Corsair Vengeance RGB Memory Preview

Corsair Vengeance RGB Memory Preview

Manufacturer: Corsair
UK price (as reviewed): 16GB (2x8GB) 3000MHz kit: £149.99 inc VAT
32GB (4x8GB) 3000MHz kit: £299.99 inc VAT
US price (as reviewed): 16GB (2x8GB) 3000MHz kit: $169.99 (ex Tax)
32GB (4x8GB) 3000MHz kit: $339.99 (ex Tax)

Memory was one of the first pieces of hardware to be illuminated in a way that was designed to bolster aesthetics and the early efforts of Crucial with its Ballistix Tracers, for example, began a continuing love affair between enthusiasts and LED-equipped DIMMS. Dozens of manufacturers have joined the fray but some of the more elegant products have come from Corsair with its Dominator Platinum and Vengeance LED memory.


Today, we're looking at something many have been expecting for a while - Vengeance LED has gone full RGB. Unsurprisingly named Vengeance RGB, there are two kits slated to hit shelves soon and both sit at 3000MHz; a quad-channel 32GB four DIMM kit and a 16GB dual-channel kit, with a dual-channel 32GB kit and larger quad-channel kits in the pipeline too. Thankfully, despite the huge boon of being able to individually fine-tune the colour of the lighting on each module in a variety of ways, there's less than a £15 price difference between the price you'd pay for a 16GB 3000MHz standard Vengeance LED dual-channel kit and the full RGB version, which costs £150.


The benefit of RGB in addition to the ability to control the lighting effects, which the kit can do, is that you're able to colour-match the LEDs to your own needs - great if you're switching cases, motherboards or painting your case. G.Skill offers a similar kit, while GeiL introduced an RGB LED memory kit some time ago. However, that used some hideous cables that controlled the DIMMs via a third party RGB controller.


Interestingly GeiL told us that due to DIMM slot power constraints, it would impossible to get an onboard controller to work with a frequency of more than 3000MHz, which could be the reason there's nothing faster from Corsair today. That said, G.Skill's Trident Z RGB memory is faster, so it's likely there is a way to tap into some extra power.