Test Setup

As you can see, the ASUS P5Q was used in this review. The memory is stated to run on P35, P45, X38 and X48 as well as some high-end NVIDIA chipsets. But the ASUS P5KC did not manage to boot with the memory at 1.8 or 1.9V at the rated speed. It needed at least 2.3V, so the mainboard was exchanged with the mentioned Asus P5Q, which is a fairly cheap Intel P45 based board. It ran the memory at the rated settings right of the bat.

Performance & Overclocking

The memory in combination with the heat spreaders does not interfere with any components on the mainboard. You will also be able to fit four of these next to each other without any problems.


G.Skill has programmed the memory with two JEDEC speeds and the advertised EPP setting of 1100 MHz at CL5-5-5-15.

A starting base for each test run was a 333 MHz front side bus, with the CPU multiplier set at 7x. While pushing forward, the divider was kept constant to show how the memory scales with the CPU. While it is possible to start at a base of 400 MHz FSB with a 6x multiplier, that way the board could become the limiting factor, forcing us to change the divider, which also has an effect on the overall result.

The first setting benchmarked, once the memory has been installed, is the advertised one. The G.Skill Pi Series kit manages the 1066 and 1100 MHz at 1.8V easily. Considering the fact that the company is offering the memory at default voltage already hints at the lack of scaling with additional voltage. Other memory manufacturers offer such high speeds with a base of 2.1-2.2V and at times even more.

The next step was to figure out how far the memory would go with the minimal 1.8V applied to the kit. It still managed 1174 MHz, so you still have a healthy overclocking potential out of the box with this setting at CL5-5-5-15. Then the voltage was raised slowly up to 2.4V with active cooling. The maximum result of 1210 MHz underlines the fact that this memory scales well with a higher CL rating, but is not very dependent on the voltage applied. It should be mentioned that the kit managed 1200 MHz at a mere 2.0V, which is quite impressive. Remember, we are looking at a pair of 2 GB modules.

Now, the CL setting was dropped down to 3-3-3-8. The memory did not manage to boot at 800 MHz at this setting, no matter how much voltage was applied. As the benchmark results show, the kit maxes out at 730 MHz with this setting. Relaxing the CL to 4-4-4-12 enables us to run the memory at 930 MHz instead.

As you can see in the results, the difference in results between 1.8V and 2.4V is certainly not as much as some other kits. The use of lower voltage could also mean a longer lifetime of the memory, but most of use would never use a kit more than for a few months or a year at most anyways.





The scale graph shows quite nicely, how independent the G.Skill memory is to the applied voltage. This is great for boards, which can handle high dividers or front side bus, but do not offer the option to push the voltage of memory any higher. Remember, that these results only represent what the sample is capable of and your success may vary.