Apacer Blade Fire DDR4 3200MHz 32GB Memory Kit Review

John Williamson / 9 years ago

Final Thoughts

Price

At the time of writing, the Apacer Blade Fire DDR4 3200MHz dual channel kit is available in a 16GB set from Newegg.com for $125.99 including free shipping. Purchasing two of these packs is an expensive proposition and completely overkill unless you work with heavy editing tasks, RAW photography or run multiple virtual machines. Of course, this applies to every 32GB kit on the market. Nevertheless, the 16GB version isn’t cheap and costs significantly more than premium modules from companies with a rich history in overclocking. For example, the G.Skill TridentZ 16GB 3200MHz dual channel kit only costs $89.99 and features an absolutely stunning heat spreader design. This makes it quite difficult for consumers to justify paying extra when the G.Skill memory enthuses such a marvellous sense of luxury.

Overview

Apacer’s design team have done a phenomenal job with the Blade Fire memory kit and created something which looks spectacular. The unusual military theme which revolves around a sharp knife is eye-catching and adds a unique feel to any system build. Furthermore, the contrast between the black blade and silver edges is magnificent and blends into the DIMMs in a streamlined manner. I’m also really fond of the vibrant red illumination which pulsates at different rates depending on memory utilisation. Typically, memory kits can be rather mundane and companies opt for safe designs. This certainly isn’t the case with the Blade Fire and Apacer deserve a great deal of credit for breaking the mould.

Unfortunately, I experienced numerous problems trying to get the memory kit to work on the X99 platform and it failed on 5 different testing motherboards. Not only that, I looked into BIOS updates, trying only two DIMMs and nothing seemed to resolve the issue. This begs the question, is the kit compatible with the 2011-v3 chipset? Theoretically, it shouldn’t have any problems and Apacer clearly outlines that the memory is suitable for X99 systems. Of course, I might have received a bad sample and your mileage could vary. However, I have to judge the memory on my own personal experience which means I cannot recommend it to X99 customers at this time.

When it comes to performance, the memory’s stock numbers are superb and in many situations, surpassed the G.Skill TridentZ 3200MHz kit. Although, it’s important to note that the G.Skill kit we previously reviewed has a total capacity of 16GB. As previously mentioned, it’s challenging to know the memory’s exact standings due to the differences between our Z170 and X99 testing equipment. In terms of overclocking, the Blade Fire instantly accepted the 3400MHz setting in the BIOS and reached 3466MHz after some BCLK adjustments. Additionally, this became stable with a minor voltage change from 1.35v to 1.395v. Once this was achieved, it was simple enough to optimise the timings to 17-17-17-39 and determine the memory kit’s full potential. After the overclock was applied, the modules exhibited good performance gains with improved bandwidth and lower latency.

Pros

Attractive red illumination
Decent overclocking headroom
Great stock performance
Innovative knife design
Low voltage
Timings can be easily reduced

Cons

More expensive than widely respected models like the G.Skill TridentZ
Struggled to work on various X99 motherboards
Three-year warranty is sorely lacking

“The Apacer Blade Fire DDR4 3200MHz 32GB dual channel kit features one of the most innovative aesthetic designs ever conceived. Sadly, this comes at a price and many users will feel inclined to purchase other products with a longer warranty period.”