Conclusions
As I expected/hoped, the Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600 i7/i5 memory performed superbly. It overclocked like a champ, and showed significant performance gains in each test. I don’t bother running tests other than memory specific tests, memory is only a part of the entire system, and overclocking the memory alone just doesn’t show enough change in most benchmarks to show much of anything, except to make uninformed people think the memory sucks because a game only gained .3 FPS from an overclock.
The memory looks great, as all Dominator memory does. The heatspreaders and fins keep both the chips and PCB cool. Intel XMP makes setup a breeze, just pop the memory in and you’re at DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 at 1.65v without even looking at the BIOS.
The memory overclocked easily, giving me a max overclock of DDR3-2008 10-9-9-24. Testing showed significant gains from the overclocks.
The biggest bonus of the memory is the price, it sells for $120 at my favorite online retailer. That kind of performance at such a low price is definitely a value. ThinkComputers.org gives the Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600 i7/i5 Dual Channel Kit a 10 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– Aggressive looks
– Awesome overclocker
– Great performance gains from the overclocks
– Priced right
Cons:
– None