Kingston HyperX DDR3 1800MHz 4GB Dual Channel Kit

Kingston are regarded as one of the biggest manufacturers of memory based products today and aim to cater for all types of systems from the likes of AMD and Intel, whether it be for the low-end market, high-end gamers or enthusiast/overclocking markets. They do it all. Kingston has sent us one of their HyperX 1800MHz memory module kits to look at. It's a dual channel kit which operates at 1800MHz with a CAS latency of 9 and whilst this doesn't sound like anything too spectacular, this memory kit is made for stability and compatibility across all platforms. Specifications[HR][/HR] Type: DDR3Rated Speed: PC3-14400Speed: 1800MHzSize: 4GB (2x2GB)Latency: 9-9-9-27Voltage: 1.7-1.9VHeatspreaders: BlueWarranty - LifetimePackaging and Bundle Kingston use a very simple design for the packaging consisting of a plastic pack held together by an information label which also acts as a security seal. You get a clear view of the modules through the packaging and can see the sticker listing the model name, voltages and relevant part numbers. The sticker that doubles up as a security seal gives quite a bit of information. It tells you the model number (KHX1800C9D3K2/4G), size of the kit (4GB in this case), speed (DDR3 - 1800) as well as the CAS latency of the particular kit. This kit uses a CAS latency of 9. Contents[HR][/HR]Once the packaging has been opened up, you will see that supplied are:2 x 2GB DDR3 1800MHz memory modules1 x User guide/warranty information booklet A Closer Look The modules use the existing blue heatspreaders found on older Kingston modules and brand the HyperX logo in the middle. The heatspreaders are low profile and don't protrude over the modules leaving clearance issues that other HyperX modules had in the past. The Kingston logo and DDR3 emblem are also present to differentiate between other types of memory. Turning the modules over reveals a similar design but this time with a sticker featuring a hologram type design to prove the authenticity of the modules. This sticker gives all of the information needed including model number, kit size, voltage range and serial numbers. Test Setup For testing purposes, we aim to keep our hardware components and test systems as consistent as possible by using the same components throughout our tests. This gives a fair set of results and gives very little room for error.We collate our results to compare against other memory from various manufacturers of different speeds and nature.When testing memory modules, we run them at the manufacturer's specified speeds, timings and voltages to give the stock results that a consumer would be greeted with.Each test is run 3 times to ascertain concise results and to rule out the chance of a fluke result in the various tests that we ran. These tests included all of the vital memory tests contained in Aida64. These tests give accurate results of the memory's read, write and copy speeds as well as the memory latency.Our test rig includes the following components:Test SystemProcessor (CPU)AMD Phenom II X6 1100TMotherboardAsus Crosshair IV FormulaMemory (RAM)4GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 1800MHz Graphics CardAMD Radeon HD 6850 1GBPrimary Hard DriveKingston V+ Series 64GB SSD x 2 (Raid 0)Power SupplyBFG EX Series 1200wattOperating SystemWindows 7 Professional 64-bitOverclocking The first step when overclocking is to make sure the memory is running at stock settings and is stable. Therefore, we made sure to run the memory at 1800MHz with the stock timings of 9-9-9-27 @ 1.7-1.9V. The voltage really does depend on your motherboard and power supply, and how efficiently the power can be pushed through to the memory. Once we were able to boot into Windows using the stock speeds, we made sure that the memory was stable using various software. This also included coming out of Windows and running Memtest, which will flag any errors or stability issues up.When overclocking memory there are many factors including the speed (DRAM Frequency), timings and voltages. Each aspect plays its part and limits the memory in some shape or form leaving different results depending on the scenario you use.As a for instance, you could loosen the timings as far as they go which will enable you to get a higher overclock in terms of frequency, but the bandwidth will be affected due to the loose timings. We therefore believe that the best performance increase when overclocking is obtained by keeping the voltage and timings at stock, whilst pushing the frequency to its limit whilst keeping stability in mind.We were able to increase the DRAM frequency from the stock 900MHZ (1800MHz DDR3) to the stock 900MHz whilst maintaining the timings of 9-9-9-27 at 1.7-1.9V. How good are we? By having a voltage range, you'd expect at least 1MHz but by giving a little bit of extra juice to the modules, it didn't help in the slightest. By loosening the timings and pushing the voltage up even more, we can expect a bit of scope for overclocking but for the quest of getting the best performance, it seems to run straight out of the box.Results Memory Read[HR][/HR]This benchmark measures the maximum achievable 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. Memory Write[HR][/HR]This benchmark measures the maximum achievable 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 Copy[HR][/HR]This benchmark measures the maximum achievable 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. Memory Latency[HR][/HR]This 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. Final Thoughts Kingston have always been a favourite of ours in terms of the whole package. This includes quality, price, and the overall brand and it seems that these modules give exactly that with a fast speed straight out of the box, and timings to give some fantastic return.Sadly, the memory isn't aimed at the overclocking market, and that was shown straight away when we couldn't get even a measly 1MHz overclock, but the way you have to look at things is that if you get above and beyond the manufacturer rated specs, it's a bonus, but sadly no cigar with these particular modules.Overall, if you want a good rated set of 1800MHz memory modules for a competitive price and from a reliable, trusted brand such as Kingston, then this is the set for you. Another reason to buy this kit is to use in slightly lower specced machines where you can downclock the speed to give tighter timings and appreciate little to no price difference from lower speed modules.Pros: Fast memory Reliable brand Good value for money StylishCons: No room for overclockingWe would like to thank Kingston for supplying this sample You can purchase this item from CCL Online Attached files 1.jpg (77.4 KB) 2.jpg (83.5 KB) 3.jpg (91.2 KB) 4.jpg (67.9 KB) 5.jpg (80 KB) 6.jpg (82.7 KB) 7.jpg (72.1 KB) copy.jpg (51.1 KB) kingston.jpg (13.3 KB) latency.jpg (51.9 KB) read.jpg (52 KB) silver.jpg (12.4 KB) stock.jpg (39.4 KB) write.jpg (53.7 KB)