ADATA XPG Z1 DDR4-2400Mhz 32GB Memory Kit Review

Memory manufacturers are on a tear as of late, rolling out a plethora of DDR4 memory products for the new X99/Haswell-E platform. Our latest review sample to arrive is the ADATA XPG Z1 DDR4-2400 MHz 32 GB kit. The kit consists of four 8 GB modules surrounded by some pretty sharp looking heatsinks. The XPG Z1 memory falls in ADATA’s gaming and overclocking family and has the slogan “Efficiency Double, Performance Unlimited” to go along with it. Translate that slogan to mean low voltage and high performance. Ok, so it all sounds good on paper, so let’s get busy and find out how it performs in the real world!

Specifications/Features/Product Presentation

The specifications listed below were plucked from the ADATA website, and encompass the entire XPG Z1 line of DDR4 memory. The XPG Z1 series will be available in speeds ranging from 2133 MHz to 3200 MHz. Timings and voltage ratings will vary between the kits, but usually the higher frequency kits will use higher voltage and slower timings.

Here is what CPU-Z reports with this memory kit installed. Everything looks in order here.

DDR4 memory is specifically designed to run on the X99/Haswell-E platform, and ADATA claims their modules are rigorously tested to ensure a reliable and trouble-free experience on that platform. Cooling is enhanced by way of a 10-layer 2oz copper PCB and an advanced heatsink design (ADATA prefers the term heatsinks over heatspreaders). The below images and descriptions courtesy ADATA.

Gaming DRAM Modules With up to 3200Mhz and 2oz of PCB for better cooling efficiency, ADATA DDR4 Overclocking Modules (XPG Z1 Series) are the best solution for Gaming PCs. For gamers and DIY users who are always asking for better performance while remaining cool, the XPG Z1 Series module meets their requirements. XPG Z1 DDR4 memory module (XMP 2.0) Designed for Intel’s next-generation Core i7 “Haswell-E” HEDT (high-end desktop) processor and X99 platform Supports Intel XMP 2.0 (Extreme Memory Profile) Lead-free proudcts are ROHS compliant 2oz copper 10-layer PCB (Printed Circuit Board)

ADATA DDR4 XPG Z1 Application XPG Z1 DDR4 is for the next generation of Desktop PCs with the Intel Haswell-E and chipset X99.

Reliable Product Quality Excellence Tried and True Rigorous testing yields flawless quality. Test Patterns include scan, march, gallop, jump, and butterfly. All ICs must be validated by the defect screening test to guarantee its functionality, reliability, and compatibility within any operating environment.

Advanced Heatsink Design for Better Cooling Efficiency Our specifically designed heatsink has better cooling efficiency when compared to the most popular “heat spreader” design on the market. The Best Choice Gamers & DIY Users For gamers and DIY users who are always asking for better performance while remaining cool, the XPG Z1 Series module meets their requirements. 2OZ Copper 10 Layer Black PCB First adopted in DRAM modules by ADATA. This feature was first introduced to the motherboard market by Gigabyte. ADATA was the first to use 2oz of copper in the production of DRAM modules. Lower Resistance, Lower Temperature, Better Stability 2oz of Copper 10 Layer PCB is helpful in lowering the electrical resistance which comes with the great benefits of a lower temperature, better signal integrity, and better stability.

The ADATA XPG Z1 DDR4-2400 32 GB kit comes packaged in two separate plastic clam-shell containers with a plastic band holding them together. Each container has two 8 GB modules and a cardboard insert with the graphics and product information printed on it. The cardboard insert unfolds to present you with installation instructions.

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One thing I noticed while removing the modules from the packaging is that all four modules do not have successive serial numbers. The two modules in each package have successive serial numbers, but all four modules together do not. This is the first multi-module kit I have ever seen to not have successive serial numbers. It probably doesn’t matter one iota, but I know some of you are picky like that. That being said, ADATA has told us when these quad-channel kits hit the market, they will be in a single package. Hopefully that means successive serial numbers too.

Before we proceed to the testing phase, here are a series of pictures taken from various angles. If nothing else, ADATA makes some great looking modules in my opinion. I’ve always been partial to the red/black theme, so the looks of this kit are right up my alley.

Testing for Stability at Rated Speed/Timings

With the memory installed in our test bed, we start with a stability check at advertised speed/timings/voltage. To perform the stability check, we use our shiny new Ultra-X R.S.T. Premium USB memory tester. The fine folks at Ultra-X just recently upgraded us to this new tester, and we’re proud to be one of only a few review sites that have one. Just like all the previous memory testers Ultra-X has provided, the R.S.T. Premium is a memory module’s worst nightmare. This bootable USB device is a relentless, memory pounding beast that will uncover any weakness or potential problem a memory kit may have. Depending on the capacity of the memory kit being tested, it can take several hours or more to complete the five passes we prefer to run. It took well over 13 hours hours to complete the five passes on the XPG Z1 32 GB kit, which it completed with no errors found.

