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Kingston HyperX PC 3200 In-depth Review
Reviewer: Saad Bin Riaz
Date: 2006/02/19
Source: SBRLABS http://sbrlabs.com/index.php?id=4101
Introduction:
Talking memories is often boring, especially when dealt with dull and naked sticks of RAM. There are some however, more expensive,
more exclusive and even faster, memories that are designed under strict regulations but pump extra horses for the most demanding users.
Kingston has now reached a record level, beating everyone else by some margin. More than 2000 employees and a sale of $ 2.4 Billion
is more than enough to trump any competition. Unlike much of the competition, Kingston stuck dominantly on producing cheap and
cheerful products, thoroughly covering the market with branches into specific memory components and recently the introduction of
microSD cards for new smart phones
Today, I will be torturing Kingston’s PC3200 kit of HyperX memory. With a promising timing set of 2-3-2-6 and take this, just
2.6 volts of requirement, if the performance figures replicate the blistering rates, this could be one of the fastest memories money
can buy without the need of super high end motherboards.
….and for much of my surprise, the HyperX is also available in PC2700, PC3500, PC4000 and PC4300. That’s a lot of PC
hundreds and naturally, the larger number pumps the slowest timings, 3-4-4-8. If you are unsure of what I’m talking about,
follow this link, I have explained memory timings and bandwidth in the easiest way I could.
Now for the pornography…... HyperX photo shootout.
The Cool Blue Red Head:
For starters, the head spreader is light weight, slim and the dark blue color isn't going to help increase your system beauty. Yet
still, if seen from my perspective, i can feel some exclusiveness having the HyperX in my hands.
Unlike the Gold series from OCZ, this memory had a hard time scoring a nice shot. This is the best of all the 50 images I managed
to take. Also, you can get your free high resolution shots from the download section.
The heaviest RAM I had experience with was the OCZ VX, and this is the lightest high end memory i've tested. Kingston states the
maximum safe temperature for the chips underneath around 70 deg C, which is good.and that might explain the unattractive looks.
All of this aside; there is no complaining on performance side. You should note this memory burns 2-3-2-6 at 2.6 Volts, which is also
perhaps the lowest voltage a motherboards provides (lowest might even be 2.5V)
With plenty on stake and the V-T-S system up and ready, lets see if the HyperX counters its ordinary looks with some impressive show of overclocking..
Volt to Speed (2-3-2-6):
Starting at 2.6 V, this memory is already burning a timing set of 2-3-2-6, one of the fastest memories on the lowest possible
voltage. With 0.5 Volts in the tank, this memory had every chance of beating the raining champ from OCZ, but the light and slim
heat spreader had already whispered an average overclock in my ears. Nevertheless, HyperX was designed to be fast meanwhile
satisfying high end overclock needs. I should mention at this point that this memory does not provide over voltage protection
or in fact warranty for doing so, I had to over volt it, the results aren't as good as I hoped.
www.sbrlabs.com/images/articleimages/hyperxvts.jpg
Looking at the graph above, the HyperX failed to break any records, would not digest anything above 2.9 volts and the maximum stable
speed was somewhere in the 460-470 range. At this point, you'll turn the page over and start looking for some other memories, but you
would be wrong. The HyperX is cheaper than the OCZ GX and performs nearly identical. At these timings, just 20 MHz separate both of them
but the best bit of this particular memory is the low operating voltage. Where the GX and VX were designed for ultra modern motherboards
like many expensive SLI boards, the HyperX would fit every single motherboard and we are all aware of Kingston's product compatibility.
