CORSAIR Vengeance RGB DRAM 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 3000 (PC4-24000) C15 - Intel 100/200 Series Desktop Memory

Pros: Lets get the obvious ones out of the way. This RAM ran perfectly using the XMP profile of 3000MHz on my Z270 system and my X99 system. Of course 32GB is a pretty large amount of RAM for a desktop system, so no worry about running out of RAM here. This is a great kit that will last you for a long while. I'll probably keep this kit longer than either of my computers, and reuse it with at least my next system, and maybe even the one after that depending on how long before we see DDR5 in desktop computers. But these benefits aren't unique to this kit, they are the same for any other 32GB kit of DDR4-3000 RAM. Lets look at the benefits of this specific kit: -The RGB on this RAM looks beautiful. I like the grill look. It does a good job of stopping the RGB from being right in your face and overpowering. -The grills on the top of the modules can be removed if you wish too. -The grills on the top of the modules can also be flipped over. This allows the Corsair logo that lights up on the top of the modules to be flipped over, so they all face the same direction on X99 systems. -The software control of these modules is very easy. These just show right up in Corsair Link, which I already have installed thanks to owning a H110i.

Cons: I had to take one egg of because these don't properly support AMD Ryzen systems. It feels like this this kit was rushed to the market, but I understand they were competing with other RAM makers to get RGB kits to the market. First the software to control the RGBs does not work with AMD systems yet. Corsair says they are working on this, and it will work eventually, but I feel it should have been done before the memory was released. Also, the speed of this RAM makes it a poor choice for AMD Ryzen systems. Ryzen doesn't support DDR4-3000 memory. This means this RAM will probably work, but it won't run at the full 3000MHz speed. It will likely be limited to DDR4-2400, which actually causes a pretty big performance hit with Ryzen. The Ryzen platform is very sensitive to memory speed, and DDR4-3200 makes a big difference. I feel like I could probably manually tweak these sticks to get them running at DDR4-3200, but I think it would have been better for Corsair to do it and include a profile for DDR4-3200. Dropping the ball with AMD support is why I took one egg off.

Overall Review: Overall I'm very happy with this kit. It is advertised as an Intel kit, so I can't take too much off because of the AMD issues. It is also nice that Corsair is at least working on AMD support. However, I liked the times when there were no kits specifically for AMD or Intel. It feels like we have taken a step back with kits only for Intel or AMD. I was hoping we were completely past that point.

Pros: The main selling point of this RAM is of course the LEDs. These look absolutely awesome. I'm a big fan of the diffused LED light look- the whole top bar of the RAM lights up evenly, so you don't see bright spots like with individual surface mount LEDs. Matches very well in my case with the green Geforce graphics card cooler. Fade effects work very smoothly. Corsair Link runs fine on my MSI Z270 motherboard and the effects all work great. Hopefully Corsair continues to update the LED color/fade profiles available (or figures out a way to allow us to program custom ones). Also note that there is a removable clip on the top of the RAM that covers the LEDs. You can remove it to flip it around to align the logo or to give it a new look. Performance is solid, runs stably at 3000MHz and no problems after a single pass Memtest run (I like to do this with all new RAM to make sure there are no issues as bad RAM can be very tough to troubleshoot). To get full performance you may need to go into your motherboard BIOS to enable XMP profile- essentially, by default the RAM may run at a slower speed so choosing an XMP profile allows you to run it at the speed Corsair intended.

Cons: Compatibility seems pretty limited at the moment (most Z170, Z270, some X99 boards work). It looks like the compatibility chart on the Corsair site also is incomplete since my MSI Z270 board wasn't on there but it seems to work fine with it. Corsair is working on Ryzen compatibility though so I expect this to get better over time. I wish there were a way to program the LED profiles onto the sticks. I don't really like having Corsair Link running all the time (I like to keep my background programs clean if possible). It seems like every RGB product on the market today uses a different program to control them and I can see it being very annoying having multiple background and startup programs running just to set your LEDs.

