Haswell And 1.35 V Memory: Three DDR3 SO-DIMM Kits, Tested

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When it comes to memory, most of our focus is on the desktop and its replaceable CPUs. The mobile side typically moves slower. But Intel's Haswell architecture imposes interesting changes, and we saw fit to test SO-DIMMs down at their new 1.35 V ceiling.

Results: SiSoftware Sandra

Sandra's Memory Bandwidth module shows the benefits of faster data transfer, with DDR3-1866 outperforming DDR3-1333 by nearly 40%.

Sandra also demonstrates the superior latency performance of our LGA 1150-based platform compared to the embedded version, though it's unclear if the soldered-on CPU's slightly different specifications (like a smaller shared L3 cache) have an impact on timings.

The socketed platform is so much quicker that its DDR3-1600 setting significantly outpaces the embedded platform’s DDR3-1866 results, and its DDR3-1333 setting matches the embedded unit’s DDR3-1600 benchmark numbers. Since this is the same memory, does this spell doom for the embedded platform's application performance?

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.