Final Words & Conclusion

Final Words

As to how relevant you fins a kit with timings as fast as we've tested versus a cheaper Cl16 or Cl18 kit is up to you, but the results show that does make a difference, as tiny as it is. At CL14 the Team Group T-Force XTREME ARGB  kit is pretty spectacular if you ask me on a personal level. The Samsung B-die ICs once again put the proof in the pudding. Mind you that we deliberately tested the kit on a Ryzen platform, and we simply had no stability issue. We enabled XMP, and from there onwards, all was up and running.  Overall we feel that Team Group offers a terrific DDR4 memory series with the 3600 MHz kit as tested. Personally I'd opt the 3200 MHz CL14 version of this kit, as the performance difference really will not be that big, but the price lower. With 3200 MHz CL14 on any intel or Ryzen system, really you're there. 

As good as the kit was performance/latency wise, it gets even better on aesthetics. I am still a little fascinated each time just looking at the DIMMs, exquisite is the word that keeps returning to my mind. I also understand that aesthetics are a subjective thing, so not everybody will agree with me. But man, I find these puppies so incredibly stylish.

 Frequency versus latency and the 2:1 multiplier

The DIMMs we tested today are two high-density 8GB DIMM modules with Hynix A-Die ICs and, as such, it is good to see that this kit can quite easily run a 4000 MHz frequency on our platform. Our kit does so with what is considered fast latency timings (CL18) and a 1.35 Voltage. Remember though: As soon as you go higher than DDR4-3733, a 2:1 multiplier will kick in and Infinity Fabric starts working at half the memory clock frequency. The 2:1 multiplier switches on at DDR4-3733 so do keep in mind that it will have an effect on the speed at which the various core complexes within the CPU can communicate with each other. For the best overall system performance, we recommend DDR4-3600 speed as the best maximum. If you're an overclocker then the result is that you can tweak the memory much further than you're used too. 

Conclusion

You've seen the numbers, as mentioned we promote faster CL rating for AMD Ryzen, the performance benefits otherwise in frequency are often quite trivial at best when coming from 3200 MHz, low latency memory is more costly though. As to how much the small performance benefit is worth it for you, only you can decide of course. The kit as presented today will be a more valuable product, available in 3200, 3600 and 4000 MHz. We'd advise 3600 as your maximum frequency as a choice of memory.  If you are a gamer 3200 MHz, CL14 is a better investment over 3600 MHz CL16/CL18. Team Group offers them both so you get choices not only in frequency but also in latency. With our tested kit, we enable the XMP profile in your (updated) BIOS and it just runs at the advertised specification, we had no issues stability wise, neither did we run into weird boot behavior or anything like that. We've tested the kit on an ASUS and Ryzen 7 3800X / MSI X570 motherboard, both brands worked fine. Next to the excellent performance of this kit, really the release is all about that fantastic ARGB design, we are impressed, very much so. And sure looks are a subjective thing, but looking at the DIMMs in real-life with that subtly rainbow fading animation, it's just gorgeous. Also, ARGB means you can control the LED system with motherboard software. But yes the default already kicks ass. The one remark I have is the T-Force logo at the top side of the DIMMS, such witch such premium DIMMs at hand that could have been more subtle if you ask me. other then that, it's a top pick.

At the time of writing, we have not seen prices on these DIMMs, so I need to leave that open for now. I doubt this will be cheap though.

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