The ultra low voltage G.Skill Sniper DDR3 memory has proven to be a great performer with our Asus based Sandybridge system, even showing some overclocking headroom to 1700mhz with only 1.3 volts. If you want to ‘go green' but aren't willing to compromise on performance then this is a good option to shortlist.
Obviously, many people reading this won't care about saving a few pounds a year on their electric bill but will value the reduced power demand and heat output, especially with quieter cases and weaker airflow systems. In this instance we recorded a 3c temperature drop from a diode when compared against other 1.65v memory running at the same settings. Whether this translates into any gains real world will depend on your specific system and requirements. It certainly won't hurt anyway.
On another positive note this memory is surprisingly compatible, we tested it in a variety of other motherboards, including AMD solutions. Often it just needed a motherboard bios update for the voltage to be correctly identified without a problem. The final overclock wasn't fantastic, but to be fair with 4GB density modules, it becomes slightly more difficult to push them further.
Right now we don't have a confirmed pricing for the UK market, but it is estimated at £85 inc vat which means it is a fantastic purchase. In the coming months we expect to see new revisions of this memory that will overclock higher with minor voltage adjustments.
Pros:
- great pricing
- good heatspreaders
- works with oversized CPU coolers
- excellent performance
- reduced power demand
Cons:
- overclocking capabilities are limited
I really value the fact that they are dropping voltages on memory, its long overdue and I applaud them for doing it
I really dig the heatspreader design, im not a fan of the giant kingston ones, its too restrictive now, no need for it.
lets hope they all get performance memory down to these voltages, will help reduce heatspreaders design also.
I really think this is a great kit and better than the kingston stuff you reviewed last week. lower voltage, better OC, smaller heatsinks. Id like to see a review of a 3 way 4GB kit (12GB) for X58.
Garry, only thing is with three sticks in the mix, the OC can be worse. would be interesting to read though, even though I dont have X58
Good kit, the prices lately are brilliant, 80 quid for 8GB of DDR3. Its bound to go up soon with Japan though.