Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR3 2133MHz 16GB Memory Kit Review

In the mainstream enthusiast market for PC hardware, there are so many DDR3 memory kits to choose from, its no wonder we look at so many, filtering out the cream of the crop so that the number of options has been narrowed down. There is a group of people however that falls into a different market group, the extreme enthusiasts. These people strive to get the best of the best for their system. No matter what piece of hardware we look to buy, there are three different criteria that we have and every time you are only allowed to choose two of them - price, performance and quality. Broadly speaking the two most chosen criteria are price and performance, after all the vast majority of people want to get as much bang for their buck as they can. There are those that want an item with great quality and good price, but are willing to sacrifice some performance to get it. The last pair to choose is performance and quality and this is where we find most extreme enthusiasts looking, they want to get the best performance and quality they can, with no real concern to the cost. Corsair has been producing high end memory kits for a number of years alongside their lines of cases, power supplies and cooling options. Of the memory kits they have in their catalogue, the Vengeance kits are some of the most popular with many different SKUs to pick from depending on specific user needs. Next up in the product line, we find their Dominator kits, which focus a little more on getting a more even balance between performance and quality. Earlier on in the year at CES, we heard the announcement that there was to be a new addition to the line-up, namely the Dominator Platinum. The new kit is set to be the pinnacle of Corsair's memory line-up where nothing is sacrificed, and in fact we even see some additions made. With kits coming in a variety of capacities ranging from 8GB right up to 64GB and speeds from 1600MHz upto 2400MHz, there is certainly a few to chose from. The kit that we have to look at today, is towards the middle of the new line-up in terms of capacity and speed and this is typically the type of capacity and speed that we commonly see purchased for most systems. Having used Corsairs Vengeance kits for quite a period of time in all of our test benches and seeing how well they perform, we have good hopes for the Dominator Platinum both in terms of stock performance and also seeing how much more they can do with their hand picked ICs that show signs of great performance potential over and above their rated speeds. Shipped in an all black box, we have a clean and crisp design to the octagonal box to suite the modules themselves inside. A slim window at the top gives a glance to the kit that is inside. Turning the box over, we get a little bit of information on the Dominator Platinum's key features, including an 'iconic' heatspreader design with customisable lightbar, support for Corsair's Link technology to monitor the kit's performance and DHX cooling technology for better heat dissipation. Something a little different to what we normally see, the packaging is split into two halves that open out to reveal a window onto each of the modules. Taking the modules out of the box, the first thing that is apparent is how weighty they are. The solid heatspreaders that cover the majority of each module are topped off with a unique heatsink that cools the top of the PCB directly to achieve an all round better cooling efficiency. As seen through the small windows in the packaging, each module has sticker showing key information including, model number, capacity, speed timings and operating voltage. Along the top of the heatspreaders, we find the word Dominator etched into the metal frame, a slight touch that finishes each module off. Another feature that is different on the Platinum kit as we saw on the back of the box, is the customisable light bar which runs up and along the top of the kit giving a soft glow in white. This can be changed by fitting different colour bars which are available separately. Talking about the Link technology, each module has a five pin Link connector to enable connection to a Link control module (available separately) Once connected up, the Link control panel allows for monitoring of each modules performance along with customisation of the light bars. With Ivy Bridge opening up the pathway for fast memory, and what we typically spoke about in our introduction, we were keen to see how this memory would perform on our Asus Maxmius V Formula Z77 motherboard with our i7 3770k Ivy Bridge processor. Test system: Asus Maximus V Formula Intel Core i7 3770k AMD Radeon HD 7970 Antec Kuhler 920 Corsahir HX1050W Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD Lian Li T60 3 x AOC E2795VH Before we get onto the testing phase of the review, its crucial that we ensure that the memory is running at the right speed, so in the BIOS we set the Ai Overclock Tuner to XMP mode, and we immediately see that the memory is running at the correct speed of 2133MHz with a timing of 9-11-10-30 at 1.5v. After we had configured the memory to run at the correct stock speeds and timings, we proceeded to boot into Windows to check that the settings had stuck by taking a look at CPU-Z. After we had confirmed our speeds, we continued to open AIDA64 so that we could take a look at the stock performance of this kit. This is a great way to start when benchmarking and attempting to overclock memory as it gives us a stable ground for comparison later on. Taking a look at the stock performance levels, we can clearly see that a higher level of attention to detail has gone into the kits with read speeds of 20834MB/s, write of 18589MB/s and copy of 22540MBs at a latency of 36.2ns. Considering this is a 2133MHz kit, the bandwidth available is higher than that of the 2400MHz kits we've seen lately. As these kits are meticulously hand picked with each one being individually tested and selected for their performance, starting ground up with the ICs themselves, there is a good scope for this kit having a bit more in it, although how far this is to stretch is what we're about to find out. Like any other kit, we first of all overclock our 3770k to 4.5GHz to alleviate some of the bottleneck that is present on the memory controller and let the Platinum breath a bit more easily. Once this is done, the first job was to start jumping up through the preset dividers and with a slight slackening of the timings to 10-12-12-31, 2400MHz was easily achieved with no fuss. Unfortunately 2600MHz resulted in a no boot even with further slackening to the timings and a raise in voltage, indicating the 200MHz band where this kit was going to hit its limit. Raising the BCLK up bit by bit, the 2500MHz barrier quickly passed and eventually at 107.1MHz and a voltage of 1.55v, we hit the upper limit of what this kit could hold at a remarkable speed of 2580MHz in respect to its stock speeds. Following one of the easiest overclocks I've experienced with a memory kit, and some in-between testing for stability, the final results appeared with read speeds of 24829MB/s, write of 22772MB/s and copy of 24825MB/s at a reduced latency of 30.4ns. We did attempt to reduce the timings down ever so slightly and whilst the system did boot, at the moment we got to the Windows login screen, we we bombarded with Windows memory errors showing the tighter timings were not stable. Its clear to say that Corsair have certainly created a cream of the crop kit from the start. Looking first of all at the physical features on the modules, they have a greater feel of quality in comparison to the likes of their own Vengeance kits. The clean lines and bold appearance really sets the kit apart when installed into any system. The inclusion of the lighting on the modules may see a bit over the top, but it has been done in such a way on this kit that it simply sets it off with a warm glow and taking into consideration this can be changed by changing out the bars for different coloured plastics, making them suitable for any system colour scheme. Unfortunately we wasn't able to take a further look into the Link system with its performance monitoring capabilities, however there is a load of information on Corsair's website that gives a more in depth view. Naturally the other key aspect of this kit apart from its quality and features is with out a doubt its performance. For any kit to overclock by over 20% is a great accomplishment and as I noted on the previous page, this kit was one of the easiest I've had to clock up form its stock settings, with only a little touch to the voltage and timings required. Naturally, this is taking the speeds to the extreme and what I did find when going through the overclock process was that at the 2400MHz divider and with a slight increase in the timings, the bandwidth all round was at its optimum and as we all know, Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs love bandwidth. When we look at the price point for this 16GB kit, retailing for around the £200 mark, to be honest I was expecting it to be a little higher in price. That said though next kit up, with a stock speed of 2400MHz in the same 4x4GB format is on the shelves for around £275, so this does lead to the potential of saving some cash in the hope that another kit will be able to clock just as well, but if you're in the market for a kit like this that performs very well and is built solid, then the price point is not really a factor as I touched on right back at the start. Bottom line, if you are after one of the best kits around with features that you won't elsewhere and you strive to get that, no matter what the cost, then Corsair's Dominator Platinum kit is really one of the best out there.