Introduction

I'd like to thank ASUS for providing the CPU, motherboard, and graphics card used in this review. This review would not have been possible without their support. Also, many thanks to G.SKill for providing the memory.

With the launch of a new platform just a month ago, many users are now looking for new memory kits to go with their new Haswell-based systems. I myself have found that many kits I really enjoyed playing with on previous Intel LGA 1155 platforms no longer perform as they used to because of differences in the new platform's design. Some kits now even fail to meet their rated XMP speeds and timings with Haswell. I have several Samsung-based kits here that simply won't boot, or need increased voltage to retain full stability, but Haswell also offers substantially more potential for memory overclocking if the right sticks are used.

Several weeks before the launch of Haswell, G.Skill sent me a new kit to try out, the TridentX F3-2933C12D-8GTXDG. This single-sided kit boasts 2933 MHz stock clocks with 12-14-14-35 base timings. Specifically built for the overclocking crowd, it including incredible headroom for hardcore overclockers and those wishing to push their systems to the absolute limit.

Specifications

Packaging

The G.Skill TridentX 2933 MHz kit showed up in G.Skill's standardized brown box with very little on it other than G.Skill's company information and a label that matches the sticks inside.


There are two stickers on the outside of the box. One seals the box shut and another indicates the platform this kit is meant to be used with. I've got several of these boxes on my hardware shelf now, and not much separates them other than those platform stickers and their small labels.


Cutting the sticker that acts as a seal in half and opening the box reveals the included fan on top and the sticks in a cardboard divider below. I found the two sticks, a small manual, a case badge, and the fan inside.


The fan that comes with the G.Skill TridentX 2933 MHz 8 GB kit is a little different to the fan that came with my TridentX 2666 16 GB kit, with different fans bolted onto the same frame. These fans have fewer blades, but a more aggressive sweep, which should provide airflow with a bit more pressure than the previous version. Each fan pulls 0.10A via a nicely sleeved 4-pin MOLEX connector.