G.SKILL TridentX 2933 MHz C12 2x 4 GB kit Review 19

G.SKILL TridentX 2933 MHz C12 2x 4 GB kit Review

(19 Comments) »

Value & Conclusion

  • The 8GB (2 x 4GB) G.Skill TridentX 2933 MHz C12 kit is available for $369.99.
  • Huge overclocking headroom--more than most CPUs are capable of
  • Removable heatsink allows for installation in nearly any system (even into those with big air coolers)
  • Large heatsink capable of running in extreme environments
  • Wide compatibility with all current systems
  • Simple, nearly mono-chromatic esthetic that suits a wide range of other enthusiast parts
  • XMP Support for 4th Gen Intel Core CPUs and Z87-based motherboards
  • Not a kit for the inexperienced overclocker since getting the most out of these sticks requires extensive BIOS tweaking
  • Included fan feels flimsy and does not match the kit fully due to blue LEDs
  • Color scheme may not match all system builds
  • Not working fully with all motherboards (BIOS issues)
  • Not all CPUs capable of booting 2933 MHz divider
If you simply look at the performance graphs to then conclude these sticks aren't that great and overpriced, you might be overlooking one of the best memory kits out right now. The G.Skill TridentX 2933 MHz C12 kit would be the wrong purchase for the average user who simply enables XMP as board and CPU compatibility issues are something nearly anyone will run into. However, if you are familiar with timing customizations and want to overclock, the G.Skill TridentX 2933 MHz C12 kit does provide some fantastic flexibility, and overhead that is going to be greater than what most CPUs can provide. You do have to pay a bit due to that fantastic capability, but that has been the case since day one. If you want premium parts, you have to pay premium prices.

Getting this kit going gave me some issues at first. The G.Skill TridentX 2933 MHz C12 kit definitely has a steep learning curve, but once you learn the "tricks", so to speak, these sticks really open up, as evidenced by the 400 MHz+ overclock I managed with their stock voltage. However, getting those high clocks requires a good CPU, and I probably would have been able to get a bit more out of these sticks with a better CPU myself. It also requires that the board you use has a compatible BIOS, something that has been improving quite a bit over the past couple of weeks, but there still remain a few boards that simply don't cooperate. Those board's are hardly ever the high-end overclocking boards, so that isn't that much of a problem from where I sit. I did speak to G.Skill about the issues I encountered. We concluded that most of the issues I ran into are strictly BIOS-related, and that most of those will be dealt with in due time.

When the time comes to look at the overclocking potential offered here, getting 3400 MHz out of these sticks is pretty good, but G.Skill does sell another kit with specifications that might make these 2933 MHz sticks blush. A quick peek at Newegg shows that G.Skill's 3000 MHz TridentX sticks cost more than twice as much as this 8 GB kit, so we will likely some "value" memory to go with the many value-orientated overclocking boards around. I am testing those "entry OC" boards with this "entry OC" memory kit, and with a good chip, there are a few possible trio-of-terror combinations that can dominate top overclocking records for us "normal" folk that like to overclock on air, but each and every record is in my opinion going to be made using this G.Skill TridentX 2933 MHz C12 kit. Need help getting your kit set up? Let me know!
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Apr 26th, 2024 22:46 EDT change timezone

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