G.Skill TridentX PC3 21300 8GB 2666C11-13-13-35 Kit Review

Memory by leeghoofd @ 2012-07-16

The G.Skill brand has become one of the more popular brands in the enthusiast community. This Taiwanese RAM company has won the hearts of many overclockers, especially due their binning methods and affordable price tag. Therefore G.Skill manages time after time to launch RAM kits in multiple speed/timing versions, in different quantities and best of all they usually sport some extra overclocking headroom. With each new CPU platform that pops up, G.Skill introduces simultaneously a new series of RAM. When Intel launched Ivy Bridge, the TridentX RAM series popped up on the G.Skill website. The RAM vendors had to redo their binning methods, mainly due to the high ram speed support of the new Ivy Bridge CPU's. Enthusiast RAM isn't solely based anymore on just tight timings, high RAM speeds is one of the new requirements. The TridentX kit reviewed today is one of the higher specced kits, supporting a whopping 2666Mhz at CAS 11-13-13-35 2T timings out of the box.

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Conclusion

Besides a stunning looking stick, G.Skill has pulled it off again to satisfy the hunger of the enthousiast community. The looks are killer, in fact one of the prettiest dimms I've seen in ages. Black and red is a winning combo and this is hardly debatable.

The TridentX series are again available in a wide variety of speeds and quantities, but less compared to previous series. G.Skill is reknown for, a sometimes confusing, launch of a gazzilion different RAM kits within the same range. Four different speeds varying from 2400Mhz to a whopping 2800mhz for the TridentX lineup. You want quantity ? The TridentX smallest size is 8GB going up to 32GB, depending on the speed selected.

If we analyse the performance of the TridentX 2666C11 kit versus the simulated speeds, we spot that these high warranted for lifetime speeds, are not a must have requirement for daily setups or gaming setups. These sticks are crafted to please the community that likes to push the boundaries. Secondly we have to warn our readers that some memory controllers (IMC) of our precious Ivy Bridge CPU's are not up to the task to handle high quantities of RAM at these insane box rated speeds. Bios support of the motherboard used is also a big factor to warrant if you can run these georgeous looking dimms. Luckily on the different motherboards we tested this TridentX kit on, the XMP profile worked flawless.

 

 

 

To get the max out of these sticks, sometimes manual intervention aka tweaking is required. Some subtle changes in the bios can make a world of difference in your favourite benches. Looking at the performance numbers the sweetspot with Ivy Bridge seems to be around 2400MHz with tight timings. To clarify the sweetspot we are referring to the bang for the buck ratio. The 2400C10 8GB kit can be yours for around 95 euros, the 2666C11 kit is retailing at double the price. Performance is almost identical. But with the 2666C11 kit you get the warranted, binned IC speeds, backed up by a lifetime warranty from the G.Skill crew.

Overclocking headroom will differ from kit to kit, as it's never warranted. Our sample kit was not happy with tightening the main timings, no matter the voltage we pumped through them. But 2900Mhz C11-14-14 at 1.72Vdimm is impressive, pushing our i7-3770K's IMC on air to it's limits. If time permits our kit will see some cold (LN2) action soon, to see if we can tighten the timings. Too bad as similar specced kits on the net, had no issue to run at 2666Mhz C10-12-12 or even 2800C11-13-13 at pretty close to stock rated voltages. But that's overclocking in it's purest form, a bit of luck is always involved.

With the TridentX series the G.Skill company has delivered again. Besides an amasing looking heatspreader design, it's a fantastic performing kit for enthousiasts, benchers and tweakers. If the high, but justified for the high rated speeds, price isn't an issue, then this TridentX 2666C11 kit might be tailored for you !

 

 

 

PROS

  • Warranted high speeds
  • Lifetime warranty
  • Stunning looks

CONS

  • No tight timings on our sample

 

A big thanks goes out to Mia from G.Skill for putting up with the nutty crew at Madshrimps and HWBot for all this time. Let's see if Kaysta can handle us :)

 

 

Also thanks to Tones.be for allowing us to pick a good i7 3770K CPU with a very nice IMC. Kuddos guys !

 

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