Introduction

Over the past several months, I've covered no less than four different kits from Kingston. All were sent to me shortly after Kingston's HyperX brand celebrated its 10th Anniversary. Just as I finished work on the Predator review, Kingston asked whether I'd like to take a look at their new HyperX Black sticks, and I quickly said yes. What arrived on my doorstep, however, surprised me. Not only did I receive a Beast Black kit, but this one was also 16 GB in density with a default speed of 2133 MHz. What makes these sticks "Black" is the new black PCB that adorns many Kingston HyperX kits, but I, to be honest, expected a kit that closely resembled the 10th Anniversary Genesis sticks rather than the Beasts that were hidden behind the packaging's logo. What happened when I unleashed them on my 3770K testbench? They just might have torn things up.

Specifications

Packaging

Kingston's now familiar packaging contains the HyperX Beast DIMMs. It is simple but effective.


Flipping open the lid was much nicer this time, with no green to be found anywhere--enthusiasts asked and Kingston delivered.

A Closer Look

What I found after taking a close look at the Kingston HyperX Beast Black DIMMs was all too familiar. Kingston's labels still appear to be mysterious notes from another world.


The "beast" reference in Kingston HyperX Beast Black DIMMs makes sense to me, with the heatspreader taking the shape of a beast-like head. Both sides of the sticks are identical except for the label on one side.


The heatsinks are shaped out of two pieces that interlock at the top and attach to the surface of the memory ICs with thermal tape. The top of the heatsink provides a tunnel air is trapped in, which will force fresh air down along the surface of the stick if suitable airflow is provided. The PCB's shiny top layer makes finding marking on the surface of the PCB harder than ever. There were some numbers on the PCB itself, but they were very hard to capture in pictures.

Initial Setup

The Kingston HyperX Beast Black DIMMS measure in at 46.44mm in height. This is roughly the same height as other Kingston HyperX Beast sticks I've seen, but such differences are probably due to variations in assembly.


Installed into my Maximus V Extreme motherboard, they make quite an impression, looking even more sleek than their green PCB brothers by offering a nearly 100% black esthetic. The bits of red on the heatsink are scarce enough to blend in well with any rig. Some heatsinks out there will cause clearance issues with these DIMMs, but cooler makers are now releasing more coolers specifically designed not to foul with memory sticks such as these, which will make such considerations less of a concern as time goes on. I am definitely eager to get my hands on a revised Noctua D14 I saw in Computex 2013 pictures.