Corsair Dominator GT DDR3 1600MHz AMD-optimized memory kit review - PAGE 1

Since the release of the Nehalem architecture from Intel, the market is saturated with memory kits tuned specifically for this platform. The 1.65V requirement forced memory manufactuers to release DIMMS that would operate at this voltage - specifically for the Bloomfield processors. The Lynnfield processors have that same requirement. When one looks at dual-channel memory kits, many if not most of them are labeled as "Designed/Engineered/Tuned specifically for the P55 platform". `We did not see such things as often before the i7 era; there were a few targeted at the NVIDIA chipsets, but that's about it.

So what happens to the other platform which also has a dual-channel memory sub-system - the AMD AM3 platform? There are also some kits designed specifically for that plaform, but let's just say they are much less in number. The AMD Overdrive application has introduced the Black Edition Memory Profiles, or BEMP for short, that can be downloaded and applied, if the required memory is used. As of now, from AMD's website, there are only 10 approved memory profiles:

As one can see, Corsair has two kits supporting the Black Edition Memory Profiles. It also has some other kits not supported by the B.E.M.P., but still tuned specifically for the Phenom II architecture. The whole AMD memory lineup comes in many different flavors, with timings ranging from 6-6-6-18 to 9-9-9-24 at a maximum frequency of 1600MHz. Today, I will look at a 7-7-7-20 set; although it's not the tightest from Corsair, it is still reasonably tight considering most of the kits run CAS 8 or 9 at that frequency. So how will it perform? How will it overclock? That's what we will see later in this article.