Ramping up the speed....and cost
DDR3-1,333 (PC3-10,666)
2GB kits (2x 1GB)Corsair TWIN3X2048-1333C9DHX-G - 9-9-9-24 - 1.8V - DHX heatspreaders - £49.57 at Scan.co.uk (£49.51, £55.21 - Sep).
3GB kits (3x 1GB) - Core i7-optimised
Corsair TR3X3G1333C9 - 9-9-9-24 - 1.5V - XMS3 heatspreaders - £76.36 @ Scan.co.uk (£81.24 - Nov).
4GB kits (2x 2GB)
Crucial DDR3-1,333 - CL9 - 1.5V - no heatspreaders - £79.34 @ Crucial.co.uk - (£108.09, £114.70).
6GB kits (3x 2GB) - Core i7-optimised
Corsair TR3X6G1333C9 - 9-9-9-24 latencies - 1.5V - XMS3 heatspreaders - £142.72 @ Scan.co.uk (£163.70 - Nov)).
The 3GB/6GB kits operate at 1.5V and are designed for Core i7 CPUs. There are price-drops on 3GB/4GB/6GB kits, with the largest being for 4GB of DDR3-1,333 from Crucial.
DDR3-1,600 (PC3-12,800)
The Intel X48 chipset and NVIDIA's nForce 790i Ultra both support DDR3-1,600 memory natively, using pre-programmed SPDs - XMP for Intel and EPP2.0 for NVIDIA - that are activated by a one-click BIOS setting. XMP and EPP2.0 memory is actively marketed as such by vendors.
Now, though, most Core i7 X58 boards are advertised supporting DDR3-1,600MHz+ speeds out of the box, intimating overclocking the CPU or, if you have ultra-deep pockets, purchasing the unlocked Core i7 965 Extreme Edition and setting the memory ratio above 1,066MHz.
DDR3 natively operates at 1.5V, but DDR3-1,600 may require 1.8V to function at its rated speed, although the Core i7 will be limited to 1.65V.
Only enthusiasts that want the very best performance - and are willing
to pay for it - should look at this frequency, we feel.
2GB kits (2x
1GB)
Corsair
Twin3X DHX DDR3 - 9-9-9-24 latencies - 1.8V - DHX
heatspreaders - £50.74
@ Scan.co.uk (£73.54, £83.30).
3GB kits (3x 1GB) - Core i7-optimised
Corsair TR3X3G1600C9 - 9-9-9-24 latencies - 1.65V - XMS3 heatspreaders - £94.44 @ Scan.co.uk. £106.10 - Nov).
4GB kits (2x 2GB)
OCZ
XMP Extreme - 7-7-7-24 latencies - 1.9V -
OCZ heatspreaders - £115.51
@ MemoryC (£133.95, £145.20)
6GB kits (3x 2GB) - Core i7-optimised
Corsair TR3X6G1600C9 - 9-9-9-24 latencies - 1.65V - XMS3 heatspreaders - £168.04 @ Scan.co.uk (£241.02 - Nov ).
Big drops on the 2GB (non-Core i7-optimised) and 6GB kits, both from Corsair. Yes, £168 is expensive for DDR3-1,600, but it was £241 two months ago.
