Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR4 memory review - Final Words & Conclusion

Final Words & Conclusion

Corsair has a pretty sweet solution at hand with the Vengeance RGB series. They look nice and the level of RGB LED configuration is very flexible. The fun thing is that you'd almost forget this is a spicy timed and clocked memory kit as well as it was a 32GB kit. It's all lovely stuff really. Configuration wise things work out well, just install the new iteration of Corsair Link, click on one of the memory DIMMs and you'll get your configuration options. Currently it does feel a little limited in terms of the number of animations available, but since this is software configurable we have no doubt that many more anims will be added in software updates. Also all that animation activity is not for everybody, if you have a nice black/red theme going on in your PC then how cool would it be to only use the RED LEDs with a bit of a breathing effect or something. Corsair is likely to release many configurations in terms of volume (8/16/32/64/128 GB), dual or four DIMM quad channel and then your preferred DIMM clock frequency. We discussed that many times already, extremely fast clocked memory helps, but it is just a tiny little bit. More memory over faster memory is preferred. In quad-channel where you have so much memory bandwidth already that reasoning should be applied, you could easily go for a lower clocked MHz kit if it comes available as well. In dual-channel however faster clocked memory can make a little more sense, but comes at added cost.

LEDs

The reality though is that this release is all about the RGB LEDs. The trend is on-going, we've seen many poorly designed solutions and implementations, Corsair however is doing things right, this memory looks anything short from amazing. Next to that it can be configured to animations and colors of your liking. The one remark I like to make is that this memory can only be configured with Corsair LINK, it would be nice to see it get supported with ASUS AURA or the MSI, Gigabyte and ASROCK counterparts.

I think it is time for a new open standard that everybody can use. I mean if you have an NZXT Kraken X62 LED cooler, you'll need dedicated software, if you have an MSI Z270 Mystic Light enabled motherboard, you'll need their software, now with these DIMMs, you need LINK software, and herein is the danger to be found. I would seriously plea for one software solution that can manage it all. Of course Corsair is going to state that you simply could buy EVERYTHING Corsair, e.h. Hydro coolers, RGB chassis, keyboards, mice and now their memory. Hehe, yes there is something to be said for that as well :-)

** Update: Corsair RGB control is now also supported by MSI and Gigabyte motherboards and their respective RGB control software. 

 
Next to the LED activity the new Vengeance RGB RGB DIMMs simply is a proper DDR4 memory series as well. At 3000 MHz you excel in bandwidth performance, frequency and then you combine it with the tasty and daunting aesthetic looks. So yes, this memory just looks great. Corsair will only offers 8GB and 16GB DIMMs, meaning you will be tied towards combinations of 16GB, 32GB64GB, or even a 128GB kit. Our kit does so with a what is considered nice latency timings (CL15) and a 1.35 Voltage. Obviously the kit tested today is targeted at the latest series Z170/Z270 Intel motherboard solutions that allow 3000 MHz on that memory, and that's where this 32 GB kit is nice and works nice. Overclocking wise we fooled around with it a little and you will be limited alright, changing CL over 3200 MHz for example results into crashes. So if you are not an uber enthusiast pro-overclocker, your best bet is to simply use the XMP configured timings. I mean, at the XMP default (for this kit) you can already run 3000 MHz. 

Conclusion

Corsair has a nice memory kit offering here at hand with that new RGB functionality. We love that there are no wires or cables involved, it's all signal processing over the SMbus. That has one downside, configuration changes can be a little sluggish, e.g. changing your animation can take three to four seconds before it kicks in. Overall that is not at all an issue of course. The memory itself is fast and runs stable, Corsair over the past few years have become one of the most reliable and very well known DIMM memory partners worldwide. They have a wide assortment of products in their portfolio that range from lower clocked to high-frequency and low latency kits. The Vengeance series is the good stuff, with nice options in configurations. Yes, RGB enabled DIMMs will be a more expensive then your average 2133 MHz memory modules. It depends greatly on your preferred memory frequency though, a 2133 MHz 4x8 GB kit can go from as low as 7 euro per GB, the RGB version as shown today would cost three bucks per GB more. For that money you receive DIMMs with a proper lifetime warranty and that configurable RGB system. Should you ever change your motherboard that has a green theme instead of a red color theme, hey you can switch your DIMMs RGB LEDs to match, and that is the beauty of it. The Vengeance RGB series DIMMs are powerful product series aimed at a very specific group of people, the people that want the uber fastest stuff at the high-end of the spectrum and with the niche designed PC, simply put, the enthusiast class PC gamer. The kit as tested today is for the guys and gals that want proper numbers on everything in their system combined with proper looks. The kit is easy to configure over SPD XMP profiles and give a nice feel in quality. From an aesthetic point of view the new RGB kits honestly are lovely looking DIMMs, but we also understand that the LED hype is a bit too much for some. Pricing wise you are looking at the €160 marker for a 16GB kit and €330 for the 32GB kits. Just over 10 bucks per GB and we do expect that street prices will be a notch lower. Please keep in mind that we deem memory volume to matter more than frequency. 16 GB is my recommendation for a proper modern gaming rig and 32GB for the ones doing professional usage or to be a little more future proof. Overall we feel that the Vengeance RGB series is going to be a great extra inside a nicely design PC. This idea has been properly executed, the LINK software however could be a little more responsive and use a few more animations. We have no doubt that'll be addressed with future iterations and updates of the LINK software. 24hrs after publishing this review we learned that Gigabyte and MSI LED motherboard software can now also be used to configure the RGB DIMMS, and that is great stuff to hear and see. Two thumbs up from Guru3D.com, this is the fun stuff inside your PC.

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