Page 2 - A Closer Look, Installation, Test System
As with all modern day high performance desktop memory, G.SKILL's F3-17600CL7D (Which I'll refer to G.SKILL Pi series for short from now on) RAM comes with a large headspreader that completely covers the module printed circuit board. The large aluminum heatspreaders are painted black in color, and stand relatively high, thanks to the large array of 'teeth' at the top. Aluminum is lightweight, and serves as a decent heat conductor, while the toothed heatsink design improves air ventilation for faster heat dissipation. This is especially useful for systems equipped with side mounted CPU heatsink fans adjacent to the memory slots, so the G.SKILL Pi series headspreaders can piggy-back off its airflow. Unfortunately, said heatspreaders may interfere with giganormous heatsinks such as the Noctua NH-D14 we reviewed last week. Call it a marketing gimmick and whatnot, but it's almost impossible nowadays to find performance memory without any form of a heatspreader attached, haha. They do undeniably serve a purpose in dissipating heat -- but most memory modules, unless run at a voltage significantly over designed voltages, won't make this feature a requirement. But hey -- I'll admit they look pretty cool!
The heatspreader design of the G.SKILL Pi series modules is symmetrical, which is fairly logical because memory ICs reside on both sides of the PCB. Besides functional purposes, it also improves the look. A large label is applied over the flat areas of both sides of the heatspreader, with G.SKILL's logo near the western edge, and 'π series' branding on the eastern edge. A blue swipe gradient for a clean modern design streaks across the center. Meanwhile, a specification label covers over the 'π series' branding on one side of each module. It lists the kit name (G.SKILL F3-17600CL7D-4GBPIS), frequency, latencies, bandwidth, and the module's memory capacity. The serial number underneath the bar consists of a long string of numeric characters; the last digit is consecutive to the value listed on the other module to indicate that they come from the same box.
The heatspreader on the G.SKILL Pi-series RAM is composed of two separate parts, which can be removed independently from the same module. The heatspreader is held to the module itself by a strip of thermally conductive adhesive, and each half part of the heatsink is aligned by a reciprocating recessed ledge. The adhesive force between the two heatspreader and memory ICs are not particularly strong, so a quick pry with a screwdriver allows easy removal, as what we have done for the photo above.
From our above photo, it should also be clearer on how the heatspreaders are designed. Each tooth on the heatspreader is curved outwards, and meets its corresponding tooth from the other half piece at the top for a complete symmetrical design. Since the teeth are made from very thin aluminum, it does not hold a lot of heat, therefore dissipating the heat energy relatively quickly into the surrounding environment. The shortcoming in that regard is that it's quite prone to bending, but fortunately it can be easily reversed by the user. In the end, if you're going to be pushing your system to the limits with high memory voltages, the heatspreaders may be beneficial to improve system stability and overclocking potential.
A closer look at the memory chips on the G.SKILL F3-17600CL7D-4GBPIS 2x2GB dual channel memory kit. If you can't read the numbers clearly, it says "XDT516A3G-A" on each IC. These are very high performance Elpida Hyper ICs, with eight 128MB chips on each side for a total of 2GB on each DIMM. As mentioned on the previous page, these RAM modules run at an incredible speed of DDR3-2200 with 7-10-10-28 latencies at 1T command rate -- that's on stock voltage at only 1.65V. If these numbers mean nothing to you, then you probably won't need this RAM -- otherwise, it is clear that G.SKILL are targeting the hardcore enthusiast with this RAM kit. Particularly, it is designed to appeal to overclockers with these incredible specifications, as well as showing off the latest cutting edge performance memory. It costs approximately $180 for 4GB at press time, so they certainly don't come cheap -- but what you do get is the best of the best!
G.SKILL's Turbulence Fan is also included out of the box in addition to the set of RAM. The Turbulence Fan clips over the RAM -- the fan is generally able to accommodate four modules underneath it -- to improve airflow directly over the memory modules. The Turbulence Fan connects to your system's motherboard 3-pin fan headers. The fan is a 60mm ball bearing unit with a maximum speed of 3500rpm, with a blue LED light to add some style to your system. If you already have a system with sufficient airflow over the RAM, I would definitely regard it as an optional installation, up to the preference of the end user. The reason why I say that is because it is very audible at full speed, and I would definitely recommend undervolting it -- but since the fan is so small, it would significantly reduce airflow, which defeats its purpose.
Our test setup as follows:
CPU: Intel Core i5-750 (Intel SpeedStep and Turbo Mode disabled)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6
Graphics: Gigabyte GeForce 8800GT TurboForce
Chassis: Danger Den Torture Rack (1x Thermaltake 120mm LED Fan)
Power: OCZ EliteXStream 800W
Sound: Integrated (Motherboard)
Optical Drive: Liteon 16X DVD-ROM
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar 7200RPM 80GB 8MB Cache
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional x64
Compared Hardware
- G.SKILL F3-17600CL7D-4GBPIS 2x2GB @ DDR3-1333 7-7-7-18 (Downclocked/Manufacturer defined settings)
- G.SKILL F3-17600CL7D-4GBPIS 2x2GB @ DDR3-2100 7-10-10-28 1T (Stock speed/Manufacturer defined settings)
- Patriot Extreme Performance PC3-14400 2x1GB @ DDR3-1333 7-7-7-20 (Downclocked/Manufacturer defined settings)
For this review, I decided to benchmark the G.SKILL F3-17600CL7D-4GBPIS 2x2GB memory twice. The reason why I did that is because it is impossible to test the RAM at DDR3-2200 without overclocking the processor, or at least altering the base clock. For these reasons, I placed the Patriot Extreme Performance DDR3 RAM as a reference benchmark, as shown above, and ran both of them at our Intel Core i5-750's maximum supported memory speed in relation to the stock base clock. This particular frequency is DDR3-1333, with corresponding stock latencies defined by the respective memory manufacturers. The second benchmark run of the G.SKILL RAM is run with an altered processor base clock. Since the Core i5 only supports a 2:10 ratio rather than 2:12 in Lynnfield-based Core i7 processors, I used the maximum stable BCLK setting of 210MHz on our motherboard, while lowering the multiplier as close to 2.66GHz as possible for frequency compensation. The final frequency of the RAM is slightly lower at DDR3-2100 rather than DDR3-2200. Additionally, readers should take note that for our G.SKILL F3-17600CL7D-4GBPIS results running at DDR3-2100, the CPU runs at 2.73GHz with a 13x multiplier (+70MHz, or 2.6% clock increase).
Page Index
1. Introduction and Specifications
2. A Closer Look, Installation, Test System
3. Benchmark: EVEREST CPU
4. Benchmark: EVEREST FPU
5. Benchmark: EVEREST Memory
6. Benchmark: PCMark Vantage
7. Benchmark: 3DMark06 Professional
8. Benchmark: SuperPI 1M, Cinebench R10
9. Overclocking Results and Conclusion
