Memory

Patriot Viper Extreme Division 4 16GB DDR3 Review

vortez
June 6, 2012 10 Min Read
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Patriot Division 4 memory is designed specifically for the X79 platform. Today, we take a look at their enhanced latency 16GB PC3-15000 kit…



Product on Review: Patriot Division 4 Viper Extreme
Manufacturer and Sponsor: Patriot Memory
Street Price: Approx. £130 inc. VAT (estimated)

Patriot stormed the market recently with their Pyro and Wildfire SSD’s so when they asked us to sample their X79 quad channel memory kit we weren’t about to say no, especially if the performance matches the blistering pace set by the solid state drives we reviewed here. If you are reading from the U.K you could be forgiven in thinking that Division 4 means this kit is somehow inferior to other memory kits however, the Division 4 moniker is simply an evolution from the Division 2 dual channel kit with this kit being quad channel. If you were in any doubt of the performance then the addition of Viper and Extreme to the product title should leave you with no reservations that this is a seriously fast memory kit.



Patriot Memory’s take on the Division 4 Viper Extreme DDR3 Quad channel memory kit

Patriot Memory’s Viper Xtreme Division 4 Series memory kits are designed specifically for Intel’s X79 platform and 2nd generation Core™ processors. Built for extreme overclocking and performance, the Patriot Memory Viper Extreme Division 4 kits features a custom copper and all aluminum heat shield to provide the best thermal protection available.

Available in 8GB and 16GB kits, these modules are engineered to run at PC3-15000 (1866MHz) speeds at 9-11-9-27 timings.

Certified to Intel’s strict XMP standards, each module is hand tested for quality, backed by a full-lifetime warranty, and Patriot Memory’s industry leading customer service. For Gamers and Enthusiasts looking to get the most out of their systems, The Viper Extreme Division 4 Series memory kit is second to none.

Technical Specification


Extreme Performance PC3-15000

Data Rate: DDR3
Bandwidth: 1866MHz
Size: 16GB (4x4GB Modules)
Enhanced Latency: (9-11-9-27)
Voltage: 1.65V
Profile: XMP 1.3 Ready
Cooling: Equipped with an extruded aluminum shield to provide improved cooling
Testing: 100% Tested and Verified
Environment: RoHS Compliant
Chipset compatibility: Only compatible with Intel® X79 chipsets

Packaging & Closer Look


Exterior Packaging

the exterior packaging of the Viper Extreme kit is well presented in a slim cardboard box featuring a picture of the memory kit on the front along with a sticker displaying basic specifications. On the rear of the box there is an introduction into Division 5 memory along with sales office information. Unfortunately, there is no notification of the timings of the memory nor the voltage required anywhere on the exterior.


Inner packaging

Inside the cardboard exterior we find two blister packs, each containing two 4GB modules making 16GB total. The inlay card tells us how to install the memory and gives us a brief run down of DRAM timing control but again, no notification of what this particular kits timings are!


Quad Channel

With the memory modules removed from their blister packs we get to see just what lengths Patriot have gone to in designing the heatsinks. Aesthetically, they are very pleasing to the eye and will no doubt look the part sat in most motherboards thanks to the understated black, polished aluminium and copper look.


Memory Front

My one major disappointment is the green PCB used. It is clear a lot of effort went into making the kit as visually appealing as possible so why go ruin everything with a green PCB when black would look so much neater by matching the colour scheme?


Memory Rear

Each module is identical to the other with Viper Extreme written on the front and, finally, a specification sticker to the rear which as you can see, shows us both the timings and the voltage required.


Copper Cooling

Keeping the modules cool is a sliver of copper which makes contact to the IC’s via (very strong) thermal tape. Heat is then dissipated via the main aluminium heatsink.


Heatsink Height

The height of the module is a little over 40mm which is quite good considering most memory modules with exterior cooling surpass this measurement.

