The effervescence and flashy CPU and GPU development has outclassed the release portfolio of other PC components. System memory – the most crucial component hasn’t got a major rework or grabbed the limelight in the recent times, as a result people tend to neglect the premium offering. To rejuvenate the PC experience, Kingston has brought slew of high performance memory. We chip in to do an in-depth review of HyperX series of Ram by Kingston.
Memory is the most neglected component on the contrary has the most important role in the day to day computing. Off lately pc manufacturers and buyers have stressed their buying criteria on the basis of processors and graphics adapters keeping the memory options aside. As a result the PC suffers from lackluster performance and crippling the communication links between the major components.
Irrespective of the sluggish acceptance and niche market share, memory vendors often release high performance memory kit touted to provide off the scale performance and scalability. Kingston one of the leading manufacturer has released HyperX kit with higher frequency and tighter timings for better performance.
About the Company - Kingston is an America based private firm who excels in the production and research of flash memory based products. The largest producer of system memory, Kingston holds the crow for churning out plethora of innovative products to cater varied audience.
Today we will be laying our hand on the top of the line offering HyperX rated at 1866 Mhz with latency locked at 9 (9-11-9-27). Being the flag bearer of high performance bandwagon, these modules come with tall heat spreader allowing ample cooling and better overclocking headroom.
The kit that we received sports a dual channel design with 4 GB capacity (2gb each module x2). The HyperX kit rated at 1866 sports a tighter timing, allowing more bandwidth and higher performance. The tall heat spreaders serve as a good cooling solution however installation can be cumbersome with large heatsink.
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Packaging and Specification
The kit comes inside a huge box given the tall heat spreader and bulky design of the kit. Nothing flashy here, perhaps Kingston wants the kit performance to do the talking. You will find a small paper with installation instructions, other than that not even the features and specifications are aforementioned.
Unlike the clumsy and frail packing with practically no details, Kingston sets the tempo high with the specification upfront. With a high speed 1866 clocks and Cl9 latency, the ram boasts working with higher temperature allowing overclockers to churn the most out of it. With default operating voltage of 1.65v, these high performance kits delivers compelling performance with miniscule power consumption, which in fact is same as that of ubiquitous 1600 CL9 memory kits in the market. Here are the detailed specifications of the ram as listed by official documents -
SPECIFICATIONS
Row Cycle Time (tRCmin) - 49.5ns (min.)
Refresh to Active/Refresh - 110ns
Command Time (tRFCmin)
Row Active Time (tRASmin) - 36ns (min.)
Power - 1.800 W (operating per module)
UL Rating - 94 V - 0
Operating Temperature - 0° C to 85° C
Storage Temperature - -55° C to +100° C
The naming convention of Kingston is too cumbersome for general users to understand. Kingston modeled the kit under following name – KHX1866C9D3T1K2/4GX . The name can boggle an enthusiast as well but if allow things to settle the answer become clear. To make things suave let us break the convention into following –
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System Setup and Testing Methodologies
The memory were tested in the AMD Llano A8 3850 setup, since AMD Llano is the only platform that supports 1866 dual channel configuration out of the box, we put the kits in the AMD based system. Rest of the system configuration and setup is mentioned below-
Processors:
Motherboard:
Graphics Card
Memory:
Power Supply:
Monitor:
Operating System:
Software Benchmark:
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Benchmarks
Testing the ram with Llano setup wasn’t a trouble maker. We have used Corsair XMS3 to pit against the very happening HyperX kits. To make the most out the test we will be conducting memory based benchmarks.
Aida64 Memory Benchmarks – We used the Read/ Write and Copy benching options available within AIDA64 tests suite.
Aida64 Memory Latency –
SiSoft Sandra Memory Bandwidth - Sisoft Sandra is another comprehensive benching suite offering plethora of tests. We used the memory bandwidth benchmark to test the bandwidth offered by the kits at our disposal.
SuperPI 1M – Super Pi 1M is a benchmarking solution for calculating PI instruction for 1million times. We put these kits in a very pliable benchmarking test.
Wprime32- Another memory intensive benchmarking solution
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OverClocking
Besides general benchmarking we ran and stressed the kit by overclocking the kit. Gauging most out the kit and further increasing the clock speed. The aim was to achieve the highest possible clocks within a limited Cas latency.
During the overclocking test we have kept the APU frequency constant at ~2.9-3 Ghz. The little bump in the speed is unavoidable due to limited overclocking headroom offered by AMD Llano platform. Following results were achieved during the test –
Nonetheless, HyperX offers commendable overclocking headroom; if it wasn’t for the board limit we could have touched the 2.5 GHz without even breaking a sweat. Thumbs up for the overclocking scenario offered by the ram.
