G.SKILL TridentX 2933 MHz C12 2x 4 GB kit

[cadaveca]

G.Skill's F3-2933C12D-8GTXDG kit is a weapon for the seasoned overclocker and Haswell-based systems. Clad in black and red, it is a complex kit that, once quenched and hardened, proves to be valuable to any serious overclocker.

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[ChaoticG8R]

Nice of you to offer timings support Dave!

 

[cadaveca]

Nice of you to offer timings support Dave!

Always do. Having all these motherboard review samples makes it fairly easy to match configs and try to replicate any issues anyone might have.

 

[drdeathx]

Cannot understand the rating when 2600MHz outperforms these overpriced modules. Guess the vendor has to be stroked(at least it looks this way). Just my humble opinion. Modules that do not outperform their predecessor should not get a 9 rating IMO. I would think these are pretty much the same modules and they perform worse due to lower latencies. Thighten them up at 2600MHz and I bet they perform the same.

 

[cadaveca]

Cannot understand the rating when 2600MHz outperforms these overpriced modules. Guess the vendor has to be stroked. Just my humble opinion. Modules that do not outperform their predecessor should not get a 9 rating IMO.

First line of the conclusion:

If you simply look at the performance graphs to then conclude these sticks aren't that great and overpriced, you might be overlooking one of the best memory kits out right now.

If I take ANY of the kits I used in testing, and use a different board, all those numbers IMMEDIATELY change, and the other sticks don't do as well.

Thighten them up at 2600MHz and I bet they perform the same

Things like T-Topology1/2 greatly confuse the situation. You know, sometimes I wish you lived local so I could have you over for a beer and show you IN PERSON some things.

 

[drdeathx]

First line of the conclusion:



If I take ANY of the kits I used in testing, and use a different board, all those numbers IMMEDIATELY change, and the other sticks don't do as well.



Things like T-Topology1/2 greatly confuse the situation.

Then why the 9? makes no sence.....

 

[cadaveca]

Then why the 9? makes no sence.....

You didn't read the full review, obviously. I covered that, but it requires perhaps that you read it all. Go figure.

This isn't due to the sticks themselves but rather because of the board's settings for the 2933 MHz divider, as I saw similar behavior using other sticks. When I set the 2800 MHz memory divider manually in the BIOS, performance for the G.Skill TridentX 2933 MHz 8 GB kit increased quite a bit, but I used the G.Skill TridentX 2933 MHz 8 GB kit's XMP profile because we report "out-of-the-box" performance results.

The OC overhead plays a big role in the score. This a $400 8 GB kit...for those trying to break records, not for normal users, when other 8 GB kits sell for 25% of the cost of this set. With that in mind, it's looked at from that perspective, and it does meet and exceed all expectations there.


When YOU post up 3400+ MHz memory OCs, we can talk about what's what and why.

 

[drdeathx]

You didn't read the full review, obviously. I covered that, but it requires perhaps that you read it all. Go figure.

I read it thats why i am sayin.....

 

[hckngrtfakt]

Cool review, ... i was almost considering this kit, because of the red/black theme, until i read the "blue LED" part :shadedshu

I guess i'll go the the corsair dominator platinum even tho they're so freakingly expensive

 

[cadaveca]

until i read the "blue LED" part

Yeah, the fans give a blue light. And any ram over 2400 MHz really needs to have a fan over it.

Given the "Trident" name, which refers to water, really, the blue makes sense to me, but yeah, it's not going to be everyone's first choice when it comes to a red/black build. I've got the 2666 C10 Dominator Platinum kit as well, and I prefer the G.Skill kits for Haswell....but then, I do have more G.Skill and Kingston kits than Corsair...Corsair had told me they were sending a kit, and then never did, and didn't respond to my emails asking about it, so they are on my "avoid" list. I consider their actions with me dishonest.

G.Skill ahs always been a pleasure for me to work with, and they are really responsive to my requests. I'll mention the fan color thing to them, for sure.

 

[Prima.Vera]

How much are those Corsair Platinums? They are really good.

