FRONTPAGE G.Skill TridentX DDR3-2666 Memory Review

You've seen this strong RAM from G.Skill in use before, in our reviews of Intel's i7 3770K and ASUS' Maximus V GENE. Now we'll look at the sticks themselves and find out just what they're capable of.

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Awesome review Hokie

Thanks dumo! Coming from a RAM guru like you, that means a lot.

Same Trident setup except using i5 3570K no go past 2400

As stated in the title, I am running exactly the same setup minus the i7 3770K CPU. In its place I am running the i5 3570K. For the life of me I cannot get this set of RAM to post at anything higher than 2400 speed. Anything higher will result in a code 23 being displayed and a non-post situation, cannot even get into the BIOS. I have tried voltage tweaks, putting in all the timings manually etc. This chip is also running on H20.

The same set of RAM will run at the spec. 2666 speeds with no problems at all on a 3770K and dif board. Will even overclock to almost 2800 with just Bclk adjusting. (no other changes) and I must mention that the i7 3770k of which these ran so well on is an Asus P8Z77 WS. (Not even on the G Skill QVL list)

If anyone can help me with this I would be grateful. Is this likely a defective chip issue, board issue, or RAM issue? Since I have tried 3 dif Maximus V boards all of which I could not get to post at spec speed as stated above as well as the fact that the RAM did operate at spec on a dif chip, I am guessing its the chip, however, is it likely an inherent issue on all i5 3570k chips? Or will exchanging this chip for another i5 3570K chip likely correct my situation?

Anyone else have any trouble running this setup on the i5 3570K chips? If anyone has any suggestions or can help please let me know. G Skill support sent me a very brief email stating to raise VCCA voltage of which I have already tried. I guess Friday afternoons arent a good time to request support from the manufacturer.

Thanks in advance. thx Chad

ConundrumIV said:

Anyone else have any trouble running this setup on the i5 3570K chips?

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Post code 23 means that cpu's imc can't initialize with mem. speed set in bios.
I tried a few 3570K retail on Asus M5G/Z77 Deluxe boards (not with this ram though) with some DDR3 2800 capable rams and some chips can't boot with mem. higher than 2400.

Thank you for the info and reply. Is this issue as prevalent on the 3770K chips that you know of? Or are their IMC's turning out as more robust? Will be trading out this chip for another, Will report back. Meanwhile if anyone has any other suggestions really appreciate it. thx

So far from (15) retail 3570Ks test on air, only (6) good enough for 2800+ 4X4, higher with subzero cooling. The ones that can't go mostly costarica and L151XXX batches.

As far as 3770K, I test 3 retails and 1 max out @ 2666 air the others can go 2800+

Hi ConundrumIV, welcome to OCF! dumo is quite right, POST code 23 generally means the IMC just doesn't want to go any farther. Around Ivy's release, poor dumo saw it so often his avatar at XS is a POST code indicator showing 23.

I don't know if you've tried it, but there is a beta BIOS 0078 that is supposed to be the best memory clocker so far. I grabbed it and uploaded it to our server, so you can download it right here. It won't work miracles though; if your IMC just isn't capable, chances are it won't make much of a difference.

From what I've seen and what dumo has experienced, 3770K's stand a greater chance of having a strong enough IMC to run this RAM at its rated speed (and beyond). It's not a guarantee by any stretch, Intel only rates up to DDR3-2133. If you don't feel like trying to exchange your chip, there are other avenues to explore too...if you can't get the frequency you want, play with timings. The right timings can make a slower kit very close to as fast as a faster kit.

Thank you both very much for this invaluable information as well as the warm welcome. You have saved me much time in more trial and error as well as I respect very much the fact that you both so willingly share your experience and expertise without hesitation. I am very glad to Join Overclo9ckers and look forward to many more great conversations. Hope to be able to contribute at some point and make the difference you both have with sharing your knowledge. Thanks for being so friendly and welcoming. Your info is very much appreciated and valued. = )

I swapped the i7 3770K out of my P8Z77 WS and installed on the Maximus V which is the board I could not get to run at rated speeds. Low and behold, it's the chip. RAM overclocks like a champ now, so as you guys mentioned the chip is most definitely to blame. I have another i5 coming tomorrow and will try this RAM on it, if I cannot get to run at spec the two i5s are going to be replaced with i7s. The i5 I have right now is Costa Rica. Funny thing is the Costa Rica chips used to be the good ones in the Sandy Bridge flavor. Its to bad because for whatever reason for me the i5 seemed like a stronger more stable chip in everyday usage than the i7 ivy. Been having a lot of random boot problems on the 3770K which I do not have on the i5. These Ivy Bridge chips are seemingly turning out to be a bit temperamental over the SB's. I also hope Intel addresses the less than desirable thermal transfer issues with the

dumo said:

Awesome review Hokie

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+1

Thanks Cuda.

Great news ConundrumIV! Glad to hear you're able to run the sticks where they should be. Sorry about your random boot problems; feel free to start a thread in Intel CPUs if you want to try and flesh it out.

Ok, I'm sold.

Wow, I wish you'd stop picking my system parts for me.


but thanks.

Haha, happy to help!

Thanks Hokie, that was exactly what I wanted to see, 2666 vs 2133. Looks like I'll be saving $140 and going with 2133...but man, those sticks are blazing fast.

Awesome review Hokie....damn thats some nice sticks

Fantastic Memory gr8 review

Hi Hokie,

Do you have any idea or guess as to which type of ic was or might have been used on this kit? Were your samples double or single sided?

Not 100%, but I think they were double-sided. I didn't get a picture at that angle and am awaiting their return (let IMOG borrow them for benching). There have been talk of both Hynix and Samsung ICs in this kit. Which one mine had I can't know for certain, but my gut says Hynix.

On agreement with G.Skill, I don't take their heat spreaders off to check what IC was used, this is just based on discussion I've seen regarding this kit.

Are the Samsung based (30nm) ic usually single sided when they are used for the smaller capacity 4gb dimms and double sided in 8gb dimms? Aren't Hynix ic >30nm and make for double sided sticks in the 4gb dimm size?