Overall Review: Overall a nifty product that really brings an LED lit build together. I recommend you double check compatibility before you buy. And don't forget to check the motherboard BIOS to make sure the RAM speed is set correctly.

Pros: There are two aspects of these DIMMs to consider. The first is how well they perform as memory, the second how well the gaudy lights work. On the memory front, Corsair's modules perform flawlessly. XMP profiles load and work perfectly. Initially I was dubious as to whether the light pipe running inside the heat spreader would impair thermal performance. It doesn't - these modules happily overclocked and ran memtest86 at within 100 MHz of where similar non-RGB Corsair Vengeance modules did. You cannot push them as hard as the Dominator series, but the addition of LEDs and light pipe has little or no effect on memory performance. As far as fitting in your system, the modules measure inbetween low-profile DIMMs and tall beasts such as the Corsair Dominators. You need 2-3 additional mm clearance beyond a low profile DIMM. The lighting was decidedly a mixed bag. Yes, it works to some extent at least on Z270 motherboards. Controlling the effects requires running Corsair Link software. If you have other RGB components it is possible to match colors reasonably well.

Cons: The alignment between light pipe and LED diodes appears to be less than perfect on one DIMM. Setting the color to white produces a magenta cast at one end transitioning to a bluish cast at the other. Accurate control over the lighting requires installing and activating the Intel ME software. Given this week's revelations from Intel about the exploit risks in all systems with AMT activated, I would think long and hard about doing so unless and until your motherboard vendor issues patched firmware. Even if IME is installed and running there are slight timing mismatches in lighting effects between modules. If you are not watching closely it is difficult to see. If your system is up for display, however, timing latency makes pulse mode just look silly. My main complaint is with the Corsair Link software. It has improved somewhat over the past year or two but both the program itself and the associated service remain resource and memory hogs. Corsair Link must be running to enable lighting effects. If you have a complete Corsair system the performance tradeoffs may be worth it to you. Otherwise, there are better implementations of active cooling and lighting control, often baked into your motherboard BIOS. The additional dongle and device drivers installed by Corsair link can interfere with other peripherals. On one PC I installed them on, peripherals that had worked perfectly for over a year were no longer recognized after installing Corsair Link. Removing the installed drivers restored functionality; doing a full restore to pre-Corsair status was better still.

Overall Review: I rate the memory itself a full 5 stars. The RGB lighting that you pay an extra $30 for is 2 or 3 stars at best. I'd have a hard time justifying the purchase if you want to have a PC that will be showcased. If it were possible to download lighting profiles to the memory without requiring the full [expletive deleted] Corsair Link package be installed and running, I could live with the idiosyncrasies of the RGB lighting. Color casts and slight timing mismatches are not noticeable at casual glance. The memory itself works very well. The lights need to catch up.

