Exceleram DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz 4GB Memory Review

DDR3 seems now to be the accepted model of choice when looking for some new RAM and it only feels like a little while back when 1066MHz and 1333MHz were the speed to have, but as technology moves on and other components get faster, it is a natural process where memory will follow. We are now looking at motherboards that accept up to 2200MHz and beyond, leaving the slower speeds of 1066 and 1333MHz in its wake. Obviously not everyone requires 2200MHz speed memory and certainly not everyone can afford it either but 1600MHz is looking to be the new standard with a decent bang for buck price point and a speed to rival most extreme systems on the market. There are also many more manufacturers' on the market, trying to get their piece of the pie. We all know of the main brands out there, including the likes of Corsair, Crucial, Kingston, Mushkin, and OCZ to name but a few. Honestly I could go on and on listing brands, including A-DATA, Samsung and many more but you will find that it's very much of a much-ness with these brands offering the same style products for around the same price and with all of the same promises. So what would deter you to buying one brand over the other? For me, they would have to offer the same performance, if not better, with the same trusted technology, but most importantly, have even better value for money. That's where a fairly new brand called Exceleram come into play with their nifty play on words to make the name of the organization. They offer cheap, no frills products with all of the performance and technology we need and it seems that a lot of products of theirs overclock quite well too which is a win/win situation if you ask me. Today we'll be looking at the Exceleram E30102A PC3-12800 1600MHz 4GB dual channel kit from them offering tight timings and low voltages for an attractive price.PackagingTheE30102A memory comes in a set of packaging that is no stranger to us with a plastic style clam shell which is perfect for placing a product like this in a shop. The packaging gives a clear view of the memory with all the relevant specifications printed on the modules sticker.There is also some abstract artsy card placed behind the modules for stylish effect and the Exceleram logo clearly printed at the top. The back of the packing gives more of a purpose to the card with the logo clearly printed again and in two different languages tells us that the memory is 100% hand tested which gives instant piece of mind and also comes with a 10 year warranty which rivals even some of the bigger manufacturer's. We can also find support details in the form of the Exceleram website and support email address. We are yet to hear any bad stories about Exceleram's support, which gives us hope for this fairly new company who have only hit the market recently in the past couple of years.SpecificationsThe memory we're looking at is part of a dual channel kit aimed at LGA1156 users. It consists of 2x2GB modules making up a 4GB kit. It has low timings and operates as a fairly standard voltage. It's speed is 1600MHZ, which puts it in line with most common speed DDR3 memory in this day and age. More information can be found on Exceleram's website, but for reference, here are the specifications taken from their product sheet. Specifications: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 400][TR][TD]Timings:[/TD][TD]6-8-7-24[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]Memory Speed:[/TD][TD]1600MHz[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]Operating Voltage:[/TD][TD]1.65 V[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]Standard:[/TD][TD]DDR3[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]Kit:[/TD][TD]2x2GB Dual Channel[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]Heatsink:[/TD][TD]Red Culvert[/TD][/TR][TR][TD]EAN Code:[/TD][TD]4260100427916[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]A Closer LookThe memory consists of two x 2GB memory modules making up a 4GB DDR3 kit which runs at 1600MHz, also known as PC3-12800. The memory comes equipped with dark red heatspreaders known as Red Culvert which have been seen from Exceleram in the past. They have also been known to produce various other colours including Blue Moon, Black Sark, Rippler and VX Saturn of which a full list of which modules use which heatspreaders can be found on the Exceleram website. The heatspreaders don't protrude above the memory modules themselves as we've seen on the likes of Corsair and Kingston modules in the past; meaning that clearance shouldn't be an issue and these should fit into any system that takes dual channel DDR3 modules. Both sides of the memory modules look identical barring the sticker that we always expect on memory modules. The logo is clearly printed with the signature X and website address below for a little bit of self-promotion. The sticker clearly gives the model name (E30102A), memory module size (2x2GB), speed (PC3-12800), voltage (1.65V), timings (6-8-7-24) and what seems to be a serial number and assembly/warranty