Predator Vesta RGB DDR4 32GB 3600MHz Memory Review

There is no shortage of high-performance and great looking memory kits these days, with every major brand having some pretty exciting products to choose from for just about every budget. Predator is certainly more on the premium and high-end of the scale though, offering products that would appeal to the PC building enthusiast market. Plus, while Predator is an ACER brand, they're actually made by BIWIN, and since BIWIN manufactures and designs the products in-house, they have greater control over the design and hardware, unlike some companies that stamp different logos on the same blank DIMMS. Furthermore, BIWIN uses Samsung B-Die ICs, meaning we know the Predator Vesta memory should be pretty great already! Predator Vesta RGB DDR4 The Vesta is available in speeds of 3200 MHZ up to a nice and swift 4000 MHz. I have the 3600 MHz kit in for review, but with the Samsung B-die ICs delivering CL14 latencies, this is a nice sweet spot for performance. Furthermore, they come with a premium quality aluminium alloy heat sink, with built-in temperature sensors, a 10-layer PCB design with gold-plated contacts, and RGB integration too. Sure, a lot of these are pretty common features on high-end memory these days, but that doesn't lessen their impact. Features Samsung B-Die ICsMain frequency up to 4000 MHzCL14 LatencySupport XMP 2.0 one-click overclockingBuilt-in RGB5-Year Limited Warranty Specifications What Predator Had to Say "Engineered with original preferred-quality ICs, Predator Vesta memory features a high frequency up to 4000 MHz and supports XMP 2.0. The built-in temperature sensor monitors the real-time operating temperature, ideal for overclocking. The upgrade of its lighting effect brings more brightness and a more lifelike color display. The bottom of its light guide bar adopts a saw-tooth design, allowing for a natural lighting effect." - Predator Packaging The Predator Vesda DDR memory comes in a nicely designed box, with a large and clear image of the memory right on the front. You can see the shroud design, as well as some of the RGB. It also lists ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte and ASRock RGB compatibility. In the bottom right, you can see I have the 32GB (2x16GB) 3600 MHz kit. Around the back, there's a quick run down of the main features, such as XMP 2.0, Intel and AMD support, and RGB hardware. It's all pretty straightforward really. One thing I will say though, the box is pretty heavy for DDR4 memory, so those heatsinks must be pretty hefty. The slip cover comes off, revealing the more durable inner box. Lift that lid, and you'll find a clamshell plastic insert, with the two memory modules sitting snug within them. There's some thick black foam under them too, ensuring nothing rattles around, but I suspect this box would hold four DIMMS without the foam. That's about it though, so let's get them out of the box and take a closer look! A Closer Look They say first impressions go a long way, and thankfully for Predator, the Vesata RGB makes a great one. These modules look absolutely gorgeous! The heat sinks are enormous, but not really any bigger than other large heatsink modules I've seen from other brands, which is a good thing, as while bigger is better for cooling, they only need to be soo big before getting too silly. The quality of the finish is exceptional too, they look like cast or sandblasted aluminium with a nice texture to them, but they actually feel a lot smoother to the touch than they look. They must be coated with something too, as a texture like this normally gives a more matte finish. However, these look really, much like there's a little bit of glitter and polish to them, which I like. It's a good surface, with a nice soft and premium-looking finish to the metal. Of course, they're still heatsinks, so all the metal and surface area is going to help dissipate heat away from the ICs even more efficiently. There are some ridges that run the length of each DIMM on each side, further increasing the surface area. The modules are quite thick, so spaces between modules will be slim. However, that does afford a nice and thick lightbar on the spine. The bar also slips down next to the Predator logo here and there's quite a bit showing on each end also. Overall, the branding is kept minimal, although Vesta would have done just fine, as printing RGB on there seems redundant given then... well, the BIG FREAKING RGB LIGHT BAR AT THE TOP... just saying. But honestly, thumbs up for the fairly minimal and stylish branding overall. Even the little serial number sticker is a big smarter than some of the cheap labels I so often see. How We Test Here at eTeknix, we endeavour to disclose vital information regarding the benchmarking process so that