Corsair Vengeance 1866MHz CL9 16GB DDR3 Review

👤by Richard Weatherstone Comments 📅17-12-11
Conclusion
The Corsair Vengeance 1866MHz 4x4GB DDR3 memory kit is a solid performing piece of hardware, of that there can be no doubt. There are however a few little niggles that prevent it from being 'excellent'.

First off, let me begin by addressing the price issue. At £128.59 it is by no means cheap. Sure it's not particularly expensive either and is perhaps on par with Crosair's own triple channel Vengeance 12GB (3x4GB) kit which equates to around £30 per module. Considering that the kit we have reviewed today has a higher bandwidth then you would be forgiven for thinking that the kit is fairly priced. You would of course be right to think so however, the G.SKILL kit we pitched the Corsair kit against weighs in slightly cheaper and performs ever so slightly better when overclocked. The Corsair kit was by no means a slouch you will understand, it's just that to overclock the kit to any working degree of stability we had to slacken the timings right back to CAS 11-12-11 which for all intents and purposes negated any speed difference the increase in bandwidth afforded. The kit did however slightly out perform the G.SKILL kit at stock settings...just. With a smidge of a difference in timings (tRAS27 vs tRAS28) the Corsair kit just squeezed the G.SKILL out of the stock performance stakes but the Corsair kit couldn't quite keep up the same perfomance when overclocked so it's all square there then.

Aesthetically speaking, the two kits we have reviewed also look very similar. The Vengeance do however look a little more aggressive with their taller heatsink fins and it has to be said that the packaging is leagues ahead of the G.SKILL. During testing the Vengeance kit also seemed a little cooler in comparison to the G.SKILL although this was only measured by touch. Both memory kits come with lifetime warranties yet it has to be said that Corsair are class leaders in this department so should this kit fail you anytime in the future, you can be assured of excellent support and RMA service from Corsair.



Overall then, given the choice which kit would I spend my hard earned on? Truth be told I could not choose from one kit from the other. If raw overclockability was my bag then I would perhaps be swayed toward the G.SKILL as this was the one area which clearly separated the two kits. You have to remember however that while the Vengeance is Corsair's high-end brand, it is not the pinnacle. That mantle belongs to the awesome Dominator GT range which we hope to have up for review shortly. Running the Vengeance out of the box 'as is' and if you have a watercooled setup rather than an over-sized aircooler then maybe Corsair's time served support service will appeal most as out of the two kits, the Corsair looks to edge it in the visuals department and also has an amazing warranty service. So I'm going to act the politician on this one I'm afraid and answer a question with a question: What do you value most? Overclocking, looks, price, out of the box performance or support? Both kits offer everything but each kit is stronger in alternative categories. Whichever appeals most to you will decide which kit you should opt for.

Pros:
+ Fantastic looks
+ Good bandwidth overclocking
+ Great Packaging
+ Cool running
+ Excellent Support

Cons:
- Timings slackened too much for any worthwhile overclock
- Unable to tighten timings at stock bandwidth
- High profile design (52mm)






Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net. Thanks to Corsair for providing today’s review sample.

11 pages « < 8 9 10 11

Comments