Overclocking Beyond 2 Ghz
There’s a little extra head room beyond 2 GHz, but not much. This particular kit maxed out at almost 2080 MHz with higher 9-9-9-30 memory timings and a maximum of 1.7 volts. Anything higher will require more than 1.7 Volts which puts things into the danger zone. At these higher timings, the kit is actually slower than stock frequencies and timings. Also, 1.7 Volts is the extreme maximum Intel advises lest you risk your processor. The memory may be willing, but the CPU (owner) may not be.
Here’s a little extra perspective. The realistic overclocker is going to push the CPU as far as possible rather than the memory. This particular system, like the last two generations before, can maintain the memory’s 2 GHz frequency or a maximum CPU Bus, but not maintain both extremes at the same time.
With this many ICs packed on to a module, there isn’t much overclocking tolerance. It’s a challenge alone finding the right ICs capable of supporting these frequencies and timings. If you’re hell bent on achieving over 2100 MHz, you should try the 3 x 1GB PC3-16000 HyperX memory kit which seems to be a more popular overclocking choice.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
The only thing more important than overclocking the memory are its timings. Lower timings always produce higher amounts of bandwidth which improves the system’s overall performance with quicker program access and execution times. And sometimes, it’ll produce a couple more frames in your favorite game. It definitely helps with compiling larger files or encoding videos and rendering animations.
Another feature that makes or breaks a memory kit besides its memory bandwidth, is whether or not it’s stable during operations. When selecting this memory, you can rest assured that the memory was perfectly stable and was error free for hours of torture testing. The memory handled the large blocks of data and high system stress perfectly. This wasn’t entirely a surprise since the memory passed validation with the RST Pro3 Memory Tool.
The Kingston HyperX 6GB 2000 MHz Triple Channel Memory Kit literally crushes anything to cross this test bench to date, even at stock frequencies. The 6GB does excellent all around under the Vista 64-bit environment for which the kit was intended. There are cheaper kits out there, but they come at the sacrifice of memory timings (and performance). When looking for a true performance based Triple Channel overclocking memory, the Kingston HyperX 6GB 2000 MHz kit offers the perfect bang for the buck that demanding users need.
Pros
- 2000 MHz of raw high frequency performance
- 8-8-8-30 memory timings
- Sexy new HyperX heat spreaders
- XMP Profiles work well
- Best bang for buck at $250
Cons
- Limited Supply
- Limited overclocking beyond 2000 MHz
Overall Rating: 9.5 / 10.0
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