readers can quantify the results and attempt to replicate them using their hardware. When it comes to our benchmarks in our reviews, the benchmarks are pretty self-explanatory although there are a few exceptions. Remember that your choice of graphics card, CPU, the silicon lottery, and other factors can yield different numbers, and there's always a margin for error when using any software. Therefore, your experience may vary. Testing Your Own System Links are provided below, as well as the settings we use. We encourage you to not just look at how one product compares to any other, but how it compares to your own. If you're looking to build a new system, you should benchmark your current PC using our benchmarks and settings where possible. You should then look at the percentage improvement from your current hardware to the hardware we tested to give you a ballpark figure of how much an upgrade this will provide you with. Test System Motherboard – Gigabyte Aorus Pro Z390Processor – Intel Core i9-9900K @ StockCPU Cooler – Noctua NH-D15SPower Supply – Be Quiet Power Zone 1000WMain Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GBOperating System – Windows 10 64-bit Software Used CineBench R15 (download)AIDA 64 Engineer (download)WPrime (download)3DMark Fire Strike Physics (download)HWMonitor (download)CPU-Z (download) Methodology In our RAM reviews, we keep things relatively simple. We put the RAM kit that is being tested into our test system and benchmark it at its first XMP profile using a variety of benchmarks and tests. Once complete, we apply a reasonable overclock where possible and benchmark the same software with the overclocked values. The CPU clock speed is set to default for both runs. CineBench R15 CPU & OpenGL This is quality memory, made from some of the best and most popular components, so it posting perfectly fine on the XMP profile is no big surprise. However, while the speed is good already, it's those low CL14 latencies that really lean into the great performance figures, which is going to lead to a more responsive system overall. Those huge heatsinks ensure rock-solid performance too, so even in scenarios of heavy and sustained usage, performance should not falter. CineBench R15 CPU & OpenGL AIDA64 WPrime 32M 3DMark Fire Strike Custom – Physics 1080p PCMark 10 CPU Profile How Much Does It Cost? Memory prices are pretty great right now. However, a dual 16GB kit is obviously still going to be a bigger investment, and even more so when going for both a higher clock speed and lower latency kit. While you can get 3200 MHz 16GB kits for just $129.99 the full-fat version I reviewed today is actually $299.99. I personally think that's good value though, as this is a premium quality product that can hold its head up against the best from any other big name brand. Overview Let's be honest, the ACER brand is one that inspires thoughts of boredom, but in recent years, ACER has given the brand a gamma bomb infusion of strength with the Predator series. Sure, they've been killing it in the monitor market and a few other products in recent years. However, it's clear they're gunning for the enthusiast marker more than ever, and so far, it seems to be paying off for them. There's no shortage of ultra-fast gaming memory these days. Actually, I think you'll be bloody hard pushed to find DDR4 memory kit that is anything short of excellent these days. The market has had a long time to mature, and manufacturers have figured out how to get every bit of performance and reliability from the hardware now. Even some of the bare PCB DIMMS are really good now, so you can't really go wrong without considerable effort in doing so. Of course, that's not to dismiss the efforts of BIWIN and ACER here, as this is still one of the best sets out there. The hardware they've chosen is all the best components, and it's built from pre-binned chips that provide it which much lower latencies, and much higher performance, as a result. Will your typical consumer care? Likely not, but if you're an enthusiast looking to ensure higher FPS and benchmark results, you'll see the value in it. The build quality is exceptional though, with great components overall, but also a truly premium heatsink design that can hold its own against the best from any other brand. They're super heavy, and all that mass is going to ensure it can drag the heat away from the DIMMs, preventing any kind of loss in performance. Furthermore, you get a massive RGB lightbar on the top, not uncommon these days, but again, it'll work with all major RGB interfaces, and has all the effects you'd expect from any other big-name brand. If you're looking for high performance, low latency, stunning RGB and exceptional build quality, look no further. The ACER Predator Vesa ticks all the right boxes!