see there is slight advantage in favor of DDR3 setup.
[BREAK=World In Conflict]
World In Conflict
This is one of the best looking RTS games out there. Beautiful graphics, very good gameplay and very good online action. This game has it all. The graphics on RTS were never this good before.
We used Very High settings from game options which forces 4XAA and 4XAF in the game. No manual adjustments were made and we used game’s inbuilt benchmark to test.
Lets have a look at the numbers.
Again we see 3 FPS advantage to the DDR3 setup.
[BREAK=Bioshock]
Bioshock
This was one of the first game that really made UT3 engine shine. The game environment is absolutely fantastic.
Benchmarking this game is little tough. There is no inbuilt benchmark. So we relied on FRAPS to do the work.
Here are the numbers.
Yes you see the numbers right.
I ran the benchmark multiple times to check if the numbers I was getting are right.
There is significant performance increase with just change in the platform in this game. HyperX DDR3 setup had significant advantage considering the CPU and GPU speeds were kept constant.
[BREAK=Call of Duty 4]
Call of Duty 4
Arguably the best release of 2007. One of the most popular game with very intense action and very good gameplay. It looks great as well. And with the popularity of this game, it was impossible to emit this game from our tests.
The game was ran with everything maxed out 4xAA and 16xAF. Every single in game option was set to max.
Here are the numbers.
This game again showed considerable improvement in performance with the HyperX and 790i platform.
[BREAK=Crysis]
Crysis
Ahh so finally the last test. I kept it last on purpose. This game has been named nemesis of the modern GPUs and systems. This game is all about pushing the limits of the graphics, pure eye candy.
All the settings in game were set to max possible settings of HIGH. Then we forced fake VERY HIGH on XP with the system.cfg file. The AA in this game really looks bad. But this game allows you to force Edge AA using the cfg file which looks lot better than in game AA setting.
Here is the cfg file we used.
con_restricted=0
r_motionblur=0
r_UseEdgeAA=2
r_UsePOM=1
r_sunshafts=1
e_water_ocean_fft=1
q_Renderer=3
r_colorgrading=1
This gives best possible results in terms of eye candy on XP.
Lets have a look at the numbers.
Not much change in this game which is expected to be honest. This game is hugely limited by the CPU and GPU speeds than anything else.
[BREAK=Audio encoding]
Audio encoding
We encoded our test audio files from wave to MP3 320kbps VBR and noted down the time it took for the system to complete the task. As you must know, lower the better here.
Here are the numbers.
As you can see consistent advantage to the DDR3 platform.
[BREAK=Overclocking]
Overclocking
We tried clocking these sticks as high as we can. We managed to get 1800Mhz at 1.9v at 7-7-7-24 out of these sticks. But unfortunately the 790i board was acting up on us. There was clearly some issue with the board bios as performance actually degraded with increase in memory speed above 1700Mhz. And we had the board for very limited time, so detailed testing was not possible
[BREAK=Analysis and Conclusion.]
Analysis and Conclusion.
From all these numbers, 1 thing is pretty clear. Performance is there. It’s a clear advantage to the DDR3 platform.
The Kingston HyperX proved to be a good pair. When a memory is able to clock at 1800Mhz, you know it’s a more than decent pair of DDR3 RAM.
At anything close to and above 1600 Mhz, DDR3 does start to open up significant gap in performance over DDR2 in many cases. Even the system felt more zippy and responsive compared to DDR2 platform.
Kingston has produced quality sticks, no question about it. Now the only question that remains is if its worth it?
The answer is very simple. If you are investing in a new platform like 790i Ultra SLI, you better have money to invest in good DDR3 RAM as otherwise it’s a waste of cash to even change the platform. The performance is there. But at the price. DDR2 is dirt cheap today and that’s the main roadblock in adoption of DDR3 today.
Things should start to change soon with reduction in cost and adoption of DDR3 by board makers.
Our special thanks to EXL Public Relations and Kingston for providing the Kingston HyperX DDR3 1625Mhz Kit
Shripad aka Funky signing out.
Today we take a look at some quality DDR3 RAM from Kingston in this review. The model we received for review is Kingston Hyper X PC3-13000 2GB kit ( Model Kingston KHX13000D3LLK2/2G ).
DDR3 has been around for a while now. Though initially it really did not show any significant advantages over good old DDR2. It was expensive and it did not perform well.
But as time has passed, faster DDR3 memory became available and picture started to change. Today we take a look at the 1625 Mhz offering from the Kingston.
The ram came in a small cardboard box.
The box houses a tetra pack which contains the ram. As you can see, Kingston is marketing this as a gamer’s memory. Our review will also focus more on this than the usual synthetic benchmarking.
The sticks are covered with blue aluminum heat spreaders. Aesthetically they look nice. Here are few photos of the kit.
[BREAK=RAM Specifications and Features]
A quick look at the RAM specifications and features.
• Non-ECC, Unbuffered
• 2GB kit (2x 128Mx64)
• DDR3-1633 CL7-7-7-20-1T latency
• RoHS Compliant
• Enhanced low power features and thermal design
• Rated Voltage : 1.9v
• Lifetime Warranty
[BREAK=The Test bed]
The Test bed and how we tested
Here are the configurations of our systems used to test this kit.