Pros: Vengeance RGB ram pretty slick. 3000MHz bandwidth, controllable RGB colors. Not much not to like. It installed perfectly and works as expected. Here are a few things i noticed: I installed Corsair Link 4.6.0.86, donwloaded from the corsair website. After installing the required drives, the software accurately found the RAM and allowed me to configure the LED lights. The link software is designed to manage other motherboard driven features (lighting, fans, etc.), not just the RGB ram. Note: This is different software from corsair Utility Engine (CUE) that is used to manage corsair mouses, keyboards, etc. Each ram stick can be managed independently or grouped. There are four types of color patterns are available. Static (which isn't really a patttern, i guess), Color Pulse, Color Shift, Rainbow Pulse and shift allow you to choose and order up to 7 colors with a full pallet/RGB control for each. Full pallet control means you can visually pick your color or set it to any RGB value you like (0-255,0-255,0-255) You can set the pattern speed with a slider, and adjust the group delay (short, medium, long, none.) to try to synchronize with any other lighting you might have. From a memory perspective, all is good. A quick run of CPUz reveals the possible recommended JEDEC and XMP profiles: Note that going to XMP requires increasing voltage from 1.2 to 1.35. That's easy to miss. XMP#7 seems ideal as it hits the 3000MHz mark while maintaining a impressive 15 CL. (Sometimes these "fast" memories reach high bandwidth numbers by giving back on other specs, especially Cas/CL.) All in all that is a significant improvement in absolute latency (10 nanoseconds vs 14 nanoseconds for 2133/15CL memory.) Thanks Corsair. JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency JEDEC #1 9.0-9-10-22-31 @ 666 MHz JEDEC #2 10.0-10-11-25-35 @ 740 MHz JEDEC #3 11.0-11-12-27-38 @ 814 MHz JEDEC #4 12.0-12-13-30-42 @ 888 MHz JEDEC #5 13.0-13-14-32-45 @ 962 MHz JEDEC #6 14.0-14-15-35-49 @ 1037 MHz JEDEC #7 15.0-15-15-36-50 @ 1066 MHz JEDEC #8 16.0-15-15-36-50 @ 1066 MHz XMP profile XMP-2998 Specification DDR4-2998 Voltage level 1.350 Volts Min Cycle time 0.667 ns (1499 MHz) Max CL 15.0 Min tRP 11.33 ns Min tRCD 11.33 ns Min tRAS 23.18 ns Min tRC 34.68 ns Min tRRD 4.00 ns XMP timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage) XMP #1 9.0-11-11-21-32-n.a @ 899 MHz (1.350 Volts) XMP #2 10.0-12-12-24-35-n.a @ 1000 MHz (1.350 Volts) XMP #3 11.0-13-13-26-39-n.a @ 1100 MHz (1.350 Volts) XMP #4 12.0-14-14-28-42-n.a @ 1200 MHz (1.350 Volts) XMP #5 13.0-15-15-31-46-n.a @ 1300 MHz (1.350 Volts) XMP #6 14.0-16-16-33-49-n.a @ 1400 MHz (1.350 Volts) XMP #7 15.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts) XMP #8 16.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts) XMP #9 17.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts) XMP #10 18.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts) XMP #11 19.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts) XMP #12 20.0-17-17-35-52-n.a @ 1499 MHz (1.350 Volts)

Cons: Non that i can think of, although others have mentioned problems to get things to synchronize perfectly. Also, since the 3000mhz speeds are all XMP profiles, you'll likely need to set up your BIOS to match. Most motherboards will simply pick a standard JEDEC profile automatically, and you'll need to tell it if you want it to use XMP. So if plugging it in doesn't get you the speed you paid for, check your BIOS.

Overall Review: Performance wise, this is a huge improvement over 2133 and even 2600 ram that runs at 1.2 volts. By increasing the voltage to 1.35 (and whatever other magic mfg is doing), this memory keeps the Cas/CL at 15 when running 3000Mhz. The result is an impressive 10ns absolute latency. Far better than standard DDR4-2133/CL15 memory. Link software has some potential, but i don't have any other hardware for it to talk with or control. It does show a whole bunch of temperature and fan speed sensors on my motherboard, and that's pretty cool. So there's that.

Pros: The Ram was compatible with my new AMD Ryzen CPU, was easy to configure and had great speed out of the box. I was able to overclock the ram in the bios. This ram when pared with an RGB-enabled motherboard makes a great looking build. I was able to change the lighting in various programs, providing a nice choice. This ram has very good latency numbers and is very smooth running high performance.

Cons: None really. It's Fast, it looks nice and its easy to tweak.

Overall Review: I would strongly recommend this if your willing to spend a small amount extra on aesthetics in a build but still want great performance!

