Page 2 - A Closer Look, Test System
Unsurprisingly, this DDR5-7000 version of the Patriot Viper Venom RGB looks the same as the last set of Viper Venom RGB we looked at three years ago. Patriot has kept the same heatspreaders. These combine a black aluminum plate with silver nameplates on both sides. Aluminum is a lightweight and decent heat conductor that should work in preventing any hot spots. The red Viper logo and name are on both sides of the memory modules. The top has a translucent bar that runs across to diffuse the RGB LEDs when they are on. It is clearly very visually appealing with the subtle lines that cross diagonally on both sides. The heatspreader design of the Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-7000 2x16GB is asymmetrical on one side, but symmetrical between the two sides.
The added aluminum and plastic results in an increased centimeter of height compared to memory with no heatspreader at all. This is especially important for systems equipped with side-mounted CPU heatsink fans near the memory slots, as it can use the generated airflow. The medium height will not interfere with your processor cooler. Nowadays, only OEM-grade memory seems to lack a heatspreader altogether. While the additional aluminum on the sides may not directly impact performance, they still serve a function of dissipating heat with the bonus of enhancing the aesthetic appeal. Otherwise, on one side of the module, there is a specifications label. It shows the model number, operating transfer rates, voltage, and certification labels. It is not on the label, but this kit was made in Taiwan.
The two aluminum sides stay together with strips of thermal conductive adhesive over the chips, as well as tape over the translucent diffuser. This adhesion force between the heatspreaders and memory ICs is quite strong, but with some heat, one side can be pried open. It is unlikely you will ever need to remove the heatspreaders unless you are working with exceptionally low clearances in your build. In this case, it is better to just buy OEM-grade memory instead. The aluminum heatspreaders are mirror images of each other, and feel solid in the hand.
On the black PCB itself, there is a power management integrated circuit, or PMIC, positioned in the middle of the module. A gray thermal pad resides over the PMIC area to provide contact with the heatsink and aid in dissipating heat. According to our investigations, this is a Richtek PMIC. Nearby is a Renesas SPD5118 SPD HUB.
A closer look at one of the memory chips on the Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-7000 2x16GB dual channel memory kit. The photo above is not the clearest, but it says Patriot PM2G8D58U-560. However, these appear to be re-labeled SK hynix chips, with eight 2GB chips on one side only for a total of 16GB on each DIMM. As mentioned on the previous page, these RAM modules run at a transfer rate of DDR5-7000 with 32-48-48-96 latencies. This operates at a DDR5 voltage of 1.45V, which is higher than the base DDR5 voltage of 1.1V.
Our test configuration is as follows:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X
CPU Cooling: be quiet! Dark Rock Elite
Motherboard: ASUS ProArt X870E-Creator WiFi
Graphics: EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING
Chassis: Endorfy Arx 700 ARGB
Storage: Lexar Professional NM800 PRO 2TB, Kingston NV3 2TB
Power: be quiet! Straight Power 12 1200W
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (24H2)
Compared Hardware:
- Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-7000 2x16GB @ DDR5-7000 32-48-48-96
- Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6400 2x16GB @ DDR5-6400 38-40-40-84
- Lexar ARES RGB DDR5-6000 2x16GB @ DDR5-6000 34-38-38-76
- Patriot Viper Elite 5 DDR5-6400 2x16GB @ DDR5-6400 32-40-40-84
One thing we should note is that we are evaluating with an AM5 system, which means there is an optimal operating ratio between the frequency of your memory, memory controller, and the Infinity Fabric. Officially, AMD recommends memory operating at 6000MT/s. As such, our unit today, at DDR5-7000, may not always perform the best out of the compared memory.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look, Test System
3. Benchmark: AIDA64 CPU
4. Benchmark: AIDA64 FPU
5. Benchmark: AIDA64 Memory
6. Benchmark: PCMark 10
7. Benchmark: 3DMark
8. Benchmark: PassMark PerformanceTest 11
9. Benchmark: SuperPI 1M, Cinebench 2024
10. Overclocking and Conclusion
