Introduction:

Patriot Viper PC3-1600 (2000 MHz) DDR3 Memory

   Here's a question guaranteed to spawn some debate. Is there such a thing as a computer component too fast for its own purpose? Hmmm. The answer is, probably not. There is such a thing as a component that is unable to operate its rated specs due to a major component like the motherboard or processor holding it back.

For example, current graphics cards are behind the game curve. It takes a couple of 8800 Ultras or better just to keep the frame rates some what playable at 1920 x 1200 while playing Crysis. Anti-Aliasing and Anistropic filtering drop the frame rates even further. If you want fluid game play, we have to turn down some of the game's settings and some driver settings.

Any up to date Intel based motherboard supports 1333 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) processors. More and more motherboards are natively supporting 1600 MHz FSB. Why you ask? Well, for one major reason, Intel's Core 2 series all overclock really well and seem to do so without any problems what so ever. The first Core 2 Duo E series processors have scaled 1066 MHz up to 2100 MHz FSB. That's a serious increase in system performance. The latest Core 2 Quad Extreme (QX) also easily scale to 1600 MHz FSB.

One component hasn't quite been behind the curve. If you guessed system memory, without looking at the title of the review, then you're correct. While DDR3 has its performance limitations, it has exceeded stock Intel processor FSB frequencies which gives the entire system a nice performance boost. Here on the test bench, I have one such kit. It's the Patriot DDR3 2000MHz 2GB Viper Memory Kit, or PC3-16000 for those Googling for where to buy as you read this.

Specifications:

Viper PC3-16000

S P E C I F I C A T I O N S

O R D E R I N G   I N F O

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