Team Group’s portfolio grows further with their latest Dark Z range with frequencies up to 3600MHz and fancy aluminium heatspreaders.
Product on Review: Team Group T-Force Dark Z
Manufacturer: Team Group
Street Price: USD $79.99
Team Group have been around for quite a few years now, producing flash-based products in the Eastern markets but it’s only the last few years where they’re truly emerged into the Western hemisphere, but since then, we’ve been inundated with SSDs and DRAM modules with the latest in that line being today’s sample, the Team Group T-Force Dark Z DDR4.
The T-Force Dark Z is available in 2666MHz, 3000MHz, 3200MHz and 3600MHz frequency options, 8GB and 16GB module capacities and in a choice of red or grey. Today we’ll look at a 3600MHz, 2x 8GB kit, in the grey flavour.
Latency is rated at 18-22-22-42, which is a far cry from the best we’ve seen but Team Group promise this memory to be affordable, often a stumbling block for many hoping to purchase a high frequency memory kit. The aluminium heatsinks allow the modules to more efficiently dissipate the heat generated from their XMP overclock profile and with specially selected high-quality ICs, optimal performance, stability and compatibility is guaranteed.
We’ve been unable to find UK or Aussie pricing but at $79.99 in the US for the 3600MHz kit, it’ll almost undoubtedly strike a note with budget-constrained enthusiasts.
Team Group on the Dark Z:
T-FORCE DARK Z DDR4 gaming memory is designed based on the concept of an armored knight. The sacred war robe offers a more complete protection. The simple yet brilliant line design of T-FORCE DARK Z DDR4 gaming memory refines the heat sink which made by traditional punch press process. Electrolytic anodizing process and metal electroforming logo design are used to echo with T-FORCE logo’s energetic tech armor.
Technical Specifications
Module Type:
288 Pin Unbuffered DIMM Non ECC
Capacity:
8GB / 16GB / 8GBx2 / 16GBx2
Frequency & Latency:
2666 (CL15-17-17-35)
3000 (CL16-18-18-38)
3200 (CL16-18-18-38)
3600 (CL18-22-22-42)
Voltage:
1.2V – 1.35V
Dimensions:
43.5(H) x 141(L) x 8.3(W)mm
Heat Spreader:
Aluminum heat spreader
Warranty:
Lifetime warranty
288 Pin Unbuffered DIMM Non ECC
Capacity:
8GB / 16GB / 8GBx2 / 16GBx2
Frequency & Latency:
2666 (CL15-17-17-35)
3000 (CL16-18-18-38)
3200 (CL16-18-18-38)
3600 (CL18-22-22-42)
Voltage:
1.2V – 1.35V
Dimensions:
43.5(H) x 141(L) x 8.3(W)mm
Heat Spreader:
Aluminum heat spreader
Warranty:
Lifetime warranty
Packaging, Bundle & Closer Look
As is typical for Team Group’s memory kits, the modules arrive in a vacuum-formed clear plastic outer, through which you can see the grey heatspreaders clearly. The small sticker in the bottom-right tells you the capacity, frequency and latencies of the enclosed modules.
The rear of the packet gives a brief summary of the features and a, what can only be described as, badly written introduction of the T-Force brand.
Included with the pair of Dark Z modules is a small T-Force case sticker and a warranty information document which explains the terms and conditions of the lifetime warranty.
Both sides of the heatsink are identical apart from a few small differences, with the Dark Z and T-Force logos on the right-hand side, and the somewhat ugly product label on the other side.
From the top edge you can see the T-Force logo in all of its glory and the join between the two aluminium pieces making up the heatsink.
