Final Words & Conclusion

Final Words & Conclusion

Even on an Intel platform, higher frequency memory still can make a difference. Granted, it's not huge or massive, but the gains are noticeable even when you push it from a simple 2666 towards 3200 MHz. The reviewed Apacer Panther Rage RGB kit (when tweaked) achieved a proper 3800 MHz with merely a slightly increased voltage (1.4 V, compared to standard 1.35 V) and CL17. That’s a very nice result.

Some gaming tests, like Watch Dogs 2, show an advantage with tweaked/overclocked memory, in most workload scenarios. Although this is not visible very much, it's still measurable. From a more professional workload point of view, FryBench or Corona Benchmark definitely show performance gains after overclocking, or when you use faster memory kits, as these render via the CPU and memory subsystem.

Aesthetics

Apacer has maintained the look of their Panther Rage memory. It may strike you as quite controversial, and not everyone will like it. The LEDs are very bright, and the color transitions are smooth.

Conclusion

Why the “Recommended” award? Apacer Panther Rage RGB has all the important features for today’s market’s needs (XMP, RGB etc). The default XMP profile performance is good (on par with other similar sets), but as you might have noticed, you can squeeze quite a bit more out of this kit. 3800 MHz and CL17 at 1.4 V is lovely. 600 MHz is roughly a 20% boost in frequency. If you have a better motherboard for memory overclocking than the EVGA Z370 FTW that I used (e.g. an Asus Maximus X Apex,) it would probably be possible to achieve even 3900-4000 MHz with the reviewed kit. You should, of course, remember that there’s no guarantee that the other kit will achieve similar results as it’s an influence from the used memory chip, motherboard and even it’s BIOS.  Asus Aura Sync is one of the best utilities on the market, with loads of color and effect options, and the kit does sync well with other Aura-compatible parts. The relatively low heat spreader (43 mm) shouldn’t be an issue for coolers, but as always – I recommend checking clearances (height) before buying. Overall – a good job from Apacer.

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