Let’s take a look at today’s test setup…

Test Setup & Overclocking

Test System

Motherboard: MSI X79 Big Bang X-Power II
CPU: Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition @ 4.5GHz
Power Supply – ANTEC High Current Pro 1200W
Hard Drive – Kingston HyperX 240GB
Cooler – Corsair H100




Memory kits on test:

Patriot Division 4 Viper Extreme 16GB 9-11-9-27 1866MHz

Corsair Vengeance 16GB 9-10-9-27 1866MHz
G.SKILL RipjawsZ 16GB 9-10-9-28 1866MHz

Overclocking

Below are the SPD settings of the memory kit in today’s review:



Upon first boot and enabling XMP profile we found that the memory ran at 9-11-11-27 rather than the 9-11-9-27 advertised:



However, by setting the timings manually we found the kit to be perfectly stable at the correct timings of 9-11-9-27:



We did manage to lower the timings to match the two other kits on test at 9-10-9-27 however, what we really wanted to know was how much bandwidth this kit could provide:



To attain 2133MHz we had to slacken the timings off a little to 11-12-11-30 as any tighter and we encountered stability issues. Regardless, this kit will run at 2133MHz all day long with these settings so I am pleased to report this is a decent result for the Patriot Division 4 kit.

Let’s see how these results translate to performance…

Super Pi & Hyper Pi

In August 1995, the calculation of pi up to 4,294,960,000 decimal digits was succeeded by using a supercomputer at the University of Tokyo. The program was written by D.Takahashi and he collaborated with Dr. Y.Kanada at the computer center, the University of Tokyo. This record should be the current world record. ( Details is shown in the windows help. ) This record-breaking program was ported to personal computer environment such as Windows NT and Windows 95 and called Super PI. In order to calculate 33.55 million digits, it takes within 3 days with Pentium 90MHz, 40MB main memory and 340MB available storage.






The HiperPI front-end is basicly a program which allows selecting multiple threads of SuperPi to be run at the same time so you can test the stability and performance on multi-core machines.




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.








Sisoft Sandra 2012

SANDRA isn’t always a benchmark that is included in hardware reviews but I believe it shouldn’t be ignored. SANDRA provides a vigorous package that tests your system in a rather large array of benchmarks. There are many aspects of benchmark that can be executed. We will be considering – CPU and memory tests.








Futuremark 3DMark 11

Designed to measure your PC’s gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.




DiRT 3

As players race to elevate their global standing, DiRT 3 is back delivering mud, sweat and gears world over: from the intense weather-beaten rally stages of Europe, Africa and the US, to executing performance driving showcases and career challenges where car control is pushed to spectacular limits.


Conclusion


Patriot memory kits were a big hit on the X58 platform, particularly the Viper Extreme range with their sky blue, oversized heatsinks. I was looking at today’s quad channel kit and couldn’t help thinking how much more ‘grown up’ they look. Rather than having ‘out there in leftfield’ looks, they ooze class and hint at uber performance. Aesthetically, the one area which let’s the whole visual appeal down is the use of a green PCB. With so many enthusiasts now placing visuals high on the agenda, this could easily be enough to deter many potential buyers regardless of how well they perform, such is the weight given to aesthetics in today’s materialistic society.

Looks aside, the memory kit did perform well and while it was hindered at stock settings throughout the benchmarks with slacker timings, it still overclocked well reaching 2133MHz which is none too shabby for a 16GB memory kit costing less than £150 and made up for the less than average performance at reference settings.

Note* The above kit is pictured with a black PCB which goes to show just how much better they would have looked!

Were the PCB of the retail samples black and the timings and voltages matched to the competition then it could well be a Silver or even Gold award winner. However, the green PCB is unforgivable and the high stock voltage means less headroom is available to push the memory kit as far as we would have liked so the Patriot kit will have to settle for a Bronze award this time around.

If you can see past the green PCB, Patriot have on offer a very good memory kit that is more then capable of holding it’s own against the big boys even if it requires more voltage to do so and assuming you don’t mind a quick, 5 minute tweak to the latency. Also, if overclocking is your bag then this kit will give you an easy 2133MHz which should be enough to make you give the Patriot Division 4 Viper Extreme serious consideration when deciding upon a quad channel memory kit.

Pros:
+ Great heatsink design
+ Good bandwidth overclocking
+ Well packaged
+ Cool running

Cons:
– Timings slacker than the competition
– 1.65v compared to the competition Vdimm of 1.5v
– Green PCB




Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net. Thanks to Patriot Memory for providing today’s review sample.

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