Corsair Vengeance DDR3 12GB 1600MHz Review

Vengeance is sweet. We take a look at Corsair’s latest DDR3 range which hopes to make it more affordable for enthusiasts to get better performance.

Product on Review: Corsair Vengeance
Manufacturer and Sponsor: Corsair
Street Price: £151.76 (At time of review)

Last week we saw the announcement for the new Vengeance DDR3 series. A new DDR3 memory range from Corsair that will equip gamers and enthusiasts alike. Today I will be taking a look at the larger 12GB kit (3 x 4GB) that provides support for triple channel Intel X58 systems.

With a stock frequency of 1600MHz and rated timings of 9-9-9-24 @ 1.5v this Vengeance kit hopes to provide us with great stock performance as well as decent headroom for those wanting to extend performance via overclocking. The Vengeance series is available in single, dual and triple channel as well as an assortment of sizes from 4GB right through to 16GB. With regards to pricing the new Vengeance will sit between the XMS and Dominator memory kits.

Corsair’s Take:

Corsair Vengeance DDR3 memory modules are designed with overclockers in mind. Vengeance DIMMs are built using RAM specially selected for their high-performance potential. Aluminium heat spreaders help dissipate heat, and provide the aggressive look that you want in your gaming rig. As a bonus, the attractive low price of Vengeance memory will also leave lots of room in your system build budget.

Specifications

Speed Rating
– PC3-12800
Tested Speed
– 1600Mhz
Size
– 12GB Kit (3 x 4GB)
Tested Latency
– 9-9-9-24
Tested Voltage
– 1.5
Performance Profile
– XMP
SPD Speed
– 1333Mhz
SPD Latency
– 9-9-9-24
Package
240pin DIMM

Packaging & First Look

If you are familiar with other Corsair related products, such products like the Dominator DDR3 series then you will instantly notice similarities with the new Vengeance kit. The front of the box has a large impression of the kit installed on a motherboard, the Intel Core i7 logo appears on the front signifying that this kit is specifically designed for this platform. On the rear of the case there are some specifications but aside from this its just a box holding the memory modules.

Opening the box up, each module is encased in moulded transparent plastic casing.

Vengeance packaging

Each module sealed within a transparent clear case

First impressions of the modules are – they look much more aggressive than what we have seen from Corsair in the past, what with the likes of the Dominator series. The Aluminium fins that protrude out from the heatsink appear to be quite blunt. You would be forgiven for thinking the exterior on these modules looks to be plastic. They are in fact as I have just mentioned aluminium. This kit is going to look lethal in any gaming, enthusiast setup.

All 3 Vengeance modules

Closer Look

The Vengeance modules feature a 10 fin aluminium heatsink and look very aggressive. It will be interesting to see if they live up to their name!

The Vengeance is aggressive in appearance

On the reverse side, there is a label showing the specifications of our modules under review today. Each stick holds 4GB of capacity, each baring the stock latencies of 9-9-9-24 @ 1.5v which is considerably low. This not only has pleasing heat implications but also means we have plenty of voltage to play with when overclocking.

Details showing the specifications of the modules

Below is a shot of the heatsink profile of one of the Vengeance modules. As you can see the fins are significantly smooth. Now some may be wondering about the height of these modules. From the very bottom to absolute top the Vengeance measure just over in 5cm height. So the heatsinks here are giving an additional 2cm to the height of a standard set of DDR3 modules. This may cause compatibility issues with some CPU coolers, but with the configuration I used –ASUS Rampage III Formula and Thermalright Venomous X Black I had no problems with using either of the triple channel lanes available.

A profile view of the Vengeance module – 5cm in height

Testing & Overclocking

Being a triple channel, this kit is designed with the Intel X58 chipset in mind. In order for us to determine overall performance of the Corsair Vengeance, I will be comparing the kit to a 12GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 kit that has similar ratings to the kit under review today. A stock frequency of 1600MHz and latencies of 9-9-9-27. We will be comparing the Vengeance kit in a vast range of benchmarks covering synthetic tests such as 3DMark, SANDRA and AIDA64 and then in the real-world environment of gaming featuring an array of recent titles.

Stock performance will be reported, the tightest timings will also be reported at the stated frequency of 1600MHz as well as the maximum overclock . CPU clock speed will be restricted to the default value of 2.6GHz in order to focus on the subject at hand, isolating those memory modules – we don’t want anything to hinder the performance.

