Klevv Bolt XR DDR4-3600 C18 2x16GB Review: The RGB-Less Commoner

Not every piece of computer memory needs to have fancy heatsinks or flashy illumination. There are still those among us that appreciate the simpler things and prefer the insides of their systems to not look like a dance hall. If you belong to that crowd, Klevv's Bolt XR series of memory fits the description nicely. Today we'll put the company's Bolt XR DDR4-3600 C18 memory kit, which comes with a density of 32GB spread across two 16GB memory modules, to the test to see how well it performs against other flashier kits. 

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The Bolt XR memory modules are as minimalistic as they come. Featuring a light, bronze color, the memory checks in with a simple, embossed design that's devoid of RGB illumination. The aluminum heat spreader helps passively cool the memory module, and the low-profile body puts the Bolt XR on the compatibility list for compact systems. The memory measures 36.7mm tall, offering great harmony with modern motherboards and big CPU air coolers.

Klevv equipped the Bolt XR modules with an eight-layer PCB and a dual-rank design. Each memory module is 16GB and employs Hynix H5AN8G8NDJR-VKC (D-die) integrated circuits (ICs).

The default frequency and primary timings for the Bolt XR memory modules are DDR4-2666 and 19-19-19-43, respectively. If you opt for the easy setup, the Bolt XR comes with one XMP profile that jacks the frequency up to DDR4-3600 and automatically configures the timings and DRAM voltage to 18-22-22-42 and 1.35V, respectively. For more on timings and frequency considerations, see our PC Memory 101 feature, as well as our How to Shop for RAM story.

Comparison Hardware

Our Intel test system consists of an Intel Core i9-10900K and Asus ROG Maximus XII Apex on the 0901 firmware. On the opposite side, the AMD testbed leverages an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and ASRock B550 Taichi with the 1.30 firmware. The MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Gaming Trio handles the graphical duties on both platforms.

Intel Performance

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Overall, the Bolt XR memory kit ranked third in our application RAM benchmarks and fourth in gaming. The memory really didn't stand out with exceptional performance in any of our benchmarks, though it is a solid middle-of-the-stack kit. 

AMD Performance

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However, Klevv's offering put on a better show on the AMD platform. The memory kit catapulted its way to the second spot on both application and gaming performance charts. The Microsoft Office, Premiere 2020, and LuxMark workloads particularly favored the Bolt XR.

Overclocking and Latency Tuning

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Overclocking the Bolt XR was as simple as it can get. Bumping the DRAM voltage to 1.45V enabled us to run the memory at DDR4-4133. We didn't even have to relax the timings as the memory was happy with the XMP timings (18-22-22-42).

Lowest Stable Timings

Hynix D-die ICs aren't famous for tight timings, so we kept our expectations in line. Once again, we increased the DRAM voltage to 1.45V to make some headroom to optimize the memory's timings. The end result was okay — we got the timings down to 16-19-19-39.

Bottom Line

The Klevv Bolt XR DDR4-3600 C18 is one of those memory kits that don't stink or stand out either. As usual, aesthetics is a personal matter, but performance-wise, the memory kit is right in the alley with other similar DDR4-3600 memory kits. There is definitely room for improving its performance if you like tinkering with memory. Hynix ICs are usually generous when it comes to hitting high data rates.

For unknown reasons, Klevv has struggled to penetrate the U.S. memory market, so the Bolt XR will be hard to find. However, the Bolt XR DDR4-3600 C18 retails for around $157.26 overseas, giving us some insight into its price tag. In fact, the pricing is very competitive for a DDR4-3600 C18 32GB (2x16GB) memory kit. It's too bad that Klevv's products are only available in certain countries.