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Exclusive Look at G.Skill RipjawsZ Quad-Channel Kit
In exactly a week's time from now, Intel Sandy Bridge-E HEDT (high-end desktop) platform will be upon us. But November 14 isn't a big day just for Intel and its three new processors, but an entire ecosystem of manufacturers and products that are designed for Sandy Bridge-E, including motherboards, memory, and cooling. After motherboards, memory is another key component. G.Skill is timing the launch of its latest performance-segment DDR3 memory series, RipjawsZ for Sandy Bridge-E launch. We got a rare closer look.
In exactly a week's time from now, Intel Sandy Bridge-E HEDT (high-end desktop) platform will be upon us. But November 14 isn't a big day just for Intel and its three new processors, but an entire ecosystem of manufacturers and products that are designed for Sandy Bridge-E, including motherboards, memory, and cooling. After motherboards, memory is another key component. G.Skill is timing the launch of its latest performance-segment DDR3 memory series, RipjawsZ for Sandy Bridge-E launch. We got a rare closer look.
RipjawsZ sports a new DDR3 module design by G.Skill. It makes use of the latest performance low-voltage DDR3 chips and uses them to its advantage, such as getting high DRAM speeds and tight timings at acceptable DRAM voltage levels. The boards shed the green PCB color for pure black, and a slightly chunky piano-black heatspreader. We have with us a F3-17000CL9Q-16GBZHD, a quad-channel DDR3-2133 MHz kit that can run at its advertised speeds with timings of 9-11-9-28T, and DRAM voltage of 1.65V. The kit consists of four matched 4 GB modules, totaling its capacity to a zesty 16 GB.
What's more, this kit is the ZHD variant (high performance + tight timings + active cooling), and includes a dual-fan cooling module that latches onto a set of DRAM slots and actively cools the modules.
We think there's a problem area. Most X79 motherboards have four DDR3 modules arranged in sets of two on either sides of the socket. Few boards have eight slots with four on either sides. We got just one cooler in our kit, but we're not sure if the final product will have just one. It's likely that a second cooler is already on its way. In any case, G.Skill recommends the use of the included cooler.
Although the heatspreaders look a little chunky and tall, they're designed keeping in mind the space constraints of Sandy Bridge-E motherboards. Here's a picture of a couple of these seated on an ASUS Rampage IV Extreme X79 motherboard, with a typical high-end tower-type cooler hanging over its head.
Thanks to some early info from our friends at Maximum-Tech, we know what the rest of the RipjawsZ lineup looks like:
