G.Skill 2x1GB DDR3 PC3-12800 Review

It was brought up a little earlier that there was one definite advantage to having the traditional heat spreaders on these G.Skill modules, this is the section where that becomes evident. Normally we would have a few photos from a couple different setups showing how the heat sink does or doesn't interfere with the large Thermalright Ultra-120. That won't be the case today.

How does the saying go? A picture is worth a thousand words...if that is the case then we will let the photo do most of the talking. Obviously this memory will fit any setup where the CPU cooler doesn't interfere with the memory slots and standard heat sink absent modules so further investigation on multiple motherboards won't be required.

With the memory installed and system fired up, we can see what the SPD profiles offer and what the memory is set to with all of the BIOS settings left to default except for the FSB. The FSB has been adjusted to 400MHz and FSB/RAM ratio set to 1:2 in order get the memory running at the rated DDR3-1600. On the left is the SPD profile tab of CPU-Z and the right are the default boot settings. The first thing of note is a lack of an Intel XMP profile. Adding this would make life a lot easier for those motherboard owners not familiar with memory settings as it automatically gets the system running at the specified settings without any user input. The CPU-Z tab on the right displays the timings that are automatically set when the system is booted at DDR3-1600 without manually adjusting the timings. These timings are obviously the last SPD profile and in order to run at the specified timings of 7-7-7-18, we will have to set those manually. Let's now take a look at the rest of the hardware that will be utilized for the review of this memory.

Test Platform:

• Motherboard: Asus Maximus Extreme (BIOS 0904)
• Processor: Intel C2D E6850
• Processor Cooling: Thermalright Ultra-120
• Memory: G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 (F3-12800CL7D-2GBHZ)
• Power Supply: SilverStone Zeus ST56ZF
• Video Card: XFX Alpha Dog 8800GTS 512MB
• Additional Fans: 120mm AD1212MS-A73GL 2050RPM/80.5CFM
• Hard Drive: 1 x Seagate 7200.9 80GB SATAII 8MB cache
• OS: Windows XP SP2 (with recent updates)

When booting the system with the BIOS reset and at its defaults, the Maximus Extreme had no problem getting POST with the G.Skill F3-12800CL7D-2GBHZ. This means anyone with this combination of MB/RAM for a new build should have no problems getting fired up and running after assembly.

Unlike the Asus P5K3-Dlx motherboard that has been used in previous DDR3 reviews, the Maximus Extreme sample used here has had no modifications done to it. The provided voltages within the BIOS for the MCH (Memory Controller Hub or northbridge) and for the memory are more than enough to provide us with all the tools we will need to maximize this memory. The most important thing to remember when dealing with high frequency DDR3 memory is that the motherboard used plays an integral role in how well the memory runs.

The variation between motherboards, even from the same model, can be quite drastic and this will show up when it comes to overclocking memory. The Maximus Extreme that we will be using today is quite accomplished at memory overclocking and may perform better than other motherboards available. It certainly out-performs our P5K3-Dlx when it comes to stable overclocks above 950MHz on the memory where the P5K3-Dlx fizzled out, even with the voltage modification and added cooling to the northbridge. The stock cooling on the Maximus Extreme is quite substantial and has been left intact for now. In the future that may change but it seems to be doing the job quite fine as is. It should be really exciting to see where we get with these modules so let's get started right away.