CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2666 (PC4 21300) Intel XMP 2.0 Desktop Memory Model CMK16GX4M2A2666C16

Pros: This Corsair Vengeance isn't their highest line of memory, but it performs as advertised at a solid price point. I shopped around and it was comparable to some of the other brands I price, so I was happy to go with Corsair as I have always had a good experience with their RAM. This RAM is working great for me now that I got a decent BIOS for my Gigabyte X99 board. At first any changes to memory speed would result in no boot, but this was a Gigabyte BIOS issue. XMP Profile 1 is running the rated 2666MHz and timings without issue with a 5820K clocked at 4.5GHz. I have not tried to overclock the RAM at all, and I probably won't bother. I am not sure if this kit will still exhibit the same stability once you get 8x4GB, or 2 kits worth of RAM. I know fully populated DIMM slots can sometimes decrease OC stability. With free Shoprunner shipping, I got this RAM the next day from Newegg!

Cons: DDR4 is still very expensive! It costs about 2x per GB as DDR3. This is not really Corsairs fault though, it is just the DRAM market right now due to low supply and low demand for DDR4. Expect supply and demand to increase next year when X99 boards work out some kinks and the mainstream platforms that use DDR4 arrive (Skylake). I don't have any applications that use more than 16GB right now, if I had 32GB I would just use 20GB of it as a RAM drive or something, but now, that's not even enough to fully load up some of these new games that are 40-50GB big.

Overall Review: Got a slightly better price on these with promo code, if you buy from Newegg frequently, they often send out 10% off coupons to their most loyal customers!

Pros: XMP Very stable Compact heat spreaders

Cons: CAS latency not the best

Overall Review: This quad channel DDR4 kit from Corsair is a solid choice in any PC build. The Vengeance LPX series comes in a few colors: red, blue, and black for those who value looks. The heat spreaders are nice and compact and get the job done, leaving more room for the CPU cooler than many competing RAM kits. If you’re a fan of heat spreaders that look like they could double as a flaming battle axe of death then this isn’t the RAM for you. In the box is pretty much nothing but the RAM itself. Those who want a case badge for every part in their PC will be disappointed that one wasn’t included. The serial numbers on the sticks were four numbers in a row, indicating they were likely hand chosen and numbered from the factory. The CAS latency of this RAM is not the greatest, but upon installation into a X99 based board with an i7 5820K, this RAM was rock solid stable at 2666 MHz. For those who want speed, stability, and don’t want to mess with the voodoo magic that is CAS latency and RAM voltage configuration, the XMP (eXtreme Memory Profile) support means literally zero user interaction is required to get up and running. Overall, at the lower end of the price range ($209.99 at the time of this writing), this Corsair kit’s rock solid stability, great performance, clean looks, and easy setup gets the PC builder into the DDR4 world with a great bang for the buck.

Pros: 32GB of DDR4. When a stable setting is finally found on the board the RAM works very well.

Cons: The settings for these RAM sticks had to be "babied" in order for me to be able to use all 4 sticks at the same time. I could only boot up with 2 sticks and then change the settings on the motherboard. I managed to get all 4 sticks to boot by choosing the "Most Stable" setting. I still haven't had time to fine tune or play with the settings of this RAM but it should function right out of the package and at this point I can't say that it does. I am still contemplating starting an RMA process with Corsair but that is such a terrible hassle I am considering just testing the RAM at the current settings and dealing with it if it works. This RAM was on my motherboard's approved memory list so I was very confident to install it in my system but am now somewhat disappointed.

Overall Review: Now showing out of stock so my desire to eventually go to 64GB may not be an option. I'm not sure if this RAM is out of stock because it is discontinued or is just very popular and is selling quickly. With only one other review posted for this RAM I'm not very hopeful of the latter being true.

Pros: Works as spec'd out of the box. Corsair offers best-in-class support, and even throws in an extra XMP profile for the tweakers out there: DDR4-2800, 16-18-18-37, at 1.35V.

Cons: Don't expect to get anything more out of this kit at 1.2V. It's maxed out, and unfortunately often comes in at a higher price than other kits with 15-15-15-35 timings or 15-17-17-35 timings. I tried both those settings and it didn't post.

Overall Review: I suspect this is the same kit as Corsair's DDR4-2133 13-15-15-28 1.2V kit, so owners of B150/H170 motherboards that can't access frequencies higher than 2133MHz may want to use this kit, since it's sometimes cheaper than the 2133MHz kit.