System Components

CPU Intel Core i7 920
Motherboard ASUS Rampage III Formula
Graphics XFX HD5870
Memory
12GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz @ 9-9-9-24
12GB Kingston HyperX 1600MHz @ 9-9-9-27
HDD Kingston SSDNow V+ 128GB
PSU Antec Signature 650W

Overclocking

So this is the part that many of the readers will be homing in on. The stock performance of memory is one thing but since the market is now geared towards enthusiast overclocking most of the kits on the shelves now offer a varying degree of overclockability.

I began by nudging the frequency of the Vengeance kit up into the 1900MHz+ but I could not get it to settle at any of the timings. At the very least I did not want to drop into CAS10 as this is quite slack. I tried many combinations of multiplier, BCLK and timings whilst keeping the voltage at 1.65v. Eventually I managed to settle at just under 1900MHz – 1854MHz by using a multiplier of 14 and BCLK of 185. I stress tested various timings some proved unfruitful but eventually I found the sweet spot to be 9-10-10-28. Almost 19% on the overclock is a commendable and an achievement in itself.

To show things from a different angle I then kept the frequency at 1600MHz, in a quest to determine the tightest timings possible. Again, in my attempts many timings failed but I eventually found myself at 8-9-8-26.

This shows how flexible the Vengeance kit is. I know for a fact that this series is capable of exceeding 2000MHz from the 1600MHz stock mark but something was holding me back.

In the proceeding pages, we will see the performance offered by the Vengeance kit at stock, tightened, and overclocked settings. This should expose some interesting results.

AIDA64

AIDA64 is the successor to Everest ULTIMATE. This application not only details every component within a system but it also incorporates a comprehensive memory benchmarking tool that will ascertain bandwidth and latency figures.

Corsair Vengeance Stock 1600MHz 9-9-9-24

Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz 8-9-8-26

Corsair Vengeance 1854MHz 9-10-10-28

Kingston HyperX 1600MHz 9-9-9-27

SiSoftware SANDRA 2011

SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) you need to know about your hardware, software and other devices whether hardware or software.
Sandra is a (girl) name of Greek origin that means “defender”, “helper of mankind”. We think that’s quite fitting.

It works along the lines of other Windows utilities, however it tries to go beyond them and show you more of what’s really going on. Giving the user the ability to draw comparisons at both a high and low-level. You can get information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, PCI, PCI-X, PCIe (PCI Express), database, USB, USB2, 1394/Firewire, etc.

The SANDRA tests were very encouraging. The Vengeance kit showed some excellent performance gains especially when overclocked. Showing that the bandwidth, latency and cache attributes are superior to the Kingston kit and the performance gains are there to be had.

3DMark Vantage

3DMark Vantage is benchmark suite designed computer systems offering one-click simplicity for casual users and detailed, professional grade testing for industry, press and enthusiasts.

A 3DMark score is a measure of your computer’s performance across a variety of 3D operations.

The 3DMark CPU score achieved across each of the settings/modules shows that the Kingston kit is the superior in this aspect which is a little disappointing – although the difference range isn’t that big.

Metro 2033, DIRT 2, UT3 & Call Of Duty Black Ops

The titles used for benchmarking the memory today are each driven by a different game engine, some titles being DX9, DX10 and DX11. So there is a good mixture, allowing us to establish good overall performance.

Obviously a combination of increased frequency and latency is going to equal best performance, the overclock on the Vengeance whilst not featuring amazing latencies still offers superior performance to the Vengeance at stock and with tighter timings. The Kingston kit is left behind in most of the benchmarks showing that the Vengeance kit is superior in the games arena.

Conclusion

Corsair are giants within their own right. They have long been a dominator in the memory market because they provide a wide selection of choice, great performance and reasonable price – right from entry level kits to high-performance enthusiast solutions, so its always exciting when another new product comes our way.

Today is without exception, the Vengeance Series is sure to be a kit that will entice enthusiast and gamer alike. Inside this series we have single channel, dual channel and triple channel kits. Starting at 4GB kits right through to 16GB.

Performance-wise the Vengeance kit is rather resilient. Stock performance is very impressive, showing that in each of the gaming titles in particular there is no contender. Overclocking also proved another pleasing attribute of the Vengeance kit. Achieving just under 1900MHz from a 1600MHz kit is significant (Almost 19%), for me this kit wouldn’t go further with the current configuration but I believe 2000MHz can be achieved.

The 12GB Vengeance under review today is priced at £150 which is amazing value when you consider other 12GB kits available on the market at the moment. The Vengeance series is placed between the XMS and Dominator range – so if you want similar performance to what the Dominator kits offer but don’t have the budget then this is surely the kit to go for.

Pros
+ Aggressive, sleek appearance
+ Excellent performance
+ Excellent value for money
+ Lifetime warranty

Cons
– Heatsink height may hinder CPU cooler