Patriot Memory Signature Premium 2x8Gb PSP416G2666KH1

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Patriot Signature Premium DDR4 is one of the most affordable DDR4 RAM line with metal heatsinks. And this is not at all “foil”, like many other competitors (including some more expensive “gaming” RAM modules), but thick-walled aluminium plates. The series includes both individual strips with a volume of 4 to 16 GB, and paired sets with a total volume of up to 32 GB. The frequency can be 2400, 2666 or 3200 MHz. But the timings, compared to expensive overclocking memory, are a bit high: CL17-17-17-38, CL19-19-19-43 and CL22-22-22-52, respectively.

Performance standardization

But firstly, these are official timings according to JEDEC, the international organization for the standardization of semiconductor chips. Secondly, even at 3200 MHz with CL22 timings, Patriot Signature Premium DDR4 memory can operate on a supply voltage of only 1.2 volts. Whereas if the timings were lowered, the voltage would have to be increased to 1.35 V. And finally, thirdly, with such timings, the RAM is guaranteed to start even on not the most successful instances of processors and motherboards.

Overclocking Assistant

And then you can start experimenting with overclocking — increasing the frequency, lowering the timings, or both at the same time. In the case of a computer with an AMD processor and motherboard, the DRAM Calculator for Ryzen application will help you choose the optimal parameters. Under the Patriot Signature Premium DDR4 heatsinks are Micron's SpecTek chips.

Manually or automatically?

So even in the case of junior RAM modules with a frequency of 2400 MHz, you can count on overclocking up to 2933 MHz, and in the case of 2666 – up to 3000+ MHz. The older versions at 3200 MHz are already, most likely, overclocked to the limit, but their performance can still be increased by lowering the timings from CL22-22-22-52 to CL16-18-18-36 or so. And if you don't want to spend time manually overclocking the memory, buy the Patriot Viper 4 Blackout or Viper Steel kits with automatic XMP overclocking to 3600-4400 MHz.