FEATURED Acer Predator Apollo 16GB DDR4-3600 CL14 - BL.9BWWR.253

[Woomack]

Today I have something new and fresh and I bet that most readers don't even know this brand. In short, Acer decided to introduce its memory series products for gamers under the Predator brand. The premiere of the brand was a couple of weeks ago so these products are starting to appear on the market just now. They were so kind to send a review sample so I can make some more tests.

The memory kit is based on Samsung B-die. It's pretty obvious considering its XMP profile that runs at DDR4-3600 CL14-15-15 1.45V.
The XMP works without issues on MSI X570 Unify and MSI Z590I Unify so both, the latest AMD and Intel platforms.
Not many brands decided to release memory kits at such tight timings. You can add to the list G.Skill, Team Group, and ADATA. Maybe I missed something but most others stick with more relaxed timings.

Stability at the rated speed:

Below you can see a stability test made on i7-11700K and MSI Z590I Unify. There will be many more tests so I won't waste time on long hours of stability tests.





Product Photos:



More Photos:

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Overclocking results are not fully tweaked. This is how the tested memory kit runs the "easy and stable" way but not necessarily the fastest possible. This is also how most users can set it without spending many hours adjusting sub-timings.

 

[Woomack]

Ryzen 9 5900X + MSI X570 Unify


XMP: DDR4-3600 CL14-15-15-35 1.45V

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XMP: DDR4-3733 CL14-14-14-34 1.45V

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XMP: DDR4-4000 CL16-16-16-36 1.45V

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XMP: DDR4-4266 CL16-18-18-37 1.50V

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XMP: DDR4-4400 CL16-18-18-37 1.55V

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For some reason, I couldn't make it work at DDR4-4600 or higher on AMD. I also had some problems running at higher voltages what is required for significantly tighter timings. There were no problems like that on the Intel rig.

 

[Woomack]

Core i7 11700K + MSI Z590I Unify


XMP: DDR4-3600 CL14-15-15-35 1.45V

Spoiler

XMP: DDR4-4266 CL14-16-16-34 1.55V

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XMP: DDR4-4600 CL16-17-17-36 1.55V

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XMP: DDR4-4800 CL18-18-18-38 1.55V

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XMP: DDR4-5000 CL20-22-22-40 1.60V

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The memory kit doesn't like high voltages at higher frequencies but at least on Intel, it's scaling well at lower voltages, up to ~1.6V. Possible settings make it not worth using high voltages. For example, it's possible to set DDR4-3600 CL12 1.75V+ but the performance is almost as high as at DDR4-3600 CL14 1.40-1.45V. The optimal would be 3800-4000 at CL12/13 but the Gear 1 mode won't work for most users and a higher frequency is simply faster and easier to set.
At DDR4-4600+, higher voltages than 1.65V are not helping much and the memory loses stability above 1.65V at such a high frequency. I couldn't set CL15 at DDR4-4600+ up to 1.8V and the motherboard had random problems with booting above 1.7V.
At DDR4-5000, I couldn't use 1.65V+ for the same, stability problem. 1.65V+ would be required for CL18/19. CL20 is still fast as you can see on screenshots.

Here is a screenshot of DDR4-5000 CL19. It had some problems during longer tests (actually only in the FFXV benchmark) but can say it wasn't far from stable.




In general, Acer Predator Apollo is great looking and fast memory kit. It overclocks well but requires a good motherboard and strong memory controller to show some good results. RGB illumination looks great and it's for sure one of the best-looking memory kits on the market. It's hard not to recommend it, as long as you can spend some more money.


As always, feel free to comment or ask questions.

 

[Woomack]

Some photos were added to the 1st post.