Pros: · Low Profile Solid Aluminum Heatsink · Quad Channel Kit · Aesthetically Pleasing Design · Lifetime Warranty The packing/packaging of the ram is pretty standard however what set this a part is that the emblems had a layer of protective plastic on them. That was a nice touch to ensure they wouldn't be scratched so I appreciate that. I also was afraid that the red aluminum would look too candy red for my motherboard but thankfully it is more of a darker aluminum color and it blends right in perfectly (the optical properties of the aluminum helps this). When seating the ram they felt pretty sturdy and well made. The heatsink design is both a plus and a minus, here I will state why it is a plus: 2666 Mhz is considered overclocked already, and with dimensions of the ram, these are able to go into a smaller case/board setup while still maintain the clock speed without cooking itself. That being said, I wouldn't overclock these further as that is not the aim of the LPX series. I would go for Dominator series ram which have taller heatsink which can be paired with fan options which are made to be overclocked further. Increased data transfer rate right out of the box courtesy of the quad channel kit (4 modules of the same capacity/speed) at a good value is a win. The lifetime warranty is great too, although is pretty much standard these days. I tested the RAM out in a X99S Gaming 7 motherboard. Although this version of the LPX series is not on the compatible memory list for this board, testing proved they still function perfectly at advertised timings & clock speed. This board only lists the 2133 MHz as compatible.

Cons: · High CAS Latency · Smaller Heatsink Surface Area These happen to have the highest CAS Latency in their clock speed class (16 vs 13 being the lowest/fastest), Again, for what this product is aiming to be marketed for this is still reasonable (form factor). Also mentioned previously, it's a plus as well as a con. Due to the heatsink size/surface area and it already being OC'd buy the factory. It is not recommended to OC these further as they are not made for that, buy the Dominator series if you want to do that. Any attempts to overclock these further than the stock OC in an X99S Gaming 7 motherboard failed, which could be because they are not on the compatibility list but also the history of the motherboard is that it is very picky with ram as it is so I am not knocking the ram on that one, it could be the board.

Overall Review: I think these are a great option if you are looking for budget ram that are reliable, look great, may need smaller height ram, and/or are on a budget. But if you were looking for something more high performance I would either look elsewhere or go for a dominator series ram module.

Pros: Short heat spreaders are welcomed by me. I don't necessarily need them because I don't use an air cooler that obstructs in any way the taller memory heat spreaders, but I still appreciate that they are just that much more out of the way. Also I don't take a lot of stock in the need for the taller spreaders. Memory isn't as touchy as a CPU or GPU when it comes to heat and is only really a concern when you are tweaking out every last drop of clock increase and/or timings. That is something I haven't concerned myself with for years now and I don't recommend anyone get in the habit of doing themselves. So the short spreaders are great. When it comes to memory and the various speeds you can get, I've always felt the best value prospect comes some where in the middle. Minimum spec memory for a platform is certainly cheaper, but its one not very exciting and pretty limiting for how much further you can take the memory. High end 3000+ stuff you are going to pay through the nose and see little of your money spent play out in any appreciable fashion. So the particular speed range of these sticks are ideal. XMP settings worked great for a few days. After that I used the other SPD ratings listed with the sticks (2800MHz) and ran those for the rest of the time. The sticks never missed a beat. Yes they get a little warm to the touch, but its not hurting them. I'd wager they'd run fine for the life of the system. Unfortunately I needed to review them long before that. It's nice to see the price of these come down also. When I first received them, they were listed for nearly twice the price they can be bought for now. With such a drastic change in such a short time, I couldn't help mentioning it as a definite pro. Lastly I wanted to point out that Corsair is a trusted brand. When it comes to memory there's a pretty good chance that buying any brand is probably going to work out for you. But for that added assurance, you'd be hard pressed to have Corsair come up short. This speaks to their company as a whole also. I've been lucky enough to review many of their products and they have a few products where I could be critical of for good reason. But largely they leave me impressed overall, and not just from product review opportunities, but from my own personal purchases, I have been a customer of Corsair many times. So when I'm looking at memory and there are two or more brands available, I'm not going to let a few bucks stand between me going for the Corsair over the others.

Cons: I wish I could come up with at least one counterpoint to the positive findings of this product, just so I could feel as if I was providing a more thorough review. But I have to be honest and say there was nothing I came across that warrants that. Memory does one thing, and this memory did that in spades. I basically ran it overclocked the entire time without issue.

