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Recently Patriot unleashed their new G Series, or Gaming Series, memory which as the name suggests targets gamers. Today we are going to check out a triple-channel DDR3 version which is of course designed to be paired with the latest Intel Core i7 processors. What is interesting about the new G Series is that while this memory looks expensive, it is actually very affordable... The tipping point for DDR3 memory is steadily approaching and the DRAMeXchange predicts that by the end of this year the latest memory standard will have captured 30% of the market. This is not all that surprising given how DDR3 pricing has tumbled in just the last six months. Helping to move DDR3 memory in greater volumes is the new Intel Core i7 platform, which requires not two but rather three modules working in a triple-channel configuration.  Before the almighty Core i7 processors rolled into town there was really no reason to purchase DDR3 memory, as it does less than nothing for Core 2 users. Furthermore, at the time AMD was not supporting the memory standard at all, making it even more pointless. While DDR3 memory still offers very little in the way of added performance to AMD users on the new AM3 platform, it is the only memory that is compatible with the AM3 socket, so performance is really not the issue here. Inevitably DDR3 is going to replace DDR2, it was always going to, and DDR4 will likely replace DDR3 down the track. However the fact that DDR3 prototypes were announced in early 2005 means that we have been hearing about what is becoming the latest memory standard for what seems like forever now. Early on in 2007 we got our first real taste of DDR3 memory when Intel released their P35 "Bearlake" chipset. At the time we were left with somewhat of a bitter taste, as DDR3 memory provided no real performance gains and cost as much as an Aston Martin. Finally the Intel Core i7 was released in November 2008 and featured a completely new design that saw the processor connect directly to the memory rather than via a chipset, which allowed for astonishing memory bandwidths. Still, even then DDR3 pricing was a little out of control, and was one of the key factors that placed the Core i7 platform well out of reach for most. However now finally, 9 months since the introduction of the Intel Core i7 platform supporting the lavish triple-channel DDR3 interface, it is possible, and I say this with utter amazement, to buy a high-speed, high-quality, 6GB DDR3 memory kit for just $95 US. As you may have suspected, we have such a kit here today, as we will be putting the new Patriot G-Series PC3-10666 (DDR3-1333) to the test. There is nothing particularly impressive about this memory, as it is only designed to work at 1333MHz using relatively loose timings of CAS9-9-9-24 at 1.65v. However with a retail price tag of just $95 US for the 6GB kit, it is considerably cheaper than anything we have tested to date. |
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