Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Test Results And Final Analysis
T-Force Night Hawk DDR4-3000 overclocks very similarly to XPG Dazzle DDR4-2800. Adata has mostly replaced the tested 2800 model with DDR4-3000, and some of us wouldn’t be surprised to see even closer overclocking results from that version.
Neither the Night Hawk nor Dazzle memory reached DDR4-3200, making it impossible to chase the best timings for that setting. Both module sets reached the same timings at DDR4-2666 and DDR4-2133.
| Lowest Stable Timings at 1.35V (Max) on Gigabyte Z170X-Gaming G1 (BIOS F5i) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| DDR4-3200 | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2133 | |
| T-Force Night Hawk 16GB THRD416G3000HC16CDC01 | Not Capable | 13-14-14-28 (1T) | 11-11-11-28 (1T) |
| Adata XPG Dazzle 16GB AX4U2800W8G17-DRD | Not Capable | 13-14-14-28 (1T) | 11-11-11-28 (1T) |
| Patriot Viper 4 16GB PV416G340C6K | 16-16-16-32 (1T) | 13-13-13-28 (1T) | 11-11-11-28 (1T) |
The Night Hawk DDR4-3000 produces superior bandwidth at rated (XMP) settings in SiSoftware’s test. None of the other module sets were tested at DDR4-3000, and its 15x memory multiplier might be optimal for this particular motherboard or even this processor. DRAM multipliers are based on the memory controller’s clock, and DDR4-3200 uses a 12x memory multiplier with a 4:3 memory controller-to-BCLK ratio.
The lowest latency occurs at DDR4-2666 with both the Night Hawk and Dazzle kits. Most users will choose XMP settings, where Night Hawk 3000 beats Dazzle 2800.
Grid 2 is highly sensitive to memory performance, but the more realistic settings chosen for this comparison are somewhat limited by graphics performance. Night Hawk DDR4-3000 beats everything at it XMP-rated values, but not by enough to get noticed by the game’s player.
Tenths of a frame-per-second make even less difference in real-world game play, yet Adata can put a win over Team Group in the check box for Battlefield 4. Buyers looking for an even larger lead could choose the non-lighted Viper 4 to fill their own check box of unnoticeable increases.
3ds Max is impacted by memory performance, but effectively showing that impact could take a workload of several hours. A workload that long may not be super important to the target market of LED-lit memory.
WinRAR likewise shows miniscule differences, though a single second is often no more than a tenth of a second rounded up or down.
While Viper 4 appears to be the best value for buyers who don’t want lights, price is the biggest difference between the lighted Night Hawk DDR4-3000 and Dazzle DDR4-2800.
Scarce availability for the DDR4-2800 left us using its old $115 price in the charts, while Dazzle DDR4-3000 has recently climbed to $150. Given that Night Hawk DDR4-3000 is currently only $100, its value supremacy in LED-lit modules appears assured.
MORE: Best Memory
MORE: DDR DRAM FAQs And Troubleshooting Guide
MORE: All Memory Content