Maximum stable APU + Memory clock achieved - 3.62 + 2.3 ghz for APU + Ram - http://valid.canardp....php?id=2187587
Aida64 Memory Benchmarks – We used the Read/ Write and Copy benching options available within AIDA64 tests suite.
Aida64 Memory Latency –
SiSoft Sandra Memory Bandwidth - Sisoft Sandra is another comprehensive benching suite offering plethora of tests. We used the memory bandwidth benchmark to test the bandwidth offered by the kits at our disposal.
SuperPI 1M – Super Pi 1M is a benchmarking solution for calculating PI instruction for 1million times. We put these kits in a very pliable benchmarking test.
Wprime32- Another memory intensive benchmarking solution
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Conclusion
Offering stupendous overclocking headroom and good performance, Kingston HyperX came out to be one of the better high performing kits in the market. With more than decent overclocking headroom and support for higher voltage and temperature. These kits will sure delight those aims to overclock.
HyperX 1866 is well suited for Llano based system, since Llano performance is directly proportional to the kind of memory used, these kits chip in to provide Llano APUs to perform at a higher scale specially in games (will be covered in a different article). The only problem that one can face is during installation, those large heat spreader might hinder with the installation when coupled with aftermarket coolers. In our case we didn’t had any problem whatsoever.
Overall for the price and the kind performance these kits deliver, they gets a double thumbs up from TechEnclave. If you are in the market for a higher performance and scalable memory kit, keep these HyperX at the top of your list.
Pros –
Cons –
 
Note - A special thanks to Kingston, ASRock and Asus for providing the samples.
Click here to view the article
Memory is the most neglected component on the contrary has the most important role in the day to day computing. Off lately pc manufacturers and buyers have stressed their buying criteria on the basis of processors and graphics adapters keeping the memory options aside. As a result the PC suffers from lackluster performance and crippling the communication links between the major components.
Irrespective of the sluggish acceptance and niche market share, memory vendors often release high performance memory kit touted to provide off the scale performance and scalability. Kingston one of the leading manufacturer has released HyperX kit with higher frequency and tighter timings for better performance.
About the Company - Kingston is an America based private firm who excels in the production and research of flash memory based products. The largest producer of system memory, Kingston holds the crow for churning out plethora of innovative products to cater varied audience.
Today we will be laying our hand on the top of the line offering HyperX rated at 1866 Mhz with latency locked at 9 (9-11-9-27). Being the flag bearer of high performance bandwagon, these modules come with tall heat spreader allowing ample cooling and better overclocking headroom.
The kit that we received sports a dual channel design with 4 GB capacity (2gb each module x2). The HyperX kit rated at 1866 sports a tighter timing, allowing more bandwidth and higher performance. The tall heat spreaders serve as a good cooling solution however installation can be cumbersome with large heatsink.
[page]
Packaging and Specification
The kit comes inside a huge box given the tall heat spreader and bulky design of the kit. Nothing flashy here, perhaps Kingston wants the kit performance to do the talking. You will find a small paper with installation instructions, other than that not even the features and specifications are aforementioned.
Unlike the clumsy and frail packing with practically no details, Kingston sets the tempo high with the specification upfront. With a high speed 1866 clocks and Cl9 latency, the ram boasts working with higher temperature allowing overclockers to churn the most out of it. With default operating voltage of 1.65v, these high performance kits delivers compelling performance with miniscule power consumption, which in fact is same as that of ubiquitous 1600 CL9 memory kits in the market. Here are the detailed specifications of the ram as listed by official documents -
SPECIFICATIONS
Row Cycle Time (tRCmin) - 49.5ns (min.)
Refresh to Active/Refresh - 110ns
Command Time (tRFCmin)
Row Active Time (tRASmin) - 36ns (min.)
Power - 1.800 W (operating per module)
UL Rating - 94 V - 0
Operating Temperature - 0° C to 85° C
Storage Temperature - -55° C to +100° C
The naming convention of Kingston is too cumbersome for general users to understand. Kingston modeled the kit under following name – KHX1866C9D3T1K2/4GX . The name can boggle an enthusiast as well but if allow things to settle the answer become clear. To make things suave let us break the convention into following –
- KHX represents – Kingston HyperX
- 1866 denotes the speed at which the kit works.
- C9 denotes the latency of the ram
- D3 represents DDR3
- TIK2 – Represents TI series of HyperX and a kit of 2
- 4G – Shows the size of the kit
- X denotes Intel XMP certified memory.
