Closer Look: G.Skill Sniper 1866Mhz

Unlike cases, the aesthetics of RAM will not be something that a user will need to deal with on a daily basis. This means a user can pick the ugliest piece set of ram they can find and as long as it has the same timing, and speed will perform just as well as a tricked out set of RAM. None-the-less enthusiast with Plexiglas windows on their case may want RAM that goes along with the color scheme being used in their system.

G.Skill uses the typical blister pack that many RAM manufactures opt to use. This allows G.Skill to show off both the specs and aesthetics of the Sniper RAM kit.

G.Skill has styled the top of the Sniper modules to look like the barrel and sights of a rifle. At the same time the Sniper badge is a nice addition to the exterior of the Sniper kit.

For the Sniper series G.Skill has used black PCB with a black gunmetal cooler applied to the IC's underneath. Like all other DDR3 RAM these coolers are purely cosmetic, as the lower voltages that DDR3 uses mean that the IC's do not heat up enough to require coolers.

Using the standard layout for model numbers, G.Skill has made an easily decodable string of letters and numbers. F3 describes the technology that the Sniper kit uses, which in this case it translates to DDR3. Following this is the PC3 rating which is 14900 that when divided by eight will give you the proper DDR3 speed. Next is the CL rating, which for the Sniper series is CL9 and which ends in a D which stands for dual since this a dual channel kit. Next to last is the 8GB which describes the entire size of the kits. Lastly we have the SR which is the model ID.

With a cooler that measure 1.625" in height the Sniper series uses a relatively small cooler that easily fits under my Scythe Mugen 2 cooler even with the fan sitting over the RAM slots.

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