Pros: Removable Top Grill Uniform LED Bar Temperature Monitoring RGB Controllable on X370

Cons: Only able to OverClock to stable 2666Mhz

Overall Review: The CORSAIR Vengeance RGB 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 3000 (PC4-24000) C15 for DDR4 Systems memory kit is working well in my Ryzen 7 system. Although I was not able to overclock the memory to 3000Mhz, I was able to overclock the memory to 2666Mhz with all 4 slots occupied on a X370 ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Hero motherboard. The overclockability of this memory is most likely a limit of the motherboard, not the memory. The memory does display in Corsair Link with information like temperature, frequency, and timing; it does not give any lighting control options. This is expected as Corsair advertises this memory kit as compatible with Intel X99, 100 and 200 series motherboards. When researching compatibility, I did find Corsair stating that lighting control will be supported for Ryzen chipsets in the future but no date was given. The default lighting scheme for the memory kit is a slow random color shift. The LED bar on the stick give the appearance of a single uniform LED. The top grill on the stick is removable and can be painted to match the computer's color scheme or can remain removed to display even more of the LED bar. The memory sticks are almost twice as tall as standard Corsair Vengeance memory which may interfere with large fan heatsinks. I am currently using this memory in a custom water cooled system so the height of the memory does not interfere with the CPU water block. UPDATE: With the latest Corsair Link Software update released on 5/27/2017, I am now able to control the LEDs on the RAM sticks on a X370 ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Hero.

Pros: 3000MHz RAM maximizes frames-per-second when gaming. 32GB capacity massively improves rendering time in Adobe After Effects. Also, significantly improves rendering time in Adobe Premiere Pro. See OTHER THOUGHTS below for details. RGB Lighting enhances the PC's appearance with many lighting patterns available. Good overclocking potential and Lifetime Warranty. XMP certified for Windows 7, 8/8.1, and 10. The combination of RAM speed and capacity ensures you are prepped for upcoming software and graphics innovations.

Cons: RAM modules are approximately 2 inches tall when inserted in motherboard slots. This is taller than most non-RGB modules and may interfere with a large cpu heatsink (so, use a water cooler instead). Wrap-around heatsink/cover is fairly thick. With 4 modules installed on GIGABYTE GA-Z270X-UD3 motherboard, each module touches the module next to it. With no airflow between modules how effective are the heatsinks, I wonder? Price may be the biggest drawback for this RAM. If cost is a consideration when building your new rig you can get similar performance for considerably less money which, in turn, could be spent on a better G-card, SSD, HDD, etc. Nevertheless, if you want the amazing look that this RGB RAM generates, then pay the price and the results will, I assure you, dazzle everyone who sees it.

Overall Review: Others have discussed the variety of lighting effects you can produce by using the free downloadable RGB software from Corsair's website. I will concentrate on the practical, productivity benefits of a 32GB kit compared to 16GB or 8GB. Basically, 8GB will provide a good day-to-day experience. If you employ 16GB you get a small frames-per-second boost in several modern games (this may be enhanced with upcoming releases over the next year or two), and you get a noticeable boost in rendering speed when using Adobe After Effects and/or Premiere Pro. If you step up to 32GB there's currently nothing to be gained when gaming, BUT you get another significant boost in rendering speed with Adobe. I'm told this also applies to two or three other major editing suites (Sony Vegas Pro?). The following example is useful for observing the RELATIVE IMPROVEMENT in rendering time, not for the ACTUAL time taken. Although the motherboard is a recent GIGABYTE Z270 LGA 1151 model, the processor is a strictly entry-level Kaby-Lake Celeron G3930 dual-core @ 2.9GHz w/HD Graphics 610 (pause for laughter). The benefit of using this is that it's really the RAM itself that produces improvements here, not the rest of the system. To get the true benefit of this RAM kit, each and every one of the following items will further improve your editing/rendering/gaming experience well beyond the timed example shown further down the page: Core i7 cpu. SSD for your operating system. Separate drive where all video/photos/effects are stored (SSD preferred). Third drive to use as a scratch drive (again, SSD preferred). High-end Nvidia graphics card with CUDA feature enabled. Ample amount