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HWM+HardwareZone.com Tech Awards 2013: Editor's Choice - Part 2

By Team HardwareZone - 18 Mar 2013

Best DDR3 Memory (DDR3-2133MHz)

Best DDR3 Memory (DDR3-2133MHz)

With DDR3-1600MHz and DDR-1866MHz becoming the new norm as processors and platforms evolve, we looked ahead of the curve to evaluate the next sweet spot in enthusiast memory modules that can provide good day-to-day performance and room to overclock - all without breaking your bank. While there are many memory module brands in the market, only a handful fit our requirements of being launched during our assessment period and have competitive memory timings to lay claim of being the fastest DDR3-2133MHz memory modules. We narrowed down the nomination to the more popular dual-channel memory kits that are versatile enough for various platforms and have voltage rated no higher than the recommended 1.65V (or lower) for best compatibility with modern AMD and Intel processing platforms. The nominees are as follows:

Nominees: 

 

  • Corsair Dominator Platinum - CMD8GX3M2B2133C9
  • Crucial Ballistix Elite - BLE2KIT4G3D213ACE1TX0
  • G.Skill RipjawsX - F3-17000CL9D-8GBXM
  • Kingston HyperX Predator (T2) - KHX21C11T2K2/8X
  • Patriot Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters Memory, Limited Edition - PVI38G213C1K

 

And the Winner Is...

Corsair Dominator Platinum with Corsair Link Connector

From the start of our testing, it was evident that the memory kits from Corsair, Crucial, and G.Skill with their lower latency timings had an advantage over the kits with higher latency timings; i.e., those from Kingston and Patriot Memory. During our temperature tests, the kits from Kingston and Corsair ran the coolest at 28 degrees Celsius, while the G.Skill RipjawsX series ones operated at the highest at 29.5 degrees Celsius.

With their stated latency timings left untouched, we carried out our overclocking trials. In terms of relative gains from their respective base non-overclocked bandwidth performance levels, the kits from Corsair, Kingston and Patriot Memory registered gains that ranged from 11 to 12%. Higher latency memory modules tend to provide more headroom for overclocking; however, the oddball in this mix is the Corsair Dominator Platinum that has a lower stock latency. Its excellent overclocking performance can be attributed to its quality build components as well as its elaborate heatspreader, which has proven to be great aid in keeping temperatures low. It also continued its proud lineage as an enthusiast’s memory module kit as it achieved the highest overclocked frequency of 2,354MHz, which translates to the highest measured bandwidth of 31.426GB/s in this shootout.

Here are a couple of relevant benchmarks from our test suite:

Scoring Breakdown
Criteria/Model Corsair Dominator Platinum Crucial Ballistix Elite G.Skill RipjawsX Kingston HyperX Predator (T2) Patriot Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters Memory
Performance 8.0 8.0 7.5 7.5 7.0
Features 9.0 8.0 7.5 7.5 7.5
Value 7.5 7.0 7.0 9.0 9.0
Overall 8.5 8.0 7.5 8.0 7.5
Price S$185 S$119 S$109 S$99 S$99

For more details on how we selected our winners, check out the full reviews and articles listed at the References section at the end. 

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