Patriot announced on June 4th 2012 that they would be introducing a new 3rd generation Viper series which would focus on high speed DDR3 memory. Speeds range from 1600MHz up to 2133MHz using just 1.5 volts and kits are available in both dual and quad-channel with capacities up to 32GB. Patriot is also selling single 4GB and 8GB modules as well.

Following the initial release of the Viper 3 series Patriot unleashed a new exclusive Intel Extreme Masters Limited Edition memory range. This series was designed with the sole purpose of taking full advantage of the latest 2nd and 3rd generation Intel Core processors. The Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters memory is fully certified for Intel XMP 1.3, delivering frequencies of 1600MHz, 1866MHz, and 2133MHz.

Patriot says that the Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters memory is 100% hand tested and verified, which is as far as we can tell the only real difference between this limited edition memory and the standard stuff - that and the fact that they are blue rather than black. Ohh, and of course they cost a little over 10% more.

This new memory is available in one of four colors and each color represents a different performance variant. The first modules to become available were called “Black Mamba” and they boasted speeds from 1600MHz up to 2133MHz using 1.5v for increased stability and endurance.

Then there are the “Venom Red” and “Sapphire Blue” modules which again provide speeds of 1600MHz through to 2133MHz, and although Patriot claims they are different to the Black Mamba modules we are not quite sure what makes them different, other than the color of course. Finally there are the “Jungle Green” modules which Patriot says are an eco-friendly solution as they use just 1.35v and work at frequencies up to 1866MHz.

As always with these memory modules geared towards ‘extreme’ users the Viper 3 series features oversized heat spreaders that are designed to keep the memory cool when overclocked. That said, the intention is to look cool more than anything and it has worked, the Viper 3 is very cool looking memory.

The drawback to looking cool is that they usually don’t fit into extreme systems that use extreme CPU coolers. For example with the Noctua NH-C14 installed we were unable to use the Viper 3 memory as it was too tall. This can cause headaches for potential buyers as compatibility isn’t guaranteed.

As we have mentioned earlier, the Viper 3 modules series features capacities of 4GB and 8GB supporting 8GB, 16GB and 32GB (quad) kits. There are 19 different 1600MHz memory kits that we know of in the Viper 3 series that utilize very different timings, which makes picking the right modules quite complicated. There are a dozen kits which work at CL 9-9-9-24 timings, with another half a dozen that used CL 10-10-10-27 timings, and at least one that works at CL 11-11-11-30.

The 1866MHz kits are a little less complicated with four using CL 9-10-9-27 timings and another four which are slower using CL 10-11-10-30 timings. For this review we will be testing a pair of 1866MHz 8GB modules which use the CL 9-10-9-27 timings. Finally at the top of the food chain we have the 2133MHz which works at either CL 11-11-11-27 or CL 11-11-11-30 timings.

For the Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters memory the 1600MHz memory all works at CL 9-9-9-24, while the 1866MHz memory features either CL 9-10-9-27 or CL 10-11-10-30 timings. Then there is the 2133MHz memory which we will be testing that uses CL 11-11-11-27 timings, and we have the dual-channel 16GB kit.

Hardware - Intel Core i7 3770K @ 3.5GHz (LGA1155) - Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB (DDR3-1600) - Patriot Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters 8GB (DDR3-2133) - Patriot Viper Xtreme Division 2 4GB (DDR3-1866) - Patriot Viper 3 8GB (DDR3-1866) - Crucial Ballistix Elite 8GB (DDR3-1866) - Seagate 500GB 7200-RPM (Serial ATA300) - HIS Radeon HD 7970 (3072MB) - Asrock Z77 Extreme6 (Intel Z77) Software - Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) - AMD Catalyst 12.8

The maximum frequency that we were able to achieve with the Patriot Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters DDR3-2133 memory was an impressive 2546MHz. In order to reach this frequency we were forced to increase the timings to CL 12-13-13-28 using 1.65 volts. At this frequency they were completely stable and we were able to conduct all of our normal stress tests without a single problem.

The bandwidth performance of the Core i7 3770K processor seems optimal with DDR3-1866 memory as this allows it to achieve a read bandwidth of a little over 20GB/s. The DDR3-1600 memory on the other hand just fell short of 19GB/s.

The low latency Crucial Ballistix Elite memory performed well, beating the Patriot Viper 3 thanks to its superior timings. That said the margin between these two DDR-1866 memory kits was very minimal. The Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters DDR3-2133 memory was the fastest tested, pushing the read bandwidth out to 21.2GB/s.

The latency performance shows the same performance trends as the bandwidth testing above. The Patriot Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters DDR3-2133 memory was the fastest tested, taking just 36.8ns compared to the 38.1ns it took the Viper 3 DDR3-1866 memory.

WinRAR prefers lower latency memory and as such the Crucial Ballistix Elite DDR3-1866 memory prevailed. In fact the Patriot Viper 3 DDR3-1866 memory was also faster in this test than the higher clocked Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters DDR3-2133 memory. Meanwhile the lower capacity Viper Extreme Division 2 DDR3-1866 memory was slower again, and while we do not believe this had anything to do with the 4GB capacity, we have to wonder why it was so much slower than the 8GB kit in this test.

The x264 HD Benchmark 5.0 showed similar performance from the five kits tested. The Patriot Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters DDR3-2133 was the fastest memory tested, beating the Viper 3 DDR3-1866 and Crucial Ballistix Elite DDR3-1866 memory by a narrow margin.

Again the Patriot Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters DDR3-2133 memory provided our best results with a 3DMark 11 physics score of 10503pts. Again the smaller capacity Viper Xtreme Division 2 DDR3-1866 memory was much slower than the Viper 3 DDR3-1866 memory and given the similarities in timings perhaps it is the difference in capacity that is the cause of such a performance difference.

The PCMark 7 creativity suite favored the low latency Crucial Ballistix Elite DDR3-1866 memory, while the Patriot Viper 3 DDR3-1866 memory was a close second. The high frequency Patriot Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters DDR3-2133 memory was surprisingly slow in this test scoring just 7785pts, making it one of the slowest kits tested.

That said, if you are willing to spend another $5 - $10 and we are going to assume you are, it is possible to purchase DDR3-2133 memory capable of CL 9. In fact there is no shortage of such memory as G.Skill, Team Group, Mushkin, Avexir and Corsair all offer CL 9 capable DDR3-2133 memory.

For the same price as the Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters DDR3-2133 memory it is also possible to purchase CL 10 memory from ADATA, Mushkin and Team Group. So then it appears the standard timings of the Patriot memory is not that fitting for their new flagship Viper 3 series, and we really expected more from the Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters memory as well.

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Pricing wise Patriot is not as competitive as we had hoped, with the Viper 3 memory pricing it above most of the competition such as Corsair Vengeance, Kingston HyperX T1 and G.Skill Ares for example. The memory market is extremely competitive making it hard for any one product to stand out.

Where the Viper 3 series does stand out is in its looks, as this is some of the cooler looking DDR3 memory we have come across and Patriot offers a wide range of colors to match your system. Like most memory modules the Viper 3 series is backed by a limited life time warranty which should put the mind of those that plan to overclock at ease. Given the impressive overclocking abilities we are going to award the Viper 3 series with our performance award.