The ARES kit comes in a bland blister pack with press studs to open the package. Inside there is a basic inlay card which separates the two pairs of memory modules. Perhaps the most important aspect of the packing is the product sticker which appears added to the package more of an afterthought or indeed to keep product costs down. On this sticker you will find the frequency, timings and voltage specifications of the memory kit inside. G.SKILL clearly like their stickers as they have also included one to be used as a case badge if you so desire.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with the packaging, the recent memory kit we reviewed from Patriot put this products packaging in the shade and while it is only a minor criticism, it is one worth mentioning when the competition are much better in this department.



At first glance, the memory modules look very attractive. The low profile, electic blue heatsinks contrast well with the black PCB hidden beneath. Even the product stickers is colour coded to complete the visual appeal of the ARES memory kit.



The Heatsink on the front of the module has a variety of cut-outs and folds in the metal to assist with heat dissipation.



the rear of the modules feature the same product sticker as found on the front but there is another decal added over the top which displays the products specification, manufacture date and individual serial number.



Measuring just 33mm in height, these modules are ideally suited to sit beneath large CPU heatsinks.



The memory IC's used hail from HYNIX with a product code of H5TQ2G83CFA H9C which tells us each module is formed from 2 banks of 8x256MB 1333MHz 9-9-9 IC's.

Let's take a look at how these modules overclock with our test setup...