The Verdict
So I kind of really liked this G.Skill memory kit. While not the highest enthusiast memory kit available that would reach 2000 MHz, it certainly showed us really good potential. Fact is that if you are planning your Core i7 rig to run at 1600 MHz .. this might be the memory kit for you to choose. It offers good value for money. See, the high-end kits may reach 2000 MHz, but obviously are much more expensive. Intel would like you to use 1333 MHz, all the X58 motherboards have 1600 MHz standard as an option, and we got this memory stable up-to 1866 MHz. So that's a certain soft spot for me. Compared to last weeks tested OCZ memory it however is 1 CAS cycle slower and that shows. But you need to synthetically test it to notice that difference. See, in the real world gaming experience .. the difference just is not at all noticeable. This partly is the power of the new memory controller in the Core i7 processors.
The G.Skill kit works 100% fine and dandy at advertised clock frequency and timings .. and still has a little more to give. We had no issue running the memory at over 1800 MHz just as well, all we did was change it's voltage towards 1.6 and increase latency a notch or two.
This 6GB kit sells for 279.99 USD, would you like to have slightly snazzier timings and can suffice with 3 GB ? Then they have a kit available for 149.99 USD. It's good to see that DDR3 prices finally are hitting mainstream prices.
This is the first triple channel memory kit that G.Skill brings to the market, and for sure it does what it needs to do very well. You get to play around with 6 GB of memory at seriously fast speeds and you get to save another 50 bucks compared to slightly more enthusiast memory kits. And that makes this triple channel memory kit a seriously good buy.
Great value for money and as such we can highly recommend it to you.
Update: we spotted the 6GB kit for 219 EUR in the EU already, that's really good value !
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