G.Skill ARES 8GB (2x4GB) 2133MHz memory kit review

[siopao1984]

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G.Skill have really been on a roll recently. They offer some of the highest spec memory on the market and have enjoyed great success with their Ripjaws line for the Z68 and X79 platforms. Now the company has turned its attention to its refresh of the mainstream tier. They have released a new range of memory that really impresses by virtue of the fact that it's low profile from the top to bottom of the range.The range runs from 1333MHz to 2133MHz and is available in kits ranging from 2 x 4GB up to 4 x 8GB. Here for review we have the highest speed kit in the range. It is a 2x4gb kit rated at 2133MHz 9-11-10-28 @ 1.65v and carries the model name F3-2133C9D-8GAB. It is also available in a 4 x 4GB kit.It's great to see manufacturers re-embracing a standard profile after many years of kits with tall heat-sinks, some with heat-pipes and even water-cooling. Many users have lost a few handfuls of hair when they discover their actually necessary huge CPU cooler prevents their memory from fitting or vice versa. The truth is, most of today's 1.5-1.65v memory doesn't require massive heat-spreaders. They are there more for the bling factor than for any tangible cooling benefit. In the case of the G.Skill ARES, low profile doesn't mean boring looking though. G.Skill have produced a very nice looking, stylized kit that will look the part in a windowed case.We used one of the largest air coolers on the market, the Noctua NH-D14 tower cooler and of course had no problem at all with memory clearance.Let's have a look at the specs of the 2133MHz G.Skill ARES kit.

Specifications
Model Number	F3-2133C9D-8GAB
Series	ARES
System	Desktop
System Type	DDR3
Mainboard	Intel
M/B Chipset	P67/Z68
Capacity	8GB (4GBx2)
Multi Channel Kit	Dual channel kit
Tested Speed	DDR3-2133MHz (PC3-17000)
Tested Latency	9-11-10 2N
Tested Voltage	1.65v
Registered/Unbuffered	Unbuffered
Error Checking	Non ECC
Type	240 Pin DIMM
SPD Speed	1600MHz
SPD Voltage	1.5v
Warranty	Lifetime
Fan Included	No
Features	Intel XMP (Extreme Memory Profile ) ready

These specs list support for the Intel Sandy Bridge platform. There shouldn't be any problem running them on AMD sans Intel's XMP feature of course. A X79 user would go for the quad channel kit.

Read more: G.Skill ARES 8GB (2x4GB) 2133MHz memory kit review by VR-Zone.com

[siopao1984]

The G.Skill ARES kit comes in a very simple plastic pack. The package includes only the RAM, the product info on the cardboard insert and a case sticker.













We think the G.Skill ARES kits look fantastic. Clearly you don't need big tall heatsinks to have a classy looking product. Let us know what you think in the comments section.

[siopao1984]

Benchmarks

For our benchmarking testing we used the Intel Z68 platform with a 2600K processor. This particular CPU used for our testing is limited to about 105.5bclk, so to maintain a level benchmarking playing field, we chose 40x105 and 42x100 for the memory tests. In both cases the resulting CPU speed is 4.2Ghz leaving the memory clock as the difference. 2240MHz is very close to the maximum stable memory speed with this particular CPU and motherboard.

Test Setup

CPU Intel i7 2600K @ 4.2Ghz
Motherboard Asus P8Z68-V-Pro
Memory G.Skill ARES 8GAB 2133MHz 9-11-10 2x4Gb
Graphics Card Nvidia GTX 580
Hard Drive Western Digital Velociraptor 150Gb
OS Windows 7 x64 w/ SP1
PSU Antec HCP-1200
Cooling Noctua NH-D14
There's no problem fitting the G.Skill ARES under the huge Noctua NH-D14.




Synthetic tests

Synthetic benchmarks such as these show the best case scenarios of the effects of bandwidth increases.



Aida64





MaxxMem latency





SuperPi 32M



SuperPi 32M is quite a memory intensive benchmark and we can see the difference higher speed memory makes here.



Real world tests

These tests give a better indication of the effects of bandwidth increases using real workloads.

X264 is a high quality, commonly used video encoding software library. This benchmark provides a good indication of the effects of multithreading, CPU clocks and memory clocks etc. A user spending hours doing video encoding will want good fast memory to trim a little time off of their encodes.






