A-Data 6GB Triple Channel PC3-12800 C8 review

The Verdict

Well then there you go. Now I mentioned it in many DDR3 reviews already, it is very hard to justify 400 USD DDR3 memory kits, especially once you have seen the performance a kit like shown today offers. The DDR3-1600+ series memory from A-Data sits in-between mainstream and high end performance. As such it is just really good memory as you get the best of both worlds. This boils down to a sharp price, yet near high-end performance. 1600 MHz DDR3 on CAS8 with a high-density 6GB kit is probably a sweet-spot that is just _very_ interesting for the most of you.

So sure, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a memory kit like this. Aesthetically however I feel that (and I do understand this is product branding) overshoots it target a tiny bit by using a red colored heat spreader.  Don't get me wrong please, it's a fine heat spreader and great memory kit. Yet the color red is a thing of the past. PC's these days are mostly themed in a somewhat dark environment. So aesthetically seen we like to suggest that A-Data moves away from that loud color.

So let's finalize this conclusion. A-Data offers a very competitive memory kit here. It offers great performance, and when overclocked you should be able to get 1800+ MHz out of it as well. But be careful passing that 1.65V voltage, it's outside Intel's safety specification. I say, just leave it at 1.65 Volts, do the 1600 MHz at CAS8 and you'll be a happy camper.

At 125 USD / 95 EUR this kit is priced fairly competitive and comes highly recommended. It's roughly 21 USD per Gigabyte of memory. It's definitely good to see DDR3 memory getting priced at DDR2 levels. As such we expect that this year there will be a turning point in the move from DDR2 towards DDR3 memory. Two very big thumbs up to A-Data, this is truly great value.

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