Performance
Performance has been tested on a popular gaming platform which should be comparable to any desktop computer with motherboard based on Intel Z170 chipset and i7 6700K processor. Below is more detailed specification and list of used memory kits.
Let’s begin from AIDA64 Memory and Cache Benchmark.
On Intel Skylake platform memory bandwidth is scalling really good with frequency. As we see, there is a big gap between DDR4-2400 and DDR4-3000 memory kits but also between DDR4-3000 and DDR4-3333. All who are following our reviews know that memory bandwidth is important but is not always affecting general performance of popular applications.
Let’s take a look how memory kits are performing in Pi calculations.
Surprise in this test is DDR4-2400 memory kit which because of dual rank build is offering good performance even though its frequency is low. Results like that are possible only in few applications. Vulcan T-Force memory is still faster and only DDR4-3333 memory is performing better in this test.
Different situation we can see in Cinebench R15 which is a rendering benchmark.
In Cinebench R15 all results are not much different but they’re clearly scalling with memory frequency. Higher clock is slightly helping with performance. I assume that during long rendering it will matter but most users can wait couple of seconds. At the end memory capacity counts more and if we are building computer for games then 16GB seems perfect for everything.
Since I mentioned games then let’s take a look at gamer’s benchmark so 3DMark in the latest version.
We can see slightly higher performance at higher memory frequency but in both tests so Fire Strike and Fire Strike Ultra, memory is barely affecting results. There are games which are showing bigger differences but most of them will act like 3DMark. Considering current price of the RAM, DDR4-3000 memory seems the most reasonable choice.
At the end one more Futuremark benchmark – PCMark 8.
PCMark 8 is showing about the same situation as 3DMark. There is barely any difference between memory kits so most users will find DDR4-3000 optimal for their needs as price isn’t much higher than lower frequency memory kits while it’s less expensive than DDR4-3200 and higher kits.
Vulcan T-Force is performing well in all our tests. At the same time we had no issues with stability, even during really long full load tests. I assume that most users will find 16GB DDR4-3000 memory kit perfectly balanced for gaming platform based on Z170 or X99 motherboard. Not too expensive but offering optimal performance.
If you are still looking for couple of free MHz then check our overclocking results on the next page of this review.
