ADATA XPG Gaming
Series 16GB 2133MHz Kit
RRP: $175 | Website: www.adata.com
Test Machine
•
•
•
•
•
Intel Core i7 3770K
ASUS Maximus V Extreme
Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB
ANTEC HCP 1200
Windows 7 64-bit SPI
A
DATA amongst many other
memory suppliers have
found themselves having to
diversify their product ranges to
include USB drives, SSDs flash
cards and the like. After all,
with so many competitors in the
DRAM market, being a one trick
pony is a sure way to vanish
from the component landscape
sooner rather than later.
That however does not
mean ADATA is not still in
the memory business, unlike
some others who seems to be
steering themselves in slightly
different directions, ADATA
seem dedicated to the DRAM
business and they have a wider
range than before. The XPG
Gaming series grade memory
22 The OverClocker Issue 20 | 2012
kit is what they sent to us. Now
we have to admit that there
essentially isn’t a difference
between gaming memory and
enthusiast memory really.
What ultimately determines
the grading in reality are the
chips used on the DRAM, the
PCB and if you will the heat
spreaders. So then with gaming
memory you can be sure of
one thing and that is there isn’t
stringent, time consuming and
extensive sorting process that
takes place with the RAM but
rather, it’s a more conservative
process which yields memory
that isn’t that exciting per se,
but nonetheless may prove
valuable for the vast majority of
users. Not everyone will be able
to appreciate DDR3 2,666MHz
RAM and in fact the same may
actually hold true for 2,400MHz
RAM. The benefit to the power
user of high speed RAM with
tight timings is near nonexistent
even though we as overclockers
would trip over ourselves for
such kits.
So while there isn’t as such a
component difference between
overclocking and gaming
memory, there does need to be
a distinction of utility for ADATA
and by extension for the gamers
who make up the bulk of the
buying power.
With this particular kit,
given the rated speed and
timings, we weren’t quite
sure if they even warranted
a review. After all, there’s
not much one can say about
such passable timings and
frequencies. We do appreciate
high density modules, but we’d
go on the record to say that the
average gamer and even the
power gamer would gain no
meaningful advantage by using
a 16GB kit over an 8GB kit. As
it turns out there’s an identical
ADATA 8GB kit which happens
to in part nullify this particular
16GB set as you’ll see later on..