Rather than the plastic blister packs were are used to seeing with memory kits, the Vengeance kit is presented in a neat glossy yet sturdy cardboard box. The product is featured on the front of the package with the associated Intel and AMD logo's beneath, hinting that it is compatible with X79, Z68, P67 and AMD dual channel DDR3 compatible motherboards. You don't have to have a quad channel (X79) chipset to run this kits as it will run quite happily in dual channel configuration.
The rear of the package has a small window showing the memory modules, specifically the stickers on the modules which also display the product's base specifications. Corsair also make a point of telling the prospective purchaser that this kit is made from select DRAM IC's which are tested for performance and compatibility. Not only that but they are backed up by one of the best limited lifetime warranties available.
The box has a flip open lid so that it reads like a book. Sadly the only reading to be done is that of the same memory module stickers showing the product's specification. Nevertheless it brought a smile to my face and it's nice to see a company going that extra yard in terms of packaging - good job Corsair!
The modules themselves are immense. Anyone who has had the pleasure of handling Vengeance modules previously will know just how big these are. Anodised in racing red they will match any red/black colour scheme perfectly (think ASUS ROG & EVGA Classified range). I do worry about the clearence issues some people may have as the modules are quite tall though.
I'm not particularly sold on the yellow Vengeance lettering as I think it takes a little away from the overall aesthetics but they are sure to stand out in any PC system. It is however, good to see that Corsair have used black PCB's rather than the green they used in our previous Corsair Vengeance review.
The front of the module is not as fussy as the G.SKILL we are pitching them against today with a basic frame emblazoned with a 3 part sticker design. The top of the heatsinks is where it's all at with the Vengeance though as those fins almost double the height of the module. I would be surprised that at this speed and voltage the modules needed this much cooling but there can be no doubt, they certainly look menacing.
As explained previously, the rear of the module has a sticker which displays the product code and more importantly the rated speed, timings and voltage required.
The modules stand at 52mm in height at the centre, 50mm at the edge but will fall just under this when in-situ. Those who intend using large heatsinks should be wary as these heatsinks will most likely clash with the fins of the CPU heatsink unless orientated perpendicular to the memory kit (vertical on X79). Thankfully, we had no such problems due to the Corsair H100 enclosed watercooling cpu kit in use our test setup.
The integrated chips used on the Corsair Vengeance 1866MHz CL9 kit come courtesy of Micron D9 which are renowned for being good overclocking chips. How far we manage to push this kit remains to be seen but we will see how much success we get later in the review.
