ADATA is a Taiwan based memory and storage manufacturer popular with their SSD line-ups and consumer memory DIMMs.
Introduction
ADATA Premier DDR3 RAMs are for those who wants great memory capacities in their systems without hurting their wallet. Premier is ADATA’s value oriented memory line-up and as expected of most manufacturers, these DIMMs do not come with any heatspreader nor any fancy design. It serves a simple purpose, that is to provide memory space for memory heavy applications.
ADATA Premier DDR3 1600MHz PC3-12800 comes in a standard valueram packaging. Both single DIMM 4GB or 8GB are available.
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| ADATA Premier DDR3 1600MHz PC3-12800 8GB |
The memory chips found on the DIMMs are unknown, and are stated as “ADATA 3WCD -1211A EL1238V” These could be ADATA’s in-house manufactured chips.
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| ADATA Premier DDR3 1600MHz PC3-12800 8GB |
Both sides of the DIMMs are used and there are 8 chips on each side, making a total of 16 memory chips. This means that each individual chip holds 512MB of memory.
As for the latencies, each RAM is loosely timed at 11-11-11-28, 2T at the stock 1600MHz.
Overclocking
Many would expect these RAM chips to not overclock well due to its price tag. Like most value oriented RAMs, the ADATA Premier 1600MHz 8GB RAM indeed does not fare well.
Specifications:
ASUS P8H77-VLE Motherboard
Intel Core-i7 3770 Processor
ThermalTake ToughPower 650W 80+ Gold Power Supply
Without making much changes on the memory timings, the main purpose was to increase the speeds of the memory. However, only a measly 80MHz can be added to these RAMs at 32GB configuration by increasing the base clock, allowing the RAM to run stably at 1680MHz.
Benchmarks
A increase of memory clocks on the RAM also increase the speeds on the processor and general components linked to the base clock. Generally, performance of the whole computer increases with the increase in memory speeds. However, the increase in performance is significant in numbers but not in usage. The user would not experience much difference with a 300MB/s increase in RAM transfer speed because the actual speed is already over performing.
With abundance of memory space, RAMDISKs can be made to benchmark the memory speeds. Frequently used games can be placed within these virtual disks to ensure instantaneous loading. This is possible, but impractical. In fact, having 32GB of RAM in a computer is rather impractical, but here are the speeds.
Conclusion
ADATA Premier 1600MHz RAMs are for those who wants to max our their system RAM capabilities without worrying about compatibility or costs. With 4 of these 8GB memory, we can reach Z77’s maximum 32GB limit on Intel’s Z77 chipset. It is definitely a great contender to alternatives like Kingston and APACER especially on this price point at 1600MHz stock speed. It is practically a 1600MHz DDR3 RAM at 1333MHz prices.
Builder’s Notes :
I bought these RAMs at SGD$45 each. Cheaper than most of the other branded RAMs at 1600MHz, it’s most definitely worth the buy. As I bought these together with other parts, the discount on the RAMs may be significant. SGD$45 for a 1600MHz RAM should be quite a steal now, judging that Kingston KVRs now costs SGD50++.