details too. From what we can make out from the printed letters on the edge of the model, it seems the PCB is made by Smart Team Technology Inc. The printed letters are KO-60244. An Even Closer LookIn true eTeknix fashion, we are here to appeal to all types of users including the ones who love to read the lengthy reviews and also the users who like our style of videos. We also feel that by showing you a video of the product, it may give you an extra view on the product itself and help you in deciding if this product is right for you. Test SetupWith our testing procedures, as always, we try to remain as clear and concise as possible to give the fairest results on every bit of hardware we review. Graphics cards are no different with us using the same system hardware, software benchmarks and games. This allows us to show exactly how a certain piece of hardware performs. It also gives us the ability to show a broad spectrum of hardware for comparison purposes which aids in making purchasing decisions. Our main testing rig features the following components: Test SystemProcessor (CPU)AMD Phenom II X6 1100TMotherboardAsus Crosshair IV FormulaMemory (RAM)4GB Exceleram DDR3 1600MHz Graphics CardInno3D GeForce GTX 460 OC 1GBPrimary Hard DriveKingston V+ Series 64GB SSD x 2 (Raid 0)Power SupplyBFG EX Series 1200wattOperating SystemWindows 7 Professional 64-bitOverclockingWhen overclocking, some users may find it a daunting task, whereas some may find it as a bit of fun to do in their spare time. No matter who you are, you will be faced with mass amounts of settings and the process will always be the same. Overclocking has always been a trial and error exercise that involves changing multiple settings to get the results you are hoping for. Of course, there are software applications to aid you in finding the highest, stable overclock, but the best results are generally seen from using the motherboard's BIOS. When taking a look at the stock memory settings for this particular kit, we can clearly see the timings that are used at default. Our test motherboard did need the timings manually entered as it defaulted at much looser timings. The voltage for DRAM was also manually entered as per Exceleram's guidelines due to the wrong default value. The other option if your board supports it, is to choose the XMP profile, which for this memory was XMP-1600 which tells the board exactly which settings to choose from the memory. With us using an AM3 based test system, XMP wasn't available to us, as it's an Intel feature. Once the memory was set up, we could continue to run our benchmark tests, comparing it to the various other memory that we had available. For the sake of continuity, here is a CPU-Z screenshot showing the correct memory values for speed and timings. Once we had finished our testing at default speeds, we moved on to overclocking of which there is various different manners of doing it. It could involve loosening the timings and upping the voltage to the safest level whilst aiming for the highest DRAM frequency, but we are well aware here at eTeknix that a lot of consumer's don't like to alter voltage settings, and the memory has a higher fail rate if such settings are changed. Due to this, we decided that the best way to overclock would be with stock timings and voltage to see how far the memory could be pushed on default settings. In our eyes, this gives the memory a much more intensive test as it pushes the memory modules to the limit of its default settings. From overclocking the memory in this manner, we were able to keep the low latency timings that the memory comes with and with a voltage of 1.65 we were able to get a 86MHz overclock, which may not sound like a mass amount, but we did also have a tinker with the voltages and timings and found that anywhere from 1800MHz upwards was achievable giving a hefty 200MHz+ overclock, but upon testing, it showed that the looser timings and higher voltage didn't give a significant difference in benchmark testing. Everest - Memory ReadThis benchmark measures the maximum achiveable memory read bandwidth. The code behind this benchmark method is written in Assembly and it is extremely optimized for every popular AMD and Intel processor core variants by utilizing the appropriate x86, MMX, 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2 or SSE4.1 instruction set extension. The benchmark reads a 16 MB sized, 1 MB aligned data buffer from system memory into the CPU. Memory is read in forward direction, continuously without breaks. In order to avoid concurrent threads competing over system memory bandwidth, Memory Read benchmark utilizes only one processor core and one thread. In the memory read tests, we got clear distinctive results over some faster rated memory such as the Kingston HyperX DDR3 1800MHz memory but as we expected, falling behind the triple channel Patriot Viper Series. Overclocked Results: By the fairly small overclock that we got without upping any voltages or loosening off any timings, we were still able to get a nice 400MB/s increase in our memory read tests which would still leave it as the