Configuration:
The
Kingston HyperX 2GB DDR3-1800 dual channel memory kit was installed in a system with the following components for this review:
» Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 dual core processor
» eVGA Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard
» Thermaltake DuOrb heatpipe CPU cooler
» Two Western Digital Raptor 10,000RPM 36GB hard drives
» eVGA GeForce 8800GTS G92 512MB video card
» Samsung 20x DVD Burner with LightScribe
The modules were installed into the black memory slots on the 790i motherboard, and the system was booted into the BIOS to take a look at the default settings. Unfortunately, the 790i motherboard is an SLI board, therefore it cannot use the XMP feature of this memory kit. The speed automatically detected for the memory was 1066MHz, and to use the memory at the specified speed and timings I had to manually overclock it.
The two images below show the two memory specific tabs of
CPU-Z version 1.46. The below left image displays the module specifications including capacity, bandwidth, manufacturer, part & serial numbers, and the production date. Under the specifications is a memory timings table that lists timings from 457MHz to 900MHz. The below right image is the memory tab of CPU-Z, and the timings seen here are the result of manually entering the stock speed and timings in the BIOS.
Despite the lack of XMP profiles on this motherboard, the system booted up just fine with the modules manually overclocked to 1800MHz, 8-8-8-24 timings, and 1.9V.
Overclocking:
The Kingston HyperX 2GB DDR3-1800 dual channel memory kit was fairly easy to set to the rated speed and timings, but with the 790i I had high hopes of pushing the RAM to its limit. As I began overclocking I noticed something strange that I haven't seen with previous memory kits. When I set the RAM speed to 1900MHz, the actual speed wound up being reported as 1869MHz. I then set the speed to 1920MHz, and at this setting the speed was reported properly. The next increment was 1956MHz, which would not boot into Windows.
For testing purposes, the top overclock will be 1920MHz. A total increase in speed of about 6.7% over stock may not sound like much, but really is quite fast. Couple this with the fact that the stock voltage and rather tight stock timings were maintained, and this 1800MHz kit really offered quite a boost with minimal effort. Those users with the right equipment and overclocking skills could most definitely get even more out of this kit!
