Memory

Crucial's Ballistix memory is known by gamers and enthusiasts and has been around for what seems like forever. When it comes to DDR4 Crucial has three different Ballistix lines, Ballistix Elite, Ballistix Tactical, and Ballistix Sport. We've already taken a look at Ballistix Elite and Ballistix Sport DDR4 kits so that leaves us with the Ballistix Tactical kit which we are taking a look at today. Ballistix Tactical sits in between the Elite and Sport kits in Crucial's product stack. The kit we are taking a look at today is the BLT4K8G4D30AETA kit, which is a 32GB (4x8GB) kit that runs at 3000 MHz with timings of 15-16-16-35 at 1.35V. These kits has a nice lower profile heatspreader as well so CPU clearance should not be an issue. Let's get this kit in our test system and see what it can do!

Mushkin has been a brand enthusiasts have been turning to when it comes to memory for a long time now. With DDR4 Mushkin is really focusing on two main series, their Redline and their Blackline. Today we will be taking a look at the MRA4U300JJJM8GX2 kit from their Redline series. This is a 16GB (2x8GB) kit with DDR4-3000 (3000 MHz) speeds with official timings of 18-18-18-38 at 1.35V. These Redline modules feature Mushkin's Red (who would have thought?!) Frostbyte G3 heatspreaders which look pretty awesome and should keep the modules nice and cool. Let's get these modules in our test system and see how they perform.

Patriot entered the DDR4 arena with their Viper 4 Series DDR4 memory. We reviewed both a quad channel kit for X99 and a dual channel kit for Z170. Now Patriot has unveiled the Viper Elite DDR4 memory, which is set to be their best and highest performance DDR4 memory available. This memory is available in dual channel 8GB and 16GB kits with speeds ranging from 2133 MHz all the way up 3200 MHz. It also features one of the coolest looking heatspreaders that we’ve seen in a long time! The kit we are taking a look at today is the PVE416G300C6KRD which is a 16GB (2x8GB) kit with speeds of 3000 MHz. It has official timings of 16-16-16-36 at 1.35V and is designed to perform best on Intel Z170 systems. Let’s get this memory in our test system and see what it can do!

For the longest time Mushkin was a company that was leading the game when it came to computer memory. When they released a new kit it was what everyone was talking about and most people I knew had Mushkin memory. I am not sure what happened but Mushkin was not talked about as much and many people I knew moved on to other brands for their computer memory. Well Mushkin wants you to think about them again when it comes to computer memory and today we have their latest DDR4 Blackline memory on the review block today! Today we are taking a look at the 997207T kit which is an 8GB (2x4GB) kit that runs at 2800 MHz with timings of 16-16-16-36 at 1.2V. Did I mention this kit has a pretty nifty heatspreader as well? Let’s take a look!

Earlier this year we took a look at our first Viper 4 DDR4 memory kit from Patriot. That kit was a quad-channel kit designed for the X99 platform. Now that Intel’s Z170 chipset is here we have dual-channel DDR4 which we’ve seen to be more stable at higher frequencies. Patriot has sent us one of their latest Viper 4 DDR4 kits which is an 8GB dual-channel kit that runs at 3400 MHz! With official timings of 16-18-18-36 at 1.35V the PV48G340C6K kit is set to perform quite well on Z170 systems. On top of the fast speeds the memory kit features a custom-designed heatspreader that is black and red that will match many popular motherboards out there. Let’s get this memory installed and see what it can do!

G.SKILL is definitely a name you have to think of when it comes to high-performance memory. G.SKILL entered the DDR4 market with their Ripjaws 4 quad channel kits that launched with the Intel X99 chipset. Now that we have DDR4 on the mainstream Z170 chipset G.SKILL comes back with Ripjaws V, which are available in quite a few different offerings and offer a more subtle look. G.SKILL is offering their Ripjaws V memory in speeds all the way up to 3600 MHz in both 8GB and 16GB dual channel kits. Today we will be taking a look at the F4-3200C16D-8GVK kit which is an 8GB kit that runs at 3200 MHz with timings of 16-16-16-36 at 1.35V. Let’s get this kit in our Z170 system and see what it can do!

With the introduction of Intel’s Z170 chipset the mainstream finally gets their hands on DDR4 memory. If you remember DDR4 was first seen in the consumer market on Intel’s high-end desktop X99 platform. Those kits were all quad-channel kits, but with the Z170 chipset we have dual-channel kits. Kingston’s HyperX FURY line was introduced with DDR3 and made its way to DDR4 in quad-channel kits for X99. Now we have dual-channel kits available in 16GB and 8GB capacities. The HyperX FURY DDR4 modules have a sleek heatspreader matched with an all black PCB, which looks awesome. Today we will be taking a look at the HX426C15FBK2/16 kit, which is made up of two 8GB modules running at 2666 MHz with timings of 15-17-17 at 1.2V. Let’s take a look and see what this kit can do!

Patriot is no newcomer to memory and their Viper line has been around as long as I can remember. The Viper 4 series sits as the mid-range offering in their DDR4 memory line with the Viper Extreme sitting at the high-end and the Signature Line being more the entry level. We first got a glimpse of the Viper 4 series back in January at CES and now we have a kit of our own to test out. The kit we are taking a look at today is the PV416G300C6QK kit, which is a 16GB kit with timings of 16-16-16-36 at 1.35V. The memory kit is of course a quad-channel kit designed for Intel’s X99 chipset and has some pretty nice black and red heatspreaders that not only will keep the memory cool, but will look quite good in your system. Let’s see what this memory kit can do!

Not that long ago we took a look at Kingston’s first DDR4 memory kit their HyperX Predator. Kingston Launched their HyperX FURY line with DDR3 last year and have now brought it up to DDR4. HyperX FURY DDR4 kits will be available in 8GB, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB kits with speeds of 2133 MHz, 2400 MHz and 2667 MHz with CAS latencies of CL14-CL15. These kits also have a nice looking heatspreader and of course that quality that we expect from Kingston. Today we will be taking a look at the HX424C15FBK4/32 kit. This is a 32 GB kit that runs at 2400 MHz with timings of 15-15-15-35 at 1.2V. Does Kingston have another great DDR4 kit in their FURY? Read on as we find out!

So far we have taken a look at two different DDR4 kits from Crucial. Up first we had their JEDEC kit, which ran at the DDR4 default speed of 2133 MHz. The next kit we got our hands on was the Ballistix Sport kit that had some nice heatspreaders and ran at 2400 MHz. Now we are ready for Crucial’s top of the line DDR4 kit, which is the Ballistix Elite. The new Ballistix Elite DDR4 memory features a completely redesigned heatspreader from the DDR3 version and speeds that start at 2666 MHz. Today we are going to be taking a look at the BLE4K4G4D26AFEA kit. This kit runs at speeds of 2666 MHz with timings of 16-17-17-36 at 1.2V. Being that this is Crucial’s most high-end kit we expect it to perform pretty well. Let’s see what they can do!