second fastest memory kit that we've looked at. Everest - Memory WriteThis benchmark measures the maximum achiveable memory write bandwidth. The code behind this benchmark method is written in Assembly and it is extremely optimized for every popular AMD and Intel processor core variants by utilizing the appropriate x86, MMX, 3DNow!, SSE or SSE2 instruction set extension. The benchmark writes a 16 MB sized, 1 MB aligned data buffer from the CPU into the system memory. Memory is written in forward direction, continuously without breaks. In order to avoid concurrent threads competing over system memory bandwidth, Memory Write benchmark utilizes only one processor core and one thread. Memory write tests took a slightly different direction with the Kingston memory coming out on top, but only slightly which gives us an insight as to how this memory could perform if pushed right to the limits. Overclocked Results: Once again, we see a 400MB/s increase from our overclock, which would pit this memory as the second fastest kit we've looked at, giving significant margin over the Kingston kits that beat it at stock speeds. Everest - Memory CopyThis benchmark measures the maximum achiveable memory copy speed. The code behind this benchmark method is written in Assembly and it is extremely optimized for every popular AMD and Intel processor core variants by utilizing the appropriate x86, MMX, 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2 or SSE4.1 instruction set extension. The benchmark copies a 8 MB sized, 1 MB aligned data buffer into another 8 MB sized, 1 MB aligned data buffer through the CPU. Memory is copied in forward direction, continuously without breaks. In order to avoid concurrent threads competing over system memory bandwidth, Memory Copy benchmark utilizes only one processor core and one thread. The memory copy tests gave just under a 400MB/s difference between this kit and the rival Kingston, but it is worth noting that the Kingston kit was comprised of 8GB and as such is quite suprising results from the Exceleram. Overclocked Results: The overclock on the memory copy tests gave a clear 600MB/s increase over stock which would put it just behind the Patriot Viper 6GB triple channel kit we reviewed quite some time ago. An increase like this from such a small overclock gives a lot of hope for voltage increasing to push out more MHz. Everest - Memory LatencyThis benchmark measures the typical delay when the CPU reads data from system memory. Memory latency time means the penalty measured from the issuing of the read command until the data arrives to the integer registers of the CPU. The code behind this benchmark method is written in Assembly, and uses 1 MB alignment, 1024-byte stride size. Memory is accessed in forward direction. Memory Latency benchmark test uses only the basic x86 instructions and utilizes only one processor core and one thread. The memory latency test shows the Exceleram consistant, giving fantastic results again, falling just behind a slower Kingston 1333MHz 4GB kit. The latency isn't too far off the Patriot kit, which just takes the crown by 3.4ns. Overclocked Results: The overclock brings the latency down slightly and brings it closer in line with the Patriot kit and gives a nice clear comparison between stock and overclock. This result shows that with more volts and a higher DRAM frequency, it is possible for this memory to get closer to 40ns for latency. ConclusionDue to Exceleram being quite an unknown brand (especially in the UK) I was quite suprised as to how this set of memory performed in comparison to various other brands with some clear results as one of the better dual channel kits we've had in our office. Taking the Patriot Viper Series 6GB kit out of the equation, it seems the Exceleram has taken the testing by storm and giving competative results when you look at the likes of some other well known brands. In our eyes, we see this as one of the best dual channel memory kits we've looked at here at eTeknix and can only now say good things about Exceleram and hope that they become more well known in the future, and personally I can't wait to try out some more products from the new kids on the block. Pros: Low latenciesOverclocking potentialFast performanceNice heatspreader designCons: AvailabilityMore volts needed for extreme overclockingRatings: Design - 10Features - 9Performance - 9Value - 8Overall - 9 Attached files 1.jpg (86.7 KB) 1.jpg (48 KB) 1.jpg (43.2 KB) 2.jpg (39.1 KB) 2.jpg (68.2 KB) 2.jpg (42.2 KB) 3.jpg (91.3 KB) 3.jpg (44.7 KB) 3.jpg (39.2 KB) 4.jpg (43.3 KB) 4.jpg (62.9 KB) 5.jpg (14.7 KB) 5.jpg (75.1 KB) 6.jpg (15.4 KB) 7.jpg (15.9 KB) 8.jpg (18.5 KB) exceleram.jpg (9.9 KB)

Test System
Processor (CPU)	AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
Motherboard	Asus Crosshair IV Formula
Memory (RAM)	4GB Exceleram DDR3 1600MHz
Graphics Card	Inno3D GeForce GTX 460 OC 1GB
Primary Hard Drive	Kingston V+ Series 64GB SSD x 2 (Raid 0)
Power Supply	BFG EX Series 1200watt
Operating System	Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

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