Not much exciting happens in the land of DRAM I know – usually the most exciting things occur when we get a standards change, or when capacities increase. Luckily for DRAM manufacturers we got the first taste of consumer grade DDR4 back in 2014, and almost a year later in 2015 we are now seeing capacities double per module from 8GB to 16GB. We reported on one company promoting their 16GB modules, specifically an 8x16GB kit for 128GB, and now it is the turn of Corsair who is guaranteeing US availability as this press release went live direct from the Corsair website.

Corsair is launching three kits as follows:

Aside from the price, the timings are naturally quite interesting. JEDEC specifications for DDR4 come in at DDR4-2133 15-15-15, and most of the modules we saw at the release of DDR4 were on those lines, moving up to DDR4-3200 with a slow rise in subtimings. The first two kits from Corsair, the Vengeance LPX and Dominator Platinum, arrive at DDR4-2400 14-16-16, indicating a rise in frequency and a decrease in CAS latency, all while retaining the nominal 1.2 volt specification from JEDEC rather than jumping up to 1.35 volts. Nice.

The other kit in the stack is at DDR4-2666 15-17-17, also at 1.2 volts, which is somewhat in-line with the 8GB module kits we have seen so far. Using our Performance Index rating, as described in our large run-down of DDR4 module performance earlier this year, puts each of the kits as the following:

Vengeance LPX 128GB DDR4-2400 C14 = 2400/14 = 171
Dominator Platinum 128GB DDR4-2400 C14 = 2400/14 = 171
Dominator Platinum 128GB DDR4-2666 C15 = 2666/15 = 177

This is around the Performance Index of the midrange kits for both DDR4 and DDR3, indicating a level of performance in that area.

The pricing on the other hand commands a distinct premium. The Vengeance LPX kit starts at $1755, with the Dominator Platinum 2400 C14 kit moving to $1980. At the top sits the 2666 C15 kit, by virtue of the higher frequency, at $2120. This means per GB:

Vengeance LPX 128GB DDR4-2400 C14 = $1755/128GB = $13.71 per GB
Dominator Platinum 128GB DDR4-2400 C14 = $1980/128GB = $15.47 per GB
Dominator Platinum 128GB DDR4-2666 C15 = $2120/128GB = $16.56 per GB

Compare that to a standard DDR4-2400 8x8GB kit on Newegg retailing at $720, which comes out at $11.25 per GB, or a DDR4-2400 4x8GB kit retailing at $330, giving $10.31, then you are commanding a 30%+ premium in order to get the best unbuffered DRAM density available on X99. Of course, whether you need all that is dependent on your workload. 

All kits are available on the Corsair website now, and come with a lifetime warranty.

Source: Corsair

We have about a dozen DDR4 memory kits in-house that have been sat on my desk for far too long. Keep an eye out for some quick reviews of those in due course.