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System Setup and Testing Methodologies
The memory were tested in the AMD Llano A8 3850 setup, since AMD Llano is the only platform that supports 1866 dual channel configuration out of the box, we put the kits in the AMD based system. Rest of the system configuration and setup is mentioned below-
Processors:
- AMD A8 3850
Motherboard:
- ASRock A75 Extreme 6
Graphics Card
- ATI 6550D (Llano IGP) + Asus 6670 ( Dual Graphics )
Memory:
- 2x2048Mb 1600 MHz CL9 Corsair XMS3
- 2x2048Mb 1866 Mhz CL9 Kinston HyperX
Power Supply:
- Corsair VX450
Monitor:
- Samsung S2233SW
Operating System:
- Windows 7 64bit
Software Benchmark:
- Aida64
- 3dMark Vantage
- SuperPi
- Wprime32
- Sisoft Sandra
[page]
Benchmarks
Testing the ram with Llano setup wasn’t a trouble maker. We have used Corsair XMS3 to pit against the very happening HyperX kits. To make the most out the test we will be conducting memory based benchmarks.
Aida64 Memory Benchmarks – We used the Read/ Write and Copy benching options available within AIDA64 tests suite.
Aida64 Memory Latency –
SiSoft Sandra Memory Bandwidth - Sisoft Sandra is another comprehensive benching suite offering plethora of tests. We used the memory bandwidth benchmark to test the bandwidth offered by the kits at our disposal.
SuperPI 1M – Super Pi 1M is a benchmarking solution for calculating PI instruction for 1million times. We put these kits in a very pliable benchmarking test.
Wprime32- Another memory intensive benchmarking solution
[page]
OverClocking
Besides general benchmarking we ran and stressed the kit by overclocking the kit. Gauging most out the kit and further increasing the clock speed. The aim was to achieve the highest possible clocks within a limited Cas latency.
During the overclocking test we have kept the APU frequency constant at ~2.9-3 Ghz. The little bump in the speed is unavoidable due to limited overclocking headroom offered by AMD Llano platform. Following results were achieved during the test –
- HyperX @ 2000, default Cas Latency and voltage – Overclocking the kit to 2000Mhz was breeze, no voltage and cas tinkering was required.
- HyperX @ 2220, 1.675V – [ 10-11-10-30] – Things get a little cramped once you start pushing the ram beyond 2ghz barrier. However to our surprise, the ram easily managed the 2.2 GHz mark with respectable volts and latency.
- HyperX @ 2366, – 1.725V – [11-12-11-31] – Pushing past 2300Mhz wasn’t tough either, thanks to variable cas and high voltage limits the ram allows.
- HyperX @ 2410 – 1.75 – [11-12-12-34] – Surprisingly the Ram was able to achieve such a high frequency, however the system gets unstable as a result we were unable to conduct all the test. That’s why we have kept the 2410 Mhz out of our benchmarking charts.
Nonetheless, HyperX offers commendable overclocking headroom; if it wasn’t for the board limit we could have touched the 2.5 GHz without even breaking a sweat. Thumbs up for the overclocking scenario offered by the ram.
Maximum stable APU + Memory clock achieved - 3.62 + 2.3 ghz for APU + Ram - http://valid.canardp....php?id=2187587
Aida64 Memory Benchmarks – We used the Read/ Write and Copy benching options available within AIDA64 tests suite.
Aida64 Memory Latency –
SiSoft Sandra Memory Bandwidth - Sisoft Sandra is another comprehensive benching suite offering plethora of tests. We used the memory bandwidth benchmark to test the bandwidth offered by the kits at our disposal.
SuperPI 1M – Super Pi 1M is a benchmarking solution for calculating PI instruction for 1million times. We put these kits in a very pliable benchmarking test.
Wprime32- Another memory intensive benchmarking solution
[page]
Conclusion
Offering stupendous overclocking headroom and good performance, Kingston HyperX came out to be one of the better high performing kits in the market. With more than decent overclocking headroom and support for higher voltage and temperature. These kits will sure delight those aims to overclock.
HyperX 1866 is well suited for Llano based system, since Llano performance is directly proportional to the kind of memory used, these kits chip in to provide Llano APUs to perform at a higher scale specially in games (will be covered in a different article). The only problem that one can face is during installation, those large heat spreader might hinder with the installation when coupled with aftermarket coolers. In our case we didn’t had any problem whatsoever.
Overall for the price and the kind performance these kits deliver, they gets a double thumbs up from TechEnclave. If you are in the market for a higher performance and scalable memory kit, keep these HyperX at the top of your list.
Pros –
- High Performance
- Tighter timings and lower operating voltage out of the box.
- Overclocking headroom.
Cons –
- None in particular.
 
Note - A special thanks to Kingston, ASRock and Asus for providing the samples.
Click here to view the article
