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(More customer reviews)You know I was between a rock and a hard place when I bought this RAM for one of my Core i7 920-CPU builds in June, and I waited a couple months to publish this review so I could tell you all about the overclockability of the RAM, how COOL it runs, what it looks like up close and personal, and give a better impression than just a simple 1-week test-session might give, so here we go... It's a bit shorter than my regular reviews because I don't have a lot of time to delve into this tonight, but I'llmostly likely come back and amend it with some in-depth comments later.
I think it's important to get something up here about this SDRAM because it's so cheap compared to Corsair, OCZ, and G. Skill DDR3 SDRAM at this time, and you have to wonder about it...1) Is it so cheap that it won't work well? 2) It is so cheap that it's not going to look great in my build? 3) Is it too inexpensive for my expensive build? 4) will it overclock worth a darn?
I wondered about those things when I was getting ready to order the RAM, and I hesitated ordering it for those and other reasons, but you know I've had such bad luck with Corsair and OCZ RAM lately (see my other reviews on RAM!) that I just decided to go for it and try this stuff out, you know what I mean!? I figured What The Hay! "The OCZ RAM that I tried two batches of failed miserably, and I don't have much luck with the cheap Corsair RAM either, so maybe Patriot's RAM will be worthy of my build and work fine," I told myself...so I ordered it. And I did NOT regret it either!
This truly is Bargain Basement RAM with a total cost of less than $130 once you figure in the Rebate (currently $20 on this RAM, which you might see sometime next year--the way companies take their time to give a Rebate to the customer!), so your risk is quite small with respect to how much Patriot Gamer 1600Mhz RAM costs compared to the other brands. For the buck$ I rated this one 5 stars after using it for 60 days or so in an overclocked Core i7 920-series CPU-equipped OEM build.
Overall I rated this RAM 5 stars, and that is because it gave me no trouble until I started overclocking the RAM to 1650Mhz and higher, and it's a No Can Do for that whole idea!! A small overclock it will do, and I mean like 10-50Mhz total (1610Mhz to 1640-1650Mhz is fine, but no higher!), but that is IT Baby! Do not expect this 1600Mhz RAM to give you 1700+Mhz capability like bargain-basement G. Skill RAM does, unfortunately, but it IS good at stock ratings, and that is the good news.
I experimented with all of the timings extensively, upped VDIMM to as high as 1.70V, changed other BIOS settings like QPI to be variable and flexible, loosened up the controls basically to allow for some variations at higher voltage settings, and I couldn't get it to click...it just refused to overclock higher than 1650Mhz no matter what I tried, and I am a bit of an expert at doing this sort of thing I assure you nice Amazon.com readers, it's *not* uncharted waters for me to OC RAM and CPU's.
In this case the CPU was willing but the RAM was not, so I dispensed with ideas of running the Patriot Gamer 1600Mhz RAM higher than 1610Mhz, which is my actual speed for the past 60 days or so with my Core i7 920 CPU overclocked to 4210Mhz (4.2Ghz) with 100% stability doing Folding@Home @ 100% CPU Load...no errors, lots of completed Work Units, and very, very cool running RAM in this build. So I was happy to get what I could out of this batch of RAM, achieving perfect stability at its rated speed/Mhz but not any higher, sorry about that!
It will run without errors or problems at or about 1600Mhz, and slightly higher, and certainly it's stable everywhere below 1600Mhz, so rest assured your build will not suffer if you plan on running up to 4.2Ghz or so with the Core i7 920 CPU, and slightly higher to boot...just don't expect a miracle for this kind of $$$'s, that's all I caution people about.
When you set up this RAM in BIOS be sure and peg the VDIMM Voltage at 1.60V-1.65V and you will be good, and slightly higher works fine also without uncorking the RAM's guts and burning it up...don't fret about that, because as we all know (experienced builders know this) that "a little VDIMM" works wonders with stability on overclocked Core i7 CPU's, as their memory controller is embedded in the CPU and you need some voltage to get the thing stable at or about 1600Mhz, and 4.2Ghz CPU speed...it's just mandatory to do this. Don't try and achieve stability with wimpy VDIMM, go ahead and crank it up a little bit and watch your system get stable, run nice and cool, and pass all the tests just fine!
That's about it for my take on this Patriot Gamer 1600Mhz RAM, and I will add more if there are any issues or problems as time goes on with my setup, but so far SO GOOD! Don't worry about purchasing it, it will work, the quality seems to be there up to 1600Mhz rating speed, as long as you Pony Up and adjust the VDIMM correctly in BIOS to 1.60V--1.65V, and run the RAM at its 9-9-9-24-74 suggested timing--voila, and BAM! You will be up and running with your system just fine, UP TO RATED MHZ (1600Mhz) and NOT MUCH HIGHER!!
A quick take on "how it looks" in the build (Classified EVGA E760 motherboard, which is black and red with blackout chrome fittings!), it looks great! Of course it's not up to Dominator standards in terms of looks, but it does look just fine on my Classified EVGA E760 board and GTX-285 video card, yessir it looks just great with that combo in my all-black Cooler Master case.
I recommend the Patriot Gamer 1600Mhz RAM 100% to all of you who are having difficulty coming up/justifying $200+ to buy the rather expensive "other brands" that you know will probably work just fine also, but why bother with that whole idea when you can spend a paltry $130 or so on this RAM and be stylin' and good to be going!?There is nothing wrong with frugality in this case, as it turns out that this Patriot RAM is a good choice after all...I've done my experimenting with it, and now you too can benefit from my work with this nifty, xlnt 1600Mhz RAM.
Try it, you'll like it, because I know I did!
Wavey Davey - August 23, 2010
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Patriot Gamer Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PGS36G1600ELKProduct Description: Patriot Gamer Series (PGS), part of the Extreme Performance (EP) Enhanced Latency line is engineered to expand your gaming options. Built for use with the Intel X58 Express Chipset and Intel Core i7 processor family, these memory modules are targeted for enthusiasts and serious overclockers. Equipped with lightweight aluminum heat-dispersing shields, these modules are designed for maximum performance and stability under extreme overclocking conditions. Engineered with quality and Performance in mind, Patriot Extreme Performance line is the ultimate solution for extreme overclockers, gamers, and PC enthusiasts.
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