G.Skill Sniper 8GB CL7 DDR3 memory review - Introduction

When we review memory DIMM modules often it's all about memory timings and the highest frequency possible, especially the latest high-end generations memories can manage 2000+ MHz, P67 and Z68 motherboards already can support 2133 MHz slices of DDR3 lovin.

Trust to be told here though is that all our reviews indicate that after 1600 MHz performance you will need to seek really hard to see a noticeable difference in performance. Hence most of our recommendations always have been this: it's better to get more memory than faster memory the better choice over faster memory.

And in that trend memory manufacturers have started to increase the density of DIMM modules. Where 1 and 2GB DIMM modules have been the standard, we now see very good progress in 4 GB DIMM modules.

Today we'll do things a little different, G.Skill designed another 8GB low voltage DDR3 kit (2x 4GB) that can be set at 1600 MHz yet still run a CAS latency of 7. And that is truly interesting because the denser the ICs get, the higher latency typically gets.

So against all rules and odds, next to that, prices caved in completely last year, right now is a very good moment to pick up some extra or new memory as the 8GB kit we test today for example only costs 120 EUR. The Sniper CAS7 kit offers 8GB in dual-channel with that memory clocked at 1600 MHz CL7, alternatively you can pick up a CAS9 Sniper kit as well, for only 80 EUR, that's 10 EUR per GB of 1600 MHz memory, yeah that's dirt cheap alright.

The end results will be very interesting, our test suite software will be run of the mill, we'll simply take all standard PC configurations and processors and compare this memory seated on a Core i7 2600K / Z68 chipset setup and evaluate it to the baseline performance of other chipsets/processors and their respective reference baseline performance.

Will these dual-channel 4GB DIMMs actually perform, will it be stable, will it be easy configurable  ? Sure, heck yeah .. let's have a peek.