Review: G.SKILL RipjawsX F3-12800CL9D-8GBXM 8GB Memory Kit
Recently OCDrift.com was contacted by Ideal Tech, one of the leading PC DIY reseller located in Pandan Indah, Kuala Lumpur to test the G.SKILL RipjawsX F3-12800CL9D-8GBXM 8GB Memory Kit. G.Skill is a computer hardware manufacturing company which produced world-class Memory with the most OverClocking records @ HWBot.org. The company’s main target is the OverClocking community and produces a variety of products. Apart of Memory, G.SKILL also produces SSD, Flash Drives, and cooling gears. As for this RipjawsX F3-12800CL9D, they comes with two different colour which is red and blue.
F3-12800CL9D-8GBXM (BLUE): http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=416
F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL (Red): http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=355
Suggested Retail Price: RM199/RM189
Picture Gallery
The packaging of the Memory with a G.SKILL sticker provided.
The usual design for all RigjawsX.
Product specification and Serial Number at the back of the packaging.
G.SKILL logo on the Memory Kit
The Memory sporting 6 layer PCB. We expected 8 layer PCB but 6 layer should be sufficient for Entry-Mid level Memory Kit like this particular one.
The heatsink design as well as the clearance. Double sided chip spotted.
The Memory IC
As usual, OCDrift.com like to show our readers the Memory IC used for our Memory review. Therefore we pried the heatsink to check what chipset used and check it’s characteristic. Apparently this module is equipped with a relabeled chipset, F146V8CR840G
From what we gathered, this chipset is similar to the one found in G.SKILL RipjawsX DDR3-1333 7-7-7-21 1.5V 8GB Memory Kit, the F139V8CR942R.
A picture of the F139V8CR942R. According to i4Memory, this particular IC possibly is a Elpia B_SE but we couldn’t find and hard evidence on it.
Test Bed
- AMD FX-8150 Zambezi 3.6GHz Socket AM3+
- ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
- G.SKILL RipjawX DDR3-1600 9-9-9 1.35V F3-12800CL9D-8GBXM 8GB Memory Kit
- Gigabyte Sumo Power 1200W
Stock Setting Test
Here’s a screenshot for Prime95 (custom setting). Basically if there’s any instability issue, error will appear in less than 10 minutes.
Default (auto)
In the BIOS, we set the Memory Setting to Auto with regards to speed, timing and voltage. The Memory run at 1600 11-11-11 1T @ 1.35v. It’s running on a very loose timing but at 1T Command Rate. Normally in Auto setting for various Memory it is set at 2T Command Rate. CPU-Z was buggy so we used the Aida64 Extreme Edition instead.
Enabling the XMP, resulting in DDR3-1600 9-9-9 2T @ 1.35V
Overclocking
In OverClocking this G.SKILL RipjawsX F3-12800CL9D-8GBXM 8GB Memory Kit, we couldn’t boot at any voltage ranging from 1.35v to 1.55v for 1600-1866 divider at any loose timing (9-9-9, 9-10-9, 9-11-9, 9-10-10, 9-11-11, 10-11-11, 11-11-11). However we tried using another different method which is increasing the HTT Clockspeed and it worked! Below is some of the result we managed to get.
1.35V passed Hyper Pi 8M but failed Prime95
Pump the VDimm to 1.375V at it passed Prime95. Not bad for 8-8-8 1T with 1.375V only. Unfortunately it couldn’t boot at CL7 (7-8-8, 7-9-8, 7-9-9) with any voltage (1.55V max – since this is 1.35V module, we didn’t try 1.65V)
Attempt No.2
In order to hit DDR3-1700, we had no choice but to loosen up the timing a bit from 8-8-8 to 9-9-9.
DDR3-1800 9-9-9 1T, failed Prime95 any voltage below 1.45v
Attempt No.4
We managed a DDR3-1840 result with CL10.
Final Attempt
The best we could achieve with our limited OverClocking skill with this G.SKILL RipjawsX F3-12800CL9D-8GBXM 8GB Memory Kit is DDR3-1870 via HTT OverClocking. Do take note that we couldn’t achieve this via Divider.
Conclusion
G.SKILL RipjawsX F3-12800CL9D-8GBXM 8GB Memory Kit is a Entry to Mid level Performance Memory. There’s nothing much to shout about judging on the best result we obtained. It would be nice it could hit DDR3-18xx @ CL9 since some of the value memory out there can do DDR3-1600 8-8-8- to DDR3-1866 9-x-9. But we do love the fact that this Low Memory kit managed to do DDR3-1600 CL8 and a slightly higher voltage compared to stock, which is 1.375VDimm.
G.SKILL RipjawsX F3-12800CL9D-8GBXM 8GB Memory Kit received Recommended Award from OCDrift.com
Disclaimer: OCDrift.com gives out our own award based on the Hardware Performance, OverClocking Ability, Innovation, and Value as determined by the reviewer
