The reasons to purchase a high-performance RAM kit are as varied as the consumers who purchase them. For some application load time is the deciding factor in their purchasing decision. For others it is Virtualized Operating System performance, or game load times. For others still, it is to shave a .1 of second off their synthetic test scores so as to climb ever higher in the online rankings that various sites host.
With such a wide variety of criteria it behooves us to use as wide and varied a list of testing protocols as possible. As such we have used a blend of synthetic and real-world benchmarks, as well as custom real-world game benchmarking.
To further highlight the impact RAM has on performance we have chosen an AMD Ryzen 7 based system. Due to Infinity Fabric being tied to RAM speeds the impact from changing the RAM frequency will indeed have a real-world impact that will be noticeable to all. However, latency also plays a role in overall system performance. Typically, higher memory clock frequencies require looser timings than lower frequencies. While most will opt for higher frequencies over tighter timings, as higher Data/Infinity Fabric speed usually is more important that RAM timings, there can be times when finding the best balance between the two is needed.
For this reason, we are not only including lowest and highest frequency results but also the typical speeds in-between, and at all frequencies tested we will include the timings used. With this data you can see what combination will work for you and your needs, and if it the review sample is indeed the correct choice.
To show the performance differences we have tested at stock, ‘XMP’ (if possible), and then manual overclocking levels. All tests were run 4 times and average results are represented.
The OS was a fresh clean install of Windows 10 with all latest hotfixes, patches and updates applied.
To show the performance differences we have tested at numerous frequency settings and timings. All tests were run 4 times and average results are represented.
For overclocking we do not overclock the CPU and rather only the RAM is overclocked to show performance gains that the RAM will net consumers. To ensure that any overclock we do obtain is realist we also limit voltage to – at most – 1.40volts. Anything above this bordering on dangerous to the RAM and will noticeably reduce the longevity of the DDR4 RAM ICs.
Main Test System AMD
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 1800x
Memory: Test Kit
Video Card: MSI 980Ti Lightning
Motherboard: ASUS RoG STRIX X370-F Gaming
Cooling: Noctua NH-D15
SSD: 1x Intel 750 1.2TB NVMe SSD
Power Supply: Corsair AX860i
Monitor: Dell U2714H
OS: Windows 10 Professional