 

[cadaveca]

How much are those Corsair Platinums? They are really good.

The ones I used for those numbers in the review?

They are $600 on Corsair's site, and $580 @ Newegg.


But they don't work quite right on Haswell, and I need 1.725 V for stability with the XMP profile. That's higher than I like for 27/4 use, so they sit in their box and I pull them out from time to time for testing. I'd send them in and try to get them replaced, but as mentioned, Corsair seems to not get my emails, or is ignoring me on purpose. I'd love to hear from them, actually, their new ram looks great, matches a lot of boards for Z87. Without kits in hand, however, I'll have to recommend the kits I do have, and that's just one Corsair kit, that doesn't work as it should.

It IS worth noting that my kit was one of the earl kits, that didn't come wit ha fan. If you buy a kit today, it'll come wit ha fan. That might be why my kit has seemingly degraded since I got it.

 

[drdeathx]

The ones I used for those numbers in the review?

They are $600 on Corsair's site, and $580 @ Newegg.


But they don't work quite right on Haswell, and I need 1.725 V for stability with the XMP profile. That's higher than I like for 27/4 use, so they sit in their box and I pull them out from time to time for testing. I'd send them in and try to get them replaced, but as mentioned, Corsair seems to not get my emails, or is ignoring me on purpose. I'd love to hear from them, actually, their new ram looks great, matches a lot of boards for Z87. Without kits in hand, however, I'll have to recommend the kits I do have, and that's just one Corsair kit, that doesn't work as it should.

It IS worth noting that my kit was one of the earl kits, that didn't come wit ha fan. If you buy a kit today, it'll come wit ha fan. That might be why my kit has seemingly degraded since I got it.

More power to that 9 rating! hahahaha. The sticks are pretty much limited to Haswell due to IMC.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Seems like plug and play users should steer clear. If you're not going to optimize the settings yourself to utilize the overclocking potential you can get better stock performance with cheaper kits.

 

[Ed_1]

So can any of Haswell realistically OC and use 2400+ ram ?
I mean like a 4.5-4.7 + 2400+ ram .
From what i see so far it seems not worth it ,even if it performed better than top on in review .
If the ram high speeds are holding back CPU OC , it doesn't make sense to me as CPU performance is much greater than what the Ram OC can do .
unless you can run both .

 

[cadaveca]

So can any of Haswell realistically OC and use 2400 ram ?

Yep, retail doesn't seem to have much issue that I have seen, provided you OC properly. Haswell is NOT very forgiving on OC, one wrong setting, and everything is whacked.



2400 MHz+ memory....Is it worth it? For some stuff, yes, for others...not so much. It does boost overall performance in a big way in quite a few situations, as there are still quite a few game engines used that are very sensitive to memory performance. Sometimes it can be just enough to push from 55 FPS to just over 60FPS, and that is where it is most valuable, to me.

 

[Ed_1]

Yep, retail doesn't seem to have much issue that I have seen, provided you OC properly. Haswell is NOT very forgiving on OC, one wrong setting, and everything is whacked.



2400 MHz+ memory....Is it worth it? For some stuff, yes, for others...not so much. It does boost overall performance in a big way in quite a few situations, as there are still quite a few game engines used that are very sensitive to memory performance. Sometimes it can be just enough to push from 55 FPS to just over 60FPS, and that is where it is most valuable, to me.

Ok , I didn't know retail are better , I thought those days were long gone .
Good that some can OC CPU+ ram .

 

[dumo]

Good review and awesome kit

Heres same kit boot up from bios and run quick test on air 3400 1.75V

 

[freeboy]

hi dave
great review
I wonder how the hyper x black beasts(Kingston HyperX Beast 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 ) would test side by side... they are rated fairly high and it would be nice to see the difference between 400 and 100 (apx) chips ...
thanks again.. great work..

 

[freeboy]

wow, u reviewed them, they came in at 2633.. i guess thats the difference, like a stock hot rod vs a true custom monster.. but sh!t 400 bucks is real money! lol