Super Talent Project X 2x1GB DDR3 PC3-14400 Review

Normally installation for memory is an open and shut case but with these Project X heat sinks, it won't be that simple. Let's get to some photos of the modules in two setups; the Asus Maximus Extreme and then the test setup, the Asus P5K3-Dlx.

As was completely expected, the added height of these modules interferes with the Thermalright Ultra-120 when placed in the orientation facing up and down the motherboard. Moving the modules to the outside slots relieves this issue with the cooler. The other option would be to simply rotate the Thermalright Ultra-120 to be facing front to back as opposed to up and down. So even if you did want to run four Project X modules and a Thermalright Ultra-120, it is do-able on the Maximus Extreme with the cooler in front to back orientation.

We now move the modules over to the motherboard that we will be testing in, the Asus P5K3-Dlx. Unlike the Maximus Extreme, the modules would actually fit in the first slot with the large Thermalright cooler but if you look down the orange slot we can see the Noctua NC-U6 north bridge cooler interfering. With stock cooling on the motherboard, all four slots would easily be useable with pretty much any CPU cooler. The second photo above simply shows that there is plenty of room with the Rosewill CPU cooler that will be affixed for testing.

Now that the memory is installed and running, we can look at the SPD profiles that are offered. When first installing the memory in the P5K3-Dlx at BIOS defaults, there were no problems with the first boot when the motherboard is only supplying JEDEC spec of 1.5v. A problem with many DDR2 performance modules were the inability to POST with reduced voltages, this doesn't appear to be an issue with DDR3 modules. We can see on the left CPU-Z windows that there are two JEDEC profiles and two XMP profiles but they appear to be the same. Since there is an XMP profile in the SPD programming, we decided to put the sticks into an Asus Maximus Xtreme which is XMP compatible and the CPU-Z memory tab on the right shows the results. At BIOS defaults, the memory booted right up into the specified settings. Unfortunately there were some stability problems on the Maximus Extreme that is likely a motherboard issue so the rest of the review will only take place on the Asus P5K3-Dlx.

Test Platform:

• Motherboard: Asus P5K3-Deluxe Wifi-AP
• Processor: Intel C2D E6850
• Processor Cooling: Rosewill RCX-Z775-EX
• Memory: Super Talent Project X 2x1GB DDR3-1800 7-7-7-21
• Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower 700W
• Video Card: Biostar 8600GTS 512MB
• Additional Fans: 120mm Vantec Stealth SF12025L 1500RPM/50CFM
• Hard Drive: 1 x Seagate 7200.9 80GB SATAII 8MB cache
• OS: Windows XP SP2 (with recent updates)

A small disclaimer: The motherboard used for testing the abilities of this memory has been modified to provide more voltage to the MCH (Memory Controller Hub), also known as the northbridge. This was required because the P5K3-Dlx used for testing has a limited vMCH setting in the BIOS that restricts voltage to 1.70v. Through extensive testing with this motherboard, it was proven that higher MCH voltages led to much higher memory overclocks. There are many P5K3-Dlx motherboards that clock memory better than this one but keep this information in mind when going over the results. In the screenshots in the following section, the voltages used for each overclock are outlined in a small visible text file.

The key point to remember with this memory is the fact that the system has to be overclocked rather substantially in order to run the specified frequency and timings. In order to reach 900MHz the system must be able to reach 450FSB and supply at least 2.00v for the memory. Super Talent have tested the modules prior to releasing them to retailers but not every setup is the same and any time you are running an overclocked system, some adjustments to voltages and secondary memory timings is a very likely possibility.