Patriot PC3-16000 Viper Series 4GB DDR3 kit

 

The outer packing is a standard affair with the usual plastic blister style packaging most memory manufacturers’ use for packaging memory modules. Patriot have opted not to display the modules on the front of the package, instead having the paper insert advertise the memory specification.

 

As you can see, green and black dominates the packaging which is a very big hint that these modules are best used with an NVidia chipset, although they are no doubt compatible with Intel chipsets but may not perform as well as they do in the ‘Green team’s’ motherboards.

 

 

  

 

The modules themselves are very striking. Adorned in vivid green copper and aluminium composite heatspreaders, it is clear that this memory kit was created for performance enthusiasts. The heatsinks are ‘ribbed’ (for pleasure?) and are dual height, which should cool the integrated chips down well, even without active cooling. Rated to run at stock speed with 2.0v, that cooling will certainly be utilised and more, should we manage to overclock them past their rated speed.

 

 

The specifications and required voltage are situated on a sticker to the rear of the modules with a silver DDR3 emblem embossed toward the edge of the ram. Those who have read my reviews previously will know I am a big fan of black PCB’s and I am happy to report that the Patriot kit for review here has a black PCB. Call me fickle but a green PCB would look odd and somehow take something away from the aesthetics of the Viper kit. I must say, these modules are perhaps the best looking I have seen and will perfectly match any green themed PC.  If you have neon green watercooling on an NVidia 790i board or perhaps one of the UV Green DFI Lanparty boards then this DDR3 kits will be the perfect match for your setup.

 

 

 

Gently prising the heatsinks away from the PCB we see that the kit is double-sided with 8x 128 MB integrated chips on each side. The IC’s themselves are Samsung based (SEC = Samsung Electronics Corporation) HCF0 chips which are commonplace among high-end DDR3 kits. The underside of the heatsink is spared the neon green paint in the hope of better heat transfer. I was surprised how light the heatspreaders were, which is testament to the composite alloy used.