Early Verdict
Though we have difficulty finding an application that can take advantage of minor timing improvements at very high data rates, users who insist on having those improved timings will find reasonable value in Patriot’s Viper Elite model PVE416G320C6KGY, 16GB DDR4-3200 CAS 16 dual-channel memory kit.
Pros
- +
Tight frequency-to-latency ratio of DDR4-3200 CAS 16
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Supports latency optimization and overclocking
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Mid-market pricing
Cons
- -
43mm DIMM height may interfere with oversized CPU coolers on some motherboards
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Introducing Patriot’s PVE416G320C6KGY
The name is a mouthful, but it breaks down easily for those who speak product code. Patriot’s Viper Elite DDR4, 16GB, 3200, CAS 16Kit in Gray finish deviates only from the expected nomenclature by not having a 1 in front of the 6 for its CAS 16 latency. Latency is measured in clock cycles, so twice as many latency cycles at twice the frequency equals the same amount of wait time for a transfer to initiate. That makes DDR4-3200 CAS 16 an important mark, because it has a good chance of becoming the performance standard replacing DDR3-1600 CAS 8, DDR2-800 CAS 4, and DDR-400 CAS 2.
Speaking of being a standard bearer, Patriot puts this Viper Elite kit right in the middle of the performance market, at twice the price of the cheapest budget DDR4 and half the price of top premium sets. It even has mid-profile heat spreaders that push its total DIMM height to 43mm.
Booting at DDR4-2133 CAS 15-15-15-36 upon installation, Viper Elite PVE416G320C6KGY jumps to its rated DDR4-3200 CAS 16-16-16-36 after enabling Intel XMP mode. The switch for this function is normally located in the firmware GUI of enthusiast-market motherboards, though a few have a mechanical switch that triggers the change without using the motherboard’s GUI.
Comparison Modules
Today we’ll compare the Viper Elite DDR4-3200 CAS 16 (16GB) to previously reviewed DDR4-3000 CAS 15 (32GB), DDR4-3400 CAS 16 (16GB), and DDR4-4000 CAS 19 (8GB) sets. As indicated by that range of products, frequency and density are still a little at odds with each other. Fortunately, we can address those differences in terms of price and value in our final analysis.
Test System Components
The Intel Skylake processor's memory controller provides the best overclocking opportunity. Because of this, today's test system deviates from our X99-based standard configuration in that it has an LGA 1151 processor and motherboard.
The Z170 motherboard and Skylake processor used in today's test was specifically selected for its ability to support both 2-DIMM and 4-DIMM memory sets at high data rates. Other components are carried over from our current Tom's Hardware Reference PC.
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