2500MHz Patriot Viper-II Sector-5 DDR3 Kit

Benchmark Reviews recently tested a 2133MHz G.Skill memory kit. The results showed that in real-world applications, there's not a lot we can receive from that kit compared to lower frequency ones. However, there are some applications that take advantage of high-end kits giving a small boost to the system increasing memory bandwidth and thus, overall speed. While 2000+ MHz kits are becoming the standard for DDR3, there's still a big gap between 2133MHz and 2500MHz. Most CPUs won't be able to run such high frequencies and motherboards could also be a limiting. Even if Benchmark Reviews proved a high-frequency kit isn't that necessary, Patriot Memory sent us their best kit for review. They really want to show their kit is a must for high-end enthusiasts and overclockers, and Benchmark Reviews is putting those words into test.

Running at 2500MHz, the Viper II 'Sector 5' Edition 4GB kit is one of the fastest kits on the market available. This kit is completely intended to be used per high-end enthusiasts and overclockers, nothing else. The reason is simple. First, to run at 2500MHz you need a very strong IMC (integrated memory controller) and you won't find something like this in a Core i3/Core i5 processor. Even with the newest Core i5 655K Unlocked processor, which allows you to enable a 2133MHz memory multiplier, you won't be able to pass 2200-2300MHz. Since you're limited to a 1600MHz memory multiplier with Core i7 CPUs, you need a 209MHz BCLK, which isn't possible with low-end and some mid-end motherboards.

Patriot ships their Viper II Sector 5 Edition kit inside a slim red box. There not much information about this kit in the package, but if you're buying this kit, you should really know what you're buying or you must have a lot of money to spend on a memory kit that you won't benefit from. Today, we will test this kit in a Core i7 860 system paired with a high-end P55 motherboard which allows some extra tweaking inside its BIOS.

Let me tell you something: when I received this kit for review, I was actually a little bit afraid to be able to reach the 2500MHz barrier. I had never tested such a high-frequency kit like this, and there aren't a lot of reviews bragging about this kit even after some weeks of being launched. To be prepared, I took a pair of high-end motherboards and 2 different CPUs to test in order to avoid any limits. I was even prepared to get a Core i7 875K CPU if needed, or just to admit I couldn't reach 2500MHz and let users know it wasn't an easy task. Finally, after fighting some days with this kit, I was able to reach the 2500 magic number, and actually, get higher frequencies than some other technology-sites with some extra tweaking and knowledge. So, let's go ahead to the features and specifications...

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Patriot Memory.

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