Overclocking

We went ahead and looked at what we could do from stock specifications of 8-8-8-24 w/ 1.66v at 1600Mhz. We tried to keep the system at 4.2Ghz with the Intel Core i7 930 wherever possible. Our stock QPI/VTT voltage was set at 1.45v with the system at an overclocked speed of 4.2Ghz. The vCore used was 1.325v stable.

When trying to tighten up the RAM, we were a little disappointed considering that the Crucial Ballistix Tracers we reviewed last month could be tightened better, although that is why you pay a premium the 1600MHz kit – other than the bling. We managed a not too bad 7-8-7-18 stable from 8-8-8-24 at stock settings outlined above. See below.

The next job was to see how far these sticks could be pushed to speed-wise with some respectable tight timings. Patriot claims these sticks are ‘extreme performance’ which could be true with regards to the speeds we achieved on our test rig. From stock 1600MHz, we obtained a very nice 2000MHz. Not only that, we achieved some timings of 9-9-8-24.

Not too shabby at all for a Tri-Channel kit costing roughly £120 before the price hike. Better still, this was achieved with only 1.7v over the stock 1.66v. If we compare that to Crucial’s Ballistix Tracers that needed 1.72v for 2000MHz, Patriot have done a good job choosing the low voltage chips of the D9JNL’s.