Our in-OS testing is performed with a 32M run of HyperPi, which is a great stability test in it’s own right. For an in-OS stability test, it does a great job of finding instabilities with either the CPU or memory. I didn’t expect a problem after the kit passed the R.S.T. Premium test, and none were found. Looks like we have a perfectly stable set of memory on our hands!

Benchmarks

Test Setup

Here are the components used in the test setup, which was used with all three comparison samples. The testing was done with the CPU at it’s stock setting and each memory kit set to its XMP profile.

The three kits we are comparing include today’s review sample along the previously reviewed G.Skill Ripjaws4 and Corsair Vengeance LPX. The G.Skill and Corsair kits are 16 GB and run at DDR4-3000 and DDR4-2800 speeds respectively. The ADATA kit is 32 GB in capacity and has the slowest MHz speed of all the comparison samples at 2400 MHz.

All of the graphs below show percentage values with the ADATA kit being the basis, and therefor always 100%. In the scored benchmarks a higher percentage is better, while timed benchmarks a lower percentage is better. Below each chart is a table with the raw data used to make it.

Synthetic Testing

Beginning with the AIDA64 memory benchmarks, we see some surprising results. The ADATA kit topped both competitor kits in the read/write/copy tests even though it’s running at a slower MHz. The latency test has the G.Skill kit coming out on top with the ADATA and Corsair kits in a dead heat (lower is better here). Impressive start for the ADATA kit!

Moving over the the SuperPi and wPrime benchmarks, we don’t see a whole lot of difference between the competing kits in the shorter SuperPi 1m and wPrime 32M runs. The only differences worth noting are in the longer SuperPi 32M and wPrime 1024M tests. The SuperPi 32M test shows the ADATA kit losing out to both competitor kits, but it did manage to top the G.Skill kit in the wPrime 1024M test by just a whisker.

Rendering and Compression Testing

Our rendering test consists of Cinebench R10, R11.5, and R15. All three of these tests show less than 2% difference between all the comparison samples. The ADATA kit lost out to the other competitors, except for tying the G.Skill kit in the R11.5 run. Compression testing is done with the 7zip built in benchmark. Again, we see less than a 2% difference between all the kits, but the ADATA kit did squeeze out a win over the G.Skill kit.

Video Conversion Benchmarks

Video conversion performance is tested with x264 and PoV Ray 3.73. Once again, less than 2% separated all the comparison samples in these test runs. The ADATA kit managed to beat out the G.Skill kit in the PoV Ray and x264 Pass 1 tests, but the Corsair kit swept the field here.

As you can see by the test results above, the ADATA XPG Z1 kit had no problem keeping up with kits that run at higher Mhz. Some of these results could be attributed to the higher capacity of the ADATA kit, but still a good showing overall for ADATA.

Overclocking

Any memory overclocking past 2400 MHz will require using the 125 strap, or at least that’s what seems to give me the best results. With the strap and BCLK both set to 125, I was able to get the ADATA xpg Z1 DDR4-2400 kit stable at a whopping 3000 MHz without having to loosen the timings. It required 1.4 V to the memory to get there, but WOW… a 600 MHz overclock is pretty darn impressive. The HyperPi 32M run completed without any problems, and finished 14 seconds faster than our previous run at stock settings.

Next, I returned the memory to its stock 2400 MHz speed and wanted to see how tight the timing would go. This too proved pretty successful as I was able to get the timings tightened up to 13-16-15-39-2T, which also took 1.4 V to stabilize. Here again, we saw a pretty good reduction of almost eight seconds in HyperPi 32M when compared to our first run at stock settings.

When ADATA classified this memory kit as “Overclocking Memory”, they weren’t kidding… impressive stuff here.

Conclusion

There really isn’t much I can add to what you’ve seen during the review. The performance is there, the great looks are there, and the overclocking ability this kit offers is fantastic. The ADATA XPG Z1 memory series is set to release on September 15th and should be available at eTailers at that time. Right now the XPG Z1 DDR4-2400 32 GB kit is listed at $549, which makes it the most expensive of all the DDR4-2400 MHz kits listed at Newegg. However, you can expect to pay upwards of $500 for just about any 32 GB kit of DDR4-2400 MHz right now. So, while it may be a little higher than competitor brands, the overclocking ability alone seems worth it to me. Having said that, I’d expect the price to drop once it’s actually available for purchase -I’ve already seen this happen a few times with G.Skill and Corsair DDR4 kits.

The only nitpick I could come up with was the break in the serial number sequence. I think it would serve ADATA well to package all four modules in a single clam-shell; which they say will happen once in retail channels, and see to it the serial numbers run in sequence. That’s simply something I like to see personally, but it obviously didn’t hurt performance or stability having non-sequential serial numbers.

ADATA checked all the right boxes with the XPG Z1 DDR4-2400 32 GB kit. It’s a great performer at stock speeds, but is more than willing to accept pretty hefty overclocks as well. If you’re diving into the latest X99/Haswell-E platform, this ADATA offering is definitely worth considering. It’s an easy call this time around… Overclockers approved!

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–Dino DeCesari (Lvcoyote)