Overview

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With memory prices at an all time low, maybe now is a good time to take a look at an upgrade. If you’re currently running 4GB then maybe an upgrade to 8GB is the way to go, or are you currently having difficulty installing memory modules due to the size of your CPU Cooler? We have certainly seen a few issues regarding the latter (see here). So if you’re looking for more performance and want easy to install (low profile) memory, then maybe Corsair has what you are looking for…

 

 

Here we have the Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB kit. This Low Profile memory has been purposely designed to fit where no memory could fit before! The memory is just 26.25mm high and should fit comfortably under most modern day CPU Coolers. The kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) consists of x2 4GB DIMMs with an SPD setting of (1333MHz @ 9-9-9-24 1.5v) and a eXtreme Memory Profile (XMP) setting of (1600MHz @ 9-9-9-24 1.5v).

 

 

The memory came well packaged in a standard box with each of the memory modules in its own plastic sleeve. The memory is available in 3 different colours and the Artic White edition is actually a low voltage edition with the memory operating at just 1.35 volts. This is the non low voltage version running at 1.5 volts.

 

Specifications

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courtesy of Corsair

Manufacturers Part Number	CML8GX3M2A1600C9
Warranty	Lifetime
Dimension	No
Size	8GB Kit (2 x 4GB)
Performance Profile	XMP
Fan Included	No
Heat Spreader	Vengeance
Memory Configuration	Dual Channel
Memory Type	DDR3
Package – Memory Pin	240
Package – Memory Format	DIMM
Tested Voltage	1.5
SPD Voltage	1.5
Speed Rating	PC3-12800 (1600MHz)
SPD Speed	1333MHz
Tested Speed	1600MHz
Tested Latency	8-8-8-24
SPD Latency	9-9-9-24

 

First Impressions

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The Corsair Vengeance LP module looks a little understated when compared to the RipjawsX and the timings are not as good when compared to the 6-8-6-27 of the G.Skill kit. But with the Vengeance kit we are dealing with an 8GB kit as opposed to a 4GB one.

 

 

You can’t argue with the Low Profile aspect of the Vengeance RAM, as you can see from the above image the Vengeance module is far shorter than the RipjawsX (which are approx 40mm).

The question is will the more relaxed timings of the Vengeance kit become apparent or will doubling the memory capacity to 8GB help it claw back any loss in performance?

 

Hardware Installation

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Fitting the memory into my rig was predictably very easy, one thing to note was that I was now able to use the slots closer to the CPU Cooler, that I was not able to use before due to the height of the RipjawsX. Looks like the Low Profile aspect of the Corsair Vengeance is already showing promise…

 

 

Once into the BIOS a quick check showed that the memory had been configured with its default speed and timing. A quick boot into Windows and a quick benchmark or two indicated that it was time to return to the BIOS and set the XMP profile of (1600 @ 9-9-9-24). This was easily done in the Asus P8P67 Pro BIOS (see below) and we were soon back at a Windows Desktop.

 

 

Testing Methodology/Setup

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No special changes were made to my rig during testing and testing was performed on Windows 7 Service Pack 1. Prime 95 was used to test for stability and the following benchmarks were also used:

AIDA64
3DMark 11
Unigine Heaven
Metro 2033

 

Hardware Performance

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• AIDA64 Benchmark Results

Memory	Read	Write	Copy	Latency
G.Skill RipjawsX 1600HMZ (6-8-6-24) 4GB	19813	21362	21284	43.3
G.Skill RipjawsX 2133MHz (9-11-9-28) 4GB (2 x 2GB)	23489	22342	25573	38.6
Corsair Vengeance LP 1600MHz (9-9-9-24) 8GB	19190	21355	21654	46.7

 

As you can see from the results above the Corsair Vengeance LP RAM performs well, but can’t compete with either the aggressive timing or the faster speed of the RipjawsX. That said it can almost hold its own against the RipjawsX 1600MHz (6-8-6-24) kit and it even beats it in the Copy test. The slower speed and more relaxed timings of the Corsair Vengeance means that it can’t compete with the other two kits in the Latency test.

But that’s a synthetic benchmark, let’s take a look at some more gaming orientated benchmarks and see if the pattern is the same…

 

• Gaming Related Benchmarks

Memory	3DMark 11	Unigine Heaven	Metro 2033
G.Skill RipjawsX 1600HMZ (6-8-6-24) 4GB (my default rig setup)	10580	1426	50.00
G.Skill RipjawsX 2133MHz (9-11-9-28) 4GB (2 x 2GB)	10745	1424	50.33
Corsair Vengeance LP 1600MHz 8GB	10525	1423	49.67

 

As you can see there’s not really a lot in it! But the Corsair Dominator LP 8G kit does produce the lowest scores (only just!) in all of the gaming related tests, but then I would expect it to. The fact that it comes very close to the other memory kits is really rather impressive though.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that none of the tests indicated a performance boost by having that additional 4GB RAM!

 

Final Thoughts

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The Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB kit has put in an impressive set of results while on test, while it could not keep up with the 4GB G.Skill kits it gave them a good run for their money. The thing that’s holding the memory back is the lower speed and relaxed timings in comparison to the others, so it’s unfair to really expect the Vengeance LP kit to compete in such company.

But what we do have here is a good quality well built kit that performs well in all of the tests. The real clincher is the price, at the time of writing this Corsair 8GB kit is retailing for approx £50 and quite frankly at that price the Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB kit is a bargain!

 

Verdict

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