A nice feature that Kingston has with the HyperX H2O 2133MHz DDR3 memory kits is dual XMP profiles.  The first profile for this kit is 2000Mhz at 9-11-9-27 timings and the second profile is at 2133Mhz also at 9-11-9-27 timings.  The reason for the two profile combination is to help those that do not have unlocked processors achieve great performance while maintaining stability. Since my test bench has an unlocked Intel Core i5-2500K 'Sandy Bridge' processor I was able to utilize the faster 133Mhz profile and boot the system with no problem...

RAM is one of the basic building blocks of a computer system, and although the technology has changed over the years the same basic idea of quick temporary storage has been RAM's main purpose since its inception. Gamers have always wanted the fastest speeds possible but unfortunately that meant that many of the fastest kits were very expensive. Since the introduction of DDR3 prices have plummeted and speeds have skyrocketed and a good set of 2 x 4GB RAM can be had for under $150. G.Skill understands this and has SKU's designed for every price range. G.Skill's most recent addition is its Sniper series of which we will be looking at the 1866 MHz F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR kit which is well priced $104.99 providing users above average speeds with relatively tight 9-10-9-28 timings. Benchmark Reviews will determine if this RAM is worth its price or if users are better off getting slower, less expensive SKU's.

We are big fans of Kingston and have always made that publicly known and for many reasons. They are one of the companies out there in the big wide world who have stood the test of time and are still keen on expanding their market and coming up with new, exciting, innovative ideas. They cater for pretty much everybody, whether you need a USB flash drive, or some memory for your notebook or even some value RAM for your workstation. Kingston do it all.

Another thing that Kingston do, is produce high end memory for all types of systems from AMD to Intel and today sees us look at a set of memory specifically designed for Intel's Sandybridge platform.

Sandybridge is still the new hot toy on the market, as AMD have delayed Bulldozer to July/August (apparently), therefore memory manufacturers are keen to show their hand at what can be achieved and this memory is no different sporting 2133MHz speeds with a CAS latency of 9 operating at 1.65V.

G.Skill have been around for quite a few years and have always focussed on providing the best memory in terms of stability and style. Whilst they have remained quiet for a little while, they are back and are throwing all of their energy into the high end memory market.

As we all know Sandybridge is the new hot thing (at least until Bulldozer arrives from AMD) and everyone is keen to jump on board and purchase the latest components in the hope of reaching the almighty 5GHz overclock. To rival that kind of performance, a performance based memory kit is needed to give that extra boost where needed the most. G.Skill believe they have done just that by releasing the RipjawsX F3-17000 CL9D 2133MHz 4GB kit marketed specifically for Sandybridge systems with lightning fast speeds and timings of 9-11-9-28-2T @ 1.6V.

At the latest MSI MOA Benelux qualifier we were allowed to play with MSI's Xpower board, some 980X ES CPUs and some pretty high specced Kingston rams. The 2250Mhz CL9 triple channel kit seemed very interesting for a spin in the Madshrimps Lab. Could these blue beauties come close to the almighty Corsair Hyper IC based GTX2s ? What's the use for such a high MHz kit for  a daily user ? Is this kit Bloomfield friendly ? A lot of questions warped through my brain. Time to open the box and find some answers.

Older DDR3 memory often requires higher voltages than the default 1.5V specified by JEDEC, the governing body of computer memory standards. Memory sticks often contain a voltage specified on the sticker, indicating the voltage necessary for the memory to work at the specified frequency.. For example, a Kingston HyperX kit that was purchased 2-3 years ago is designed to work with the Intel Nehalem architecture at 1600MHz, and requires 1.65v.

Enthusiast systems often do not have problems running these memories because the enthusiast boards have plenty of adjustments, from memory timings to voltage adjustments, all of which help users fine-tune their systems. However, budget boards and pre-built systems like Dell and HP often have a limited number of adjustments. Thus, users try to install memory modules that require higher voltages, the motherboard may not support it at the specified clockspeed and timing.

The performance numbers from upgrading to the Kingston HyperX Plug and Play 8GB DDR3 1866MHz memory kit was insane. We saw performance gains from 6% to 86% depending on the benchmarks with the largest performance gains coming from graphics intensive games. Who would have thought that the area that gained the most was the frame rate in games? If you want to get better performance out of the Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU on your Sandy Bridge laptop this is more than likely the best way to go about it. You can literally feel and see the difference in everything that you do on the system, so this is an ideal upgrade for those that want 8GB of memory and better performance...

Kingston are regarded as one of the biggest manufacturers of memory based products today and aim to cater for all types of systems from the likes of AMD and Intel, whether it be for the low-end market, high-end gamers or enthusiast/overclocking markets. They do it all.

Kingston has sent us one of their HyperX 1800MHz memory module kits to look at. It's a dual channel kit which operates at 1800MHz with a CAS latency of 9 and whilst this doesn't sound like anything too spectacular, this memory kit is made for stability and compatibility across all platforms.