Before I get on to the specifics, please keep a few things in mind:
1.) Forget about XMP, this is going to be manual tuning all the way. Probably even on an Intel platform.
2.) If you just want to game or run some other app that requires fast memory with a minimum of hassle, this kit is not for you.
3.) If you have a Ryzen platform, you probably won't get useful performance out of this kit above 3800 MT/s.
4.) Unless you have won the silicon lottery with your specific Ryzen CPU sample, even 3800 MT/s isn't going to happen.
5.) Likewise, even if you have a golden chip. you are going to need some luck with your motherboard.
6.) You should expect to spend hours and hours tweaking and testing to get something usable. If that is not your idea of fun, this kit is not for you.
Now, if you are undeterred by all of the above and are still interested in this kit, please read on.
The kit comes in some rather plain packaging. Some people are unhappy with this, but I say that the plainer the packaging, the easier it is to recycle, so I am good there. I want my money to go to R&D, quality binned B-die chips, and QA. Not to marketing or packaging.
Another complaint I hear about this kit is that the heat spreader is kind of cheap. This is fact. However, fancy heat spreaders are a bit of a scam. Even at high voltage and clock, you are not sinking much more than 5W of power into each stick, so whatever. I would prefer no heat spreader, same binned b-die, same quality PCB, and $1 less for the product. That being said, these sticks are a little on the tall side. Keep this in mind if there might be a clearance problem between your RAM and your tower cooler. If I wanted two kits of this, it would be an issue for me. But since I only want one and the slot nearest to the CPU is unoccupied, I have no clearance issue.
I spent hours trying to get these to run at 3800 MT/s, to no avail. It is either the IMC inside my R5 3600XT or my motherboard (MSI B450 Pro Carbon WiFi), not the kit's fault. I had no trouble at all running at 3733 MT/s, and I got timings that were even better than were suggested by DRAM Calculator for Ryzen. I used 'fast' settings, 'A3/A2/B1' for for PCB rev, and (of course) "Samsung B-die' for memory type.
I used the exact recommended primary, secondary, and tertiary timings. However, the termination resistances didn't work for me; I went with the board's defaults for those. After testing extensively at 15-15-15-15-30-1T and passing, I went for 14-14-14-14-28-1T. Those passed my quick testing and I am half way through the full battery of MemTest86 as I write this review. I am really, really comfortable with the looser settings and they are giving me everything I want.
That being said, I am looking forward to hours and hours more fun tightening down the secondary and tertiary timings to not leave even one cycle of performance on the floor. If I get bored with that, I might be forced to game instead of benching -)
For $125 I got a kit of the highest possible bin of B-die memory and it suits me perfectly. You can buy more expensive kits if you need the name "G.Skill" printed on the side, and still more expensive kits if you want that plus RGB. As for me, I don't care about anything except the bin quality and quality time at my bench. I figure I saved somewhere between $50 and $100 making this choice as opposed to the best bin of TridentZ RGB and lost exactly zero performance doing it. That is going to be my down payment on a shiny new R5 5600X as soon as I can get my sweaty little hands on one.
Now, if you are still planning on buying these, I have a few quick tips for you to save some time:
1.) Have your bootable USB stick with MemTest86 on it ready before your package arrives.
2.) Use the same stick to save your OC profiles, unless your mobo will retain your profiles after clearing CMOS
3.) Plan on testing outside of your case unless you have a clear CMOS button on your back panel.
4.) For initial testing, cut the address range down to 4G and skip the last two tests, and do two passes instead of four. this will save you a ton of time.
5.) Once you have settings you like, run all tests, full address range over night before using them 24/7.
6.) Start at DRAM voltage of 1.5V. Once you have settings you like, you can experiment with cutting some voltage, if you like. This won't hurt anything and will save you some time upfront.
7.) Enjoy the ride. If this doesn't sound fun, just get a 3600 CL16 kit for $80, boot it in XMP and call it a day.
I hope this helps and thank you for reading.
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 |
|---|---|
| Memory Speed | 4133 MHz |
