Memory Tested:
A-DATA Xtreme Series XPG X-Series
A-DATA may win the award for the most X's in its name by far (except for XFX triple-X series, but that's not memory), but its high performance CL7 memory at 1,600MHz yields a slight advantage over the competition below, not to mention its steel-grey heatspreaders are a welcome difference to the usual black. The downsides are considerable though: needing 1.75 to 1.85V, it exceeds the recommended specification for Intel Core Core i5/i7 CPUs and as such does not include an XMP profile.
Corsair Dominator CMD4GX3M2A1600C8
Corsair's latest Dominator heatsinks eschew the internal/external layering of old and instead include a replaceable strip along the top. The black design of heatsink and PCB will be the favour of many still, we expect, and its rated performance of 1,600MHz CL8 with XMP included leaves room for a bit more additional performance.
Corsair Dominator CMD8GX3M4A1600C8
Corsair's brand new 8GB kit is differentiated by its blue bling haircut. We think it certainly looks sharp and feels like a natural addition to the Dominator line up. At 1,600MHz CL8, it offers some slight performance gain and even includes an XMP profile too, however at well over £200 you'll certainly pay through the nose for the 8GB certification, instead of just picking up two 4GB kits.
Crucial Ballistix
Crucial's Ballistix line might be its premium grade offering, but as far as fancy heatsinks go it leaves a lot to be desired. On the plus side, orange is certainly different and not offensive when mixed with the black PCB, but the labeling is small and makes it difficult to see what modules they are. 1,600MHz at CL8 allows a degree of freedom to play with performance settings for not too much money.
Want to comment? Please log in.