4GB DDR3 Memory Roundup - Part 2

Patriot Viper Series PC3-14400 4GB kit

Manufacturer: Patriot Memory
UK Price (as reviewed): TBA. Available from Aria
Addendum 24th November 2008: Now available for £176.19
US Price (as reviewed): $299.99 (ex. Tax)

Patriot's Viper series is its premium DIMM design with "Viper Heat Shields with integrated ACC - Aluminium Copper Composite" which are directly stuck to the memory chips that sit on the very tasty looking matt black PCB. This Viper series comes with funky green coloured 'sinks as an indication that they're designed for Nvidia motherboards with EPP(2) technology. The Viper modules with Intel XMP technology are plain silver, and the latest triple-channel kits are a sort of sky-blue.

The green we've got here looks different to the usual blues, blacks and reds to say the least, but upon closer inspection the finish appears to be... painted. We have to admit, we're used to anodised aluminium that doesn't act as an insulator over the top like paint does, although while the finish is thin yet hard-wearing, which is good, the colour is not entirely uniform as the green looks faded into yellow between the vertical rods. To satisfy the pendant that I am, on closer inspection there are imperfections with the odd speck of dirt trapped underneath during manufacturing.

Does it make a quantifiable difference? No, not in the least, but as a premium part and seeing as both the quality of PCB and the logos on either side is exceptionally high (as we'd expect), the "paint" is a more obvious drop in standards. That's a shame, in all honestly, because these had the potential to look awesome.


On the plus side, the Viper heat shields (as Patriot refers to them) are blunt at the top so putting pressure on the DIMMs to install them doesn't render a set of dented pinkies. The other advantage of the Viper Series is that they're no taller than the competition and fit next to each other with plenty of space to spare to allow ample airflow between modules.

Features

Kit: 2 x 240-pin DDR3 Double Sided DIMM
Module Size: 4GB Dual Channel Kit (2 x 2GB)
Module Code: PVS34G1800LLKN
Rated Speed: 1,800MHz
Rated Timings: 8-8-8-24
Rated Voltage: 2.0V
Memory Chips: Samsung HCF0
EPP/XMP: Yes EPP2

After careful removal of the heat shields, we found Patriot uses the same Samsung HFC0 that we've seen used on G.Skill and Corsair modules recently. The theoretical performance capacity of these should be the same (despite speed binning differences), and we found the memory can achieve low latency at 1,600MHz fairly easily, in addition to a decent overclock at CAS-9 like the others.

However with a stock voltage at an already high 2.0V, we found that we couldn't push it as far as other DIMMs on the upper end of MHz. Nvidia's EPP2 is useful for the nForce 790i Ultra SLI boards, although understandably there's no XMP alternative on offer from Patriot because getting high frequencies from Intel's X48 is far more difficult.


With a lifetime warranty Patriot memory adheres to the high standards set elsewhere in the enthusiast market and essentially provides complete coverage for crazy overclocking exploits.