Overall Review: Now with any memory there's always that slim chance you might run into some compatibility with there motherboard of your choice. I run a ASUS X99-A. I had no issues. In fact I've never had an issue with any Asus + Corsair combo in the entire 15 years of PC building I've done. I could have certainly when tweak crazy and pushed these sticks to the outer limits so I could have reported my findings, but I have to admit that isn't something I really believe in doing anymore. There was a time I focused on such things, but the return for time invested is always pretty small. I would imagine most of the consumers out there don't focus on such trivial things. However with this being Intel's higher end platform, I suppose there are a few hardware pushers who won't be satisfied until they've ringed out every once of what a product can do. To them I say look for the experts in the overclocking forums. I would imagine they'd be suggesting higher priced items right off the bat. For me I'll set the easy overclock and see how long I can go with it. I went a month or so, stable and issue free. Still a short time, but I've got to report my findings in some meaningful time. So my suggestion is if these sticks fit your price, speed and size requirements and you are looking for brand reassurance, look no further, simply pick which color you prefer and give these a go. I doubt you'll be dissatisfied in any way.,

Pros: Well, lets start with the packaging. The LXP DDR4 memory DIMMs are shipped in a box, which I find much nicer than the cheaper plastic only sleeve packaging options. The heat spreaders are made of Aluminum and are ribbed to provide additional surface area. They aren't the largest heat spreaders I've seen, but are adequate for cooling. The LPX is Quad Channel memory designed for the new X99 chipset. I installed them in an ASRock X99 Extreme4 motherboard along with an 8 core i7 LGA 2011 CPU. That was paired with the jumk video card from my last system and a Samsung 840 Pro SSD. Unfortunately I don't have any other DDR4 DIMMs to test against, so any speed claims would be worthless. I ran 4 passes of Memtest 86+ prior to the OS installation because there is nothing worse than running into a bad stick when doing an OS install. The LPX passed with no errors. The OS installation went smoothly using Windows 7 Ultimate. Speed was phenomenal as was the responsiveness of opening and reopening programs. I downloaded the trial version of Adobe Creative Cloud and installed Illustrator. Reopening the program was pretty darn quick and only took about a second. Once again, I don't have any other DDR4 memory to compare it to, but it is significantly faster than my old system using DDR3 memory. I'm not an overclocker, so I can't comment on the LPX performance, but I'm sure there are other reviews covering that aspect.

Cons: DDR4 memory is expensive, although this is on the lower end of the spectrum. I'm not deducting anything for the cost, as sitting on the leading edge of technology is never a cheap endeavor.

Overall Review: For someone looking to dip into the DDR 4 realm without dropping a ton of cash, the LPX fits the bill. I searched around before testing and found that there isn't a ton of data out there, so tread lightly if you're looking at overclocking. The main reason to pick this up is if you want to jump on the new X99 chipset. The big allure for me was the new Haswell CPUs. I just wish I could get my hands on one of the new 18-core Xeon Intels......

Pros: 1. Falling prices. 2. Quad core kit 3. XMP profiles available 4. Can be overclocked well – mileage may vary 5. Multiple colors available 6. Heat sinks on modules 7. Heat sinks are not tall – good for aftermarket coolers 8. Worked right out of the box – see notes 9. Stable 10. Stock voltage 11. 16 GB is more than most need for now I am careful about memory. I have had problems with multiple brands in the past. This memory is sold by Corsair, and the module on the board are Hynix. This modules have been very stable and overclock very well. I love the fact that you can get different colors to match you mother board. The heatsinks on this memory are dense and short enough to cool the memory, while being able to install almost all CPU tower coolers. Great design for air cooling, but for water cooling – the heatsinks will take quite abit of work to remove. I did manage to over clock these modules quite abit. The only problem is that heat goes up fast. I did not want to fry the modules, but I did bump it up to 1.5 volts and still was able to maintain fairly tight timings. I would recommend working through XMP settings, but you can go out on your own as well. XMP works well.

Cons: 1. Heat builds up when overclocking fast 2. This is DDR 4 You cannot use this memory with socket 1150, 1155, etc. This is DDR 4 memory - make sure your motherboard supports it.

Overall Review: You would not be looking at this memory, unless you are building a high end set-up. The least you are going to reasonable spend on this machine is $2,000.00. Unless you need a superfast gaming rig, or intensive video/photo editing machine, I would look elsewhere. Memory is not a sexy thing, and overclocking it not real high on a lot of peoples lists. This memory running at 1.2 volts is fantastic. I cannot say enough about the low voltage. I hate noise, but like speed. This fulfills both. I used this for some intensive video editing. It did the job and did it well. If you working on huge files all the time, then get larger memory. For the rest of us, this is great. I do not believe that there is a game today that will tax this memory. I spent a while beating this memory and work it hard – prime95 stress tests, etc. No problems whatsoever. Worked and never gave up. So who should apply – advanced gamers –video/photo editing users, and anyone wanting to building a X99 system.