Test Setup & Software
Our test system is formatted and a fresh version of Windows is installed with just drives in place – no additional applications. Windows is then updated to the latest release and the drivers are installed.Included in the list of benchmarks are the following applications:
Benchmarks:
AIDA64
SiSoftware SANDRA
Cinebench R20
PCMark 8 Photoshop
Rise of the Tomb Raider
War Thunder
SiSoftware SANDRA
Cinebench R20
PCMark 8 Photoshop
Rise of the Tomb Raider
War Thunder
Test system:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3800X
Motherboard: MSI Prestige X570 Creation
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX480
Memory:
PSU: Corsair RM750x
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Monitor: ASUS ROG PG279Q
Motherboard: MSI Prestige X570 Creation
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX480
Memory:
PSU: Corsair RM750x
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Monitor: ASUS ROG PG279Q
Memory Transfer Performance – AIDA64
AIDA64 Product PageMemory bandwidth benchmarks (Memory Read, Memory Write, Memory Copy) measure the maximum achiveable memory data transfer bandwidth. The code behind these benchmark methods are written in Assembly and they are extremely optimized for every popular AMD, Intel and VIA processor core variants by utilizing the appropriate x86/x64, x87, MMX, MMX+, 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2, SSE4.1, AVX, and AVX2 instruction set extension.
The Memory Latency benchmark measures the typical delay when the CPU reads data from system memory. Memory latency time means the penalty measured from the issuing of the read command until the data arrives to the integer registers of the CPU.
The Memory Latency benchmark measures the typical delay when the CPU reads data from system memory. Memory latency time means the penalty measured from the issuing of the read command until the data arrives to the integer registers of the CPU.
Bandwidth Performance – SiSoftware SANDRA
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.
Processing Power Performance – Cinebench R20
Cinebench is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s hardware capabilities. Improvements to Cinebench Release 20 reflect the overall advancements to CPU and rendering technology in recent years, providing a more accurate measurement of Cinema 4D’s ability to take advantage of multiple CPU cores and modern processor features available to the average user.
Image Editing Performance – PC Mark 8 Photoshop
PCMark 8 Product Page Developed in partnership with Benchmark Development Program members Acer, AMD, Condusiv Technologies, Dell, HGST, HP, Intel, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Samsung, SanDisk, Seagate and Western Digital, PCMark 8 is the latest version in FutureMark’s popular series of PC benchmarking tools. Improving on previous releases, PCMark 8 includes new tests using popular applications from Adobe and Microsoft.
Gaming Performance – Rise of the Tomb Raider & War Thunder
To test out the benefit of faster memory in a real world scenario, we have taken a recent game and created a CPU limited scenario by reducing the resolution and graphics settings to minimum, while setting the CPU dependent settings at their highest.
Conclusion
Team Group produce many different DDR4 memory kits for all kinds of different budgets, but today’s kit seems to blur the lines between enthusiast and budget.The Dark Z is available in grey or red, and doesn’t sport any RGB LEDs of any kind, so it’s not exactly the flashiest DDR4 kit we’ve tested but the heatspreaders do their job and look decent while they’re at it.
The market’s flooded with RGB-equipped memory if that’s your thing, but if you don’t care for it or just don’t want to pay for it, having some decent, high frequency modules is good news and the Dark Z will see you right, for the most part.
The Dark Z memory kit has two main flaws, availability and latency.
Availability can easily be fixed, if and when Team Group ship their modules to other countries outside of the US, but the latency issue is somewhat more difficult, relying on the end-user to overclock the modules themselves, which introduces stability concerns. (If you’re hell-bent on getting your hands on this kit in the UK, it’s available from Amazon.com with only a small delivery fee added on for Prime members.)
Our testing showed that, at least in some part, the latency isn’t a major issue but it does leave performance on the table and in some instances it’s considerable. For example, the G.SKILL Trident Z Neo RGB that we tested last week, sports the same 3600MHz frequency but the 16-19-19-39 timings compared to Team Group’s 18-22-22-42 resulted in a surprising difference of 12FPS in our War Thunder CPU test and around 150 points in Cinebench R20, the G.SKILL kit is almost twice the price, mind you.
If you’re looking for a high frequency DRAM kit with a strict budget, this will definitely cut the mustard but the latency is somewhat concerning
Pros
+ Cheapest 3600MHz kit we can find
+ Heatspreaders look great
+ No gimmicky RGB lighting to drive the price up
+ Lifetime warranty
Cons
– Not available in the UK or Australia
– Very slack timings
+ Cheapest 3600MHz kit we can find
+ Heatspreaders look great
+ No gimmicky RGB lighting to drive the price up
+ Lifetime warranty
Cons
– Not available in the UK or Australia
– Very slack timings
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