Winrar is a file archiving and data compression program similar to Winzip and 7zip. It is particularly sensitive to memory bandwidth and latency improvements.





For a gaming test we used the now aged Far Cry 2 benchmark. This test was run at medium settings at 1920x1080 and so begins to run into CPU limitations at high FPS levels. Modern games tend to be GPU limited, so memory bandwidth improvements typically don't show any discernable effect outside of helping with minimum FPS and boosting games that are CPU limited. This is what we see here.





These benchmarks do show some performance benefits. Overclocking the memory doesn't provide massive performance gains in general usage, but these days with memory prices dropping through the floor, a high spec kit such as the G.Skill ARES 2133MHz kit only costs a few dollars more than a common 1600MHz kit. Why not drop the extra few dollars on some fast RAM?

[siopao1984]

Overclocking

For our overclocking testing we switched over to the X79/Sandy Bridge-E platform using the Asus Rampage IV Extreme with a i7 3960X processor. This allowed us to push the kit harder thanks to the improved memory overclocking the platform offers over Z68/Sandy Bridge.

First we tried to find the maximum attainable, stability be damned speed using the stock timings.

DDR3-2310 9-11-10-28-2T @ 1.695v



After loosening the primary timings a notch, the kit was really able to stretch its legs, with the bonus of allowing a change from 2T to 1T and some tightening of TRFC.

DDR3-2477 10-12-11-30 1T @ 1.65v





Loosening the timings again to 11-13-12-31, still with a 1T command rate, the kit was able to easily hit the maximum of this particular CPU's IMC at DDR3-2560 while staying at the stock rated 1.65v. With a little better IMC, there shouldn't be any problem hitting DDR3-2600Mhz and beyond particularly with a voltage bump. We look forward to retesting the kit on the Z77/Ivy Bridge platform in the very near future.

DDR3-2560 11-13-12-31 1T @ 1.65v





Some folks are interested in underclocking so we tried to find the lowest voltage the kit would operate at to be considered stable at its default speed and timings.

G.Skill appears to have been quite conservative with the 1.65v operating voltage they have specified for the 2133Mhz Ares kit. We tried a low voltage test and found we could pass the load of eight simultaneous 32M threads using HyperPi on the Z68 setup at a voltage of just 1.525v. Quite a nice drop from its rated 1.65v.

DDR3-2133 9-11-10-28 2T @ 1.525v





The G.Skill Ares 2133Mhz kit is a very impressive, highly capable overclocking kit. The timing and frequency capabilities of the kit point towards a Hynix IC typically found in the highest speed 2400Mhz and above rated kits. We did not confirm this or ask G.Skill though given that IC's can change over the life of the product. As always with memory and the variability of integrated memory controller capabilities, your mileage may vary.

[siopao1984]

Conclusion

The G.Skill ARES 8GB kit impressed us in every department. There's huge frequency overclocking headroom. It's a low profile kit meaning no compatibility issues with monster sized CPU coolers. It looks great, it has a highly affordable price, it works well across different platforms and motherboards and it comes with easy XMP 1.3 capability.

In the day and age of typical 1.65v memory, there is simply no need for massive tall heatspreaders. When pushed to 1.7v under full overclocked load, the kit is merely lukewarm to the touch. No longer should low profile mean low performance. The kit easily fit underneath the huge twin radiator Noctua NH-D14 cooler we used for testing.

There is a ton of overclocking headroom on this kit. While there is little room to drop timings wise at 2133MHz, giving them a bump up opens up hundreds of extra MHz. Many would agree that very high speed memory makes only a small difference outside of benchmarking, but with memory prices falling through the floor and 2x4 and 4x4gb kits cheaper than ever, it makes good sense to splash the extra few bucks on a high speed kit. Some applications can really benefit from the extra bandwidth on tap.

G.Skill should sell a lot of these kits. With its range of speeds and capacities, affordable prices and wide compatibility, everyone from the mums and dads machine to gamers, content creators and overclockers will find a ARES kit to suit. The G.Skill 2133MHz ARES 8GB really is an excellent memory kit.

The G.Skill ARES F3-2133C9D-8GAB kit is currently selling for $74.99 USD at Newegg.



Pros
Low Profile
Excellent overclocking headroom
Great affordability
Great Looks
XMP 1.3 compatibility

Cons
Not much room to tighten timings