We pitted this kit against good old DDR2 platform to really see how much improvement you really get in reality.
CPU : Intel C2D E8400
Motherboards : XFX 790i Ultra SLI and Abit IX38 Quad GT
RAM : Kingston HyperX PC3 13000 and Transcend AxeRam DDR2 800
Graphic card : Gigabyte 8800GT
Power Supply : OCZ GameXstream 700W
How we tested
We used Everest memory benchmark for testing memory bandwidth. And our usual set of test games suit.
Every test was performed 3 times to make sure results are consistence and then we took an average of all the runs.
A clean install of windows was performed prior to testing.
All the game tests and audio encoding test were performed with CPU speed at 4185Mhz on both the systems.
Kingston was clocked at 1600Mhz 7-6-6-24 and Transcend AxeRam was clocked at DDR2 930Mhz 4-4-4-15.
Let’s move onto the scores
[BREAK=Everest memory and cache benchmark]
Everest memory and cache benchmark
This ram even though rated at 1625 Mhz 7-7-7, was able to run 7-6-6-24 timings at 1600Mhz without upping the voltage.
Here is the what we managed with this RAM. Over 11800 MB/s, impressive I must say.
On the other hand DDR2 ram at even 940 Mhz and tight timings of 4-4-4-15 was not even able to break 9000 MB/s
[BREAK=Unreal Tournament 3]
Unreal Tournament 3
All in game settings were set to max. 4X AA, 16XAF was forced from NVIDIA control panel.
Game was ran at 1680x1050.
Here are the numbers
[BREAK=World In Conflict]
World In Conflict
We used Very High settings from game options which forces 4XAA and 4XAF in the game. No manual adjustments were made and we used game’s inbuilt benchmark to test.
Lets have a look at the numbers.
Again we see 3 FPS advantage to the DDR3 setup.
[BREAK=Bioshock]
Bioshock
This was one of the first game that really made UT3 engine shine. The game environment is absolutely fantastic.
Benchmarking this game is little tough. There is no inbuilt benchmark. So we relied on FRAPS to do the work.
Here are the numbers.
Yes you see the numbers right.
I ran the benchmark multiple times to check if the numbers I was getting are right.
There is significant performance increase with just change in the platform in this game. HyperX DDR3 setup had significant advantage considering the CPU and GPU speeds were kept constant.
[BREAK=Call of Duty 4]
Call of Duty 4
Arguably the best release of 2007. One of the most popular game with very intense action and very good gameplay. It looks great as well. And with the popularity of this game, it was impossible to emit this game from our tests.
The game was ran with everything maxed out 4xAA and 16xAF. Every single in game option was set to max.
Here are the numbers.
This game again showed considerable improvement in performance with the HyperX and 790i platform.
[BREAK=Crysis]
Crysis
Ahh so finally the last test. I kept it last on purpose. This game has been named nemesis of the modern GPUs and systems. This game is all about pushing the limits of the graphics, pure eye candy.
All the settings in game were set to max possible settings of HIGH. Then we forced fake VERY HIGH on XP with the system.cfg file. The AA in this game really looks bad. But this game allows you to force Edge AA using the cfg file which looks lot better than in game AA setting.
Here is the cfg file we used.
con_restricted=0
r_motionblur=0
r_UseEdgeAA=2
r_UsePOM=1
r_sunshafts=1
e_water_ocean_fft=1
q_Renderer=3
r_colorgrading=1
This gives best possible results in terms of eye candy on XP.
Lets have a look at the numbers.
Not much change in this game which is expected to be honest. This game is hugely limited by the CPU and GPU speeds than anything else.
[BREAK=Audio encoding]
Audio encoding
We encoded our test audio files from wave to MP3 320kbps VBR and noted down the time it took for the system to complete the task. As you must know, lower the better here.
Here are the numbers.
[BREAK=Overclocking]
Overclocking
We tried clocking these sticks as high as we can. We managed to get 1800Mhz at 1.9v at 7-7-7-24 out of these sticks. But unfortunately the 790i board was acting up on us. There was clearly some issue with the board bios as performance actually degraded with increase in memory speed above 1700Mhz. And we had the board for very limited time, so detailed testing was not possible
[BREAK=Analysis and Conclusion.]
Analysis and Conclusion.
From all these numbers, 1 thing is pretty clear. Performance is there. It’s a clear advantage to the DDR3 platform.
The Kingston HyperX proved to be a good pair. When a memory is able to clock at 1800Mhz, you know it’s a more than decent pair of DDR3 RAM.
At anything close to and above 1600 Mhz, DDR3 does start to open up significant gap in performance over DDR2 in many cases. Even the system felt more zippy and responsive compared to DDR2 platform.
Kingston has produced quality sticks, no question about it. Now the only question that remains is if its worth it?
The answer is very simple. If you are investing in a new platform like 790i Ultra SLI, you better have money to invest in good DDR3 RAM as otherwise it’s a waste of cash to even change the platform. The performance is there. But at the price. DDR2 is dirt cheap today and that’s the main roadblock in adoption of DDR3 today.
Things should start to change soon with reduction in cost and adoption of DDR3 by board makers.
Our special thanks to EXL Public Relations and Kingston for providing the Kingston HyperX DDR3 1625Mhz Kit
Shripad aka Funky signing out.
