Thermaltake ToughRAM RGB DDR4-3600MHz 16GB Review

1. Thermaltake ToughRAM RGB2. Performance Tests3. Closing Thoughts4. View All Pages

We will be outlining the Thermaltake ToughRAM RGB DDR4 memory’s performance with the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X CPU, ASUS ROG STRIX X570-E Gaming, and an Aorus RTX 2080 Ti XTREME graphics card.

Test System:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X.
• Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX X570-E Gaming.
• Graphics Card: Gigabyte Aorus RTX 2080 Ti XTREME 11G (custom fan curve to eliminate thermal throttling).
• System Drive: WD Black SN750 500GB.
• Games SSD: Crucial MX300 750GB.
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H100X (full speed fans to eliminate thermal throttling).
• Power Supply: Seasonic Prime Titanium 1000W.
• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit 1903 Update.

Comparison Memory Kits:

• G.SKILL FlareX 3200MHz 16GB (2x8GB) 14-14-14-34 @ 1.35V.
• G.SKILL Trident Z Royal 16GB (2x8GB) 16-16-16-36 @ 1.35V.

7-Zip Benchmark

7-Zip highlights solid performance for the 3600MHz Thermaltake ToughRAM RGB modules. The decompressing rating is a smidgen faster than 3200C14 competition, while it’s relatively close in performance to G.SKILL’s 3600MHz Trident Z Royal with tighter timings.

Cinebench R15

Cinebench R15 actually puts the ToughRAM RGB into first place in our testing, albeit by a single point over G.SKILL’s tighter Trident Z Royal. Realistically, this performance difference is within margin of error. However, it is positive to see Thermaltake’s SK Hynix-based modules keeping pace with G.SKILL’s Samsung B-die based competitors.

Cinebench R20

Another performance draw is shown between the two 3600MHz kits, this time in Cinebench R20. Clearly, Cinebench R20 does not show performance loss with the looser timings of Thermaltake’s ToughRAM RGB versus the G.SKILL alternatives.

AIDA Memory Bandwidth

Unsurprisingly, each memory kit falls into place in AIDA memory bandwidth testing. Thermaltake’s 3600MHz ToughRAM RGB kit sits middle-of-the-pack in our testing, with the tighter G.SKILL 3600MHz kit hitting top spot, while the 3200C14 competitor is comprehensively beaten.

AIDA Memory Latency

The higher frequency for the ToughRAM RGB kit cannot offset the tighter timings of G.SKILL’s 3200C14 FlareX and therefore the Thermaltake modules sits closer to the slower G.SKILL kit rather than the tight 3600MHz sticks. This is a test where the relatively loose timings for the ToughRAM modules look to be holding back the performance potential of the 3600MHz frequency.

SiSoft Sandra Memory Bandwidth

Memory bandwidth in SiSoft Sandra also has the ToughRAM RGB sticks sitting closer to the performance of G.SKILL’s slower competitor. A bandwidth of just below 37GBps is solid but the tighter 3600MHz G.SKILL kit is able to hit 1.5GBps higher.

3DMark Time Spy

There’s little between all of the kits in 3DMark Time Spy’s CPU score. G.SKILL’s 3200MHz C14 FlareX more-or-less ties with the 3600MHz ToughRAM modules, while the tighter Trident Z Royal sticks open up a minor performance lead.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

As was the case with 3DMark, there’s very little between each kit in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The ToughRAM RGB 3600MHz kit slots into the middle of our chart by beating out 3200MHz C14 FlareX by a single FPS on average, whilst falling behind 3600MHz C16 Trident Z Royal by 1 FPS on the minimum.

Any of these kits will be perfectly adequate for gaming usage in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

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