G.Skill PI 2x2GB DDR3 PC3-12800 Review

Conclusion:

Winding down another journey through DDR3-ville is always a good part of the day. Like driving home from a hard day at work on Friday when your favorite song comes on the radio, ending this review just puts a smile on my face that can't easily be wiped off. When the weekend comes, you know all your hard work during the week was worth it despite some trying moments on Monday and Tuesday that make you think the week will never end. That is pretty much what it was like with this kit but was entirely the fault of the motherboard and operator.

Naturally though, the memory did play a small role in the problems being a 2x2GB kit of memory but any 2x2GB kit of memory was causing the overclocking issues we had with this kit on the motherboard. What we were able to accomplish was pretty darn impressive though and many users who find themselves opening a box from their favorite retailer with G.Skill PI DDR3 memory inside will have a lot of success overclocking. There really wasn't much else to discuss negatively when it comes to this kit other little issues like the fact that the heat spreaders are just a re-hash of an old idea or the availability being limited still in North America.

Overall though, the G.Skill PI 2x2GB PC3-12800 7-7-7 memory kit we looked at today is quite an impressive pair of modules. The XMP profiles are about as fast as you are going to be able to get at these frequencies with extremely aggressive sub-timings. Our Intel X48 based motherboard immediately recognized the XMP profile and from first boot we were running at rated frequencies and timings with this kit. The overclocking potential is there as we saw some pretty impressive results on a less than willing platform, imagine what we could do with a motherboard that wants to do its job? As we usher in a new set of Intel chipsets in the P45, we hope this won't be the last you see of the G.Skill PI PC3-12800 2x2GB kit. Don't forget to keep your eyes on the discussion thread of this review in our forum as these modules put more time in when newer motherboards come through.

Pros:

• 2x2GB memory kits are as hot as a volcano’s basement...popularity wise
• XMP profile is bang on and provides excellent performance
• Despite large heat sinks, the PI heat spreader is very thin and extremely lightweight
• For the first time ever I think, DDR3 memory has the price in the Pro side on the list

Cons:

• Motherboard capabilities are going to determine overclocking ability
• The PI heat spreader despite being nice, does not push the memory cooling envelope
• Availability on this kit is scarce here in North America and absent in Canada...so far

We like to hear feedback here at Hardware Canucks so feel free to bring up any questions or comments in the Discussion thread for the G.Skill PI PC3-12800 2x2GB kit.