Conclusion
This would be a good time to remind everyone that today’s competition targets the high-end market, where speed is more important than cost and the best product wins. From that, we can easily choose the winner, since Kingston was the only brand able to deliver DDR3-2000 before our deadline and no other modules could even reach Kingston’s rated speed, let alone its overclocked speed.
Yet no product comparison is complete without a price comparison. Prices shown in green are estimates.
Unfortunately, Kingston failed to inform us of a model-number change that occurred between pre-launch and post-launch parts until after this article was written. The chart below lists the original name. While the chart above shows the original estimated price, Kingston's KHX16000D3ULT1K3/6GX are now available for pre-order from the manufacturer for $469, with an estimated shipping date of January 22, 2009.
The slowest-rated memory in today’s comparison, Super Talent’s DDR3-1333 is also the cheapest. The second-highest overclocking set, Crucial’s Ballistix DDR3-1600 6 GB kit is the third most expensive.
Because the Kingston modules we received were improperly documented, a lack of availability under the original name lead us towards second-place overclocker Crucial Ballistix. While Ballistix DDR3-1600 remains an excellent option for those who need their order to ship today, near-term availability makes Kingston HyperX DDR3-2000 CAS 8 our choice for system overclocking articles. It's also a great option for high-market buyers who want the best of everything.
Two more products deserve honorable mention as high-end value parts. At 59% the price of Crucial Ballistix, Mushkin Enhanced model 9998679 came up only a few megahertz shy of it in overclockability and beat Ballistix at DDR3-1600 speed in our low-latency competition.
The second honorable mention goes to Patriot’s Viper PVT36G1600LLK. Our samples finished the overclocking test at the same DDR3-1909 speed that Corsair’s Dominator 1866 reached, yet it’s 57% cheaper. While the emphasis of today’s review was on absolute capability, we’re sure that good value won’t go unnoticed by readers.