Testing Base:
| Processor |
Athlon64 3000+ (2.0 Ghz all times) |
| Motherboard |
DFI LanParty UT NF250Gb |
| Memory |
Kingston HyperX (2-3-3-6)
OCZ GX XTC 1GB PC3200 (2-2-2-5)
OCZ VX 1GB PC3200 (2-3-3-8)
ValueRAM
|
| VGA |
Gigabyte X800 Pro @ 500/525
ATI Catalyst 5.13 |
| Storage |
Seagate 160GB RAID Stripe: 80GB + 80GB |
| Operating System |
Windows XP Professional with SP2 |
| Power |
OCZ ModStream 520 Watts |
File Compression + Mp3 Playback:
One of the most daunting task memories have to face, the HyperX showed solid overclock performance, even beating the score of GX
overclock by a couple of seconds (GX OC score not shown).
www.sbrlabs.com/images/articleimages/hyperxcomp.jpg
I had to run this test again and again to reach the most accurate readings. What you see above is a perfect example of how memory
timings effect overall performance as all memories tested are rated DDR 400. At stock speeds, the HyperX falls short of beating the
OCZ GX, then again, the GX XTC runs on slightly faster timings.
Super Pi:
Super-Pi is well known as a simple speed benchmark application. By calculating the Pi decimals up to 2 Million digits, the final
calculation time is shown.
www.sbrlabs.com/images/articleimages/hyperxpi.jpg
Not much of a difference here, important thing to note is the OC score of the HyperX, which again beats the OC score of the GX. Oddly
enough, the HyperX overclock scores are better than OCZ overclock scores, this means that despite being average in overclocking, the
HyperX churns out better efficiency.
COD-2, FarCry, Quake-4 and F.E.A.R:
www.sbrlabs.com/images/articleimages/hyperxcod2.jpg
www.sbrlabs.com/images/articleimages/hyperxfc.jpg
www.sbrlabs.com/images/articleimages/hyperxquake.jpg
www.sbrlabs.com/images/articleimages/hyperxfear.jpg
All games showed a near similar story, the HyperX showed excellent performance constantly topping the charts with ease. Overclock
performance showed a positive sign unlike the OCZ GX.
Temperature Analysis:
I already pointed out earlier that the HyperX sports a light and slim heat spreader, almost useless if you ask me because the
memory chips won't heat up as much and the shiny blue plate is more for exclusivity than anything else. The testing wasn't
carried out in an open environment; my custom drew an ample amount of air over the memory.
www.sbrlabs.com/images/articleimages/hyperxtemp.jpg
If this memory was to be run at 3.1 Volts, it would have gone all the way upto 50 deg C. I am not impressed by this sort of
cooling performance but technically, heat spreaders on memories don't act much of a cooling device and i read the Kingston
manual stating the HyperX can operate up to 70 deg centigrade. The cooling is largely dependant on your on your setup, for
example, my room temperatures can go up to 33 deg C but there is a great deal of air circulating over every component.
Verdict:
The Kingston HyperX has been there for a long time and even though this review comes out late, it doesn’t change the
fact this memory being one of the fastest available today. Priced $ 150, it’s not cheap but it’s not for an
average PC user either. As far is performance is concerned, this memory is not just fast, its super fast. The calm and quite
blue spreader hides one of the finest memory chips produced to date. In the battle of power (OC), this memory would lose to
some of its competitors but that’s fine because this memory is engineered by Kingston and it delivers more torque per
MHz. In almost every test today, the HyperX clocked 460 MHz would constantly top an OCZ GX clocked 480 MHz.. Even though the
differences are minute and hold no meaning to the buyer, they are differences nevertheless.
Perhaps the party piece of the HyperX is its low operating voltage. Unlike the previous memories I tested, this is easily the
most compatible of them all; suiting any motherboard you pick from the shelf. I just love the fact it runs on 2.6 volts and
offers 2-3-2-6 straight away, let it be Epox or DFI, this memory will run even the cheapest motherboards out there.
Disappointingly though, most crazy enthusiasts would choose an alternative path, this HyperX rated PC3200 would not go beyond DDR 466. To
counter the average overclock, Kingston offers the memory up to DDR 4300 ratings (533 MHz), which to be honest isn’t
going to please overclockers at all. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if you own a HyperX rated DDR 400 and someone else is
bragging about his model rated DDR 4300.
www.sbrlabs.com/images/articleimages/sbrreward9.jpg
A timing set of 2-3-2-6 on 2.6 volts is not an easy task and given the strong performance numbers, the HyperX is a supreme
choice for professional who don’t care about overclocking.
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