Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 2400MHz 16GB Memory Kit Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

In the UK we are seeing pricing of £151.39 at our preferred retailers. In the USA we are seeing typical pricing of $189.99 and in Canada we are seeing a price of about $200. In context we typically see 16GB (2 X 8GB) 2400MHz memory kit go for about £140-165/US$140-180/CA$160-190 so we can see that the Corsair Vengeance Pro is not the cheapest memory on the market but it does fall within the competitive price regions for what it is. In terms of cheaper options Corsair are facing a lot of stiff price competition from Patriot, G.Skill, Kingston and Team Group. A point to mention is that the price of each different colour (red, blue, silver and gold) does vary as much as +-10% and does vary more between retailers – there is no uniform pricing on the different colours. Availability at this present time is also poor. I’ve struggled to find this kit in stock at any large retailers so if you want to get your hands on it you will most definitely have to pre-order from your preferred retailer.

Conclusions

I have never really been a huge fan of super high frequency RAM kits, namely anything that runs above 2133MHz. However, what we are starting to see is that as the Integrated Memory Controllers on new CPUs (Haswell, Ivy Bridge to an extent) becomes able to take advantage of higher memory frequencies, these higher frequency kits do actually boost performance a bit. The sweet spot for “the point of maximum gain” before higher frequencies start to make little to no difference has started to rise. Arguably it has made a transition from 1600 to 1866 to 2133 and now we are gradually moving to 2400 as that maximum point. Of course some applications and usage scenarios can use kits that are higher than that but for general system usage arguably somewhere between 2133-2400 is now the sensible place to hedge your bets.

Another thing that always bugged me about high frequency RAM kits was the steep price taper. In going from 2133MHz to 2400MHz the price could almost double. However, Corsair’s Vegeance Pro 2400MHz kit is only about 10-20% more expensive than a 1866MHz kit – quite a reasonable price jump if you ask me. Now the Vengeance Pro 2400MHz kit we have now finished testing certainly fits the bill for someone looking to get the most from their system. Arguably the 2400MHz is still quite extreme but these kits are still useable for the “non-extreme” user. That is because they are XMP certified, look fantastic, come with customisable colours and are backed by a lifetime warranty. My only quibble with this kit from Corsair is that it didn’t really overclock and the overclock it did succeed in actually lowered performance.

Pros

• Aesthetics
• Lifetime warranty
• Competitive pricing for its speed
• Extreme level of performance

Cons

• Large variance in pricing between different coloured kits
• Overclocking headroom is low and saw performance drop

eTeknix says: “Corsair’s Vengeance Pro 2400MHz 16GB kit would be overkill for most people’s systems. Yet despite that Corsair have still managed to find a superb balance of performance, aesthetics, functionality and value for money making the Vengeance Pro 2400MHz 16GB kit an excellent product for any user with a Haswell or Ivy Bridge K series CPU. If you have an older system or aren’t really into overclocking then we’d recommend opting for a more moderate speed of 1866MHz but if you’re into high speed RAM and have a system that’s capable of taking advantage of it then this kit is definitely one of the premier contenders.”

Thank you to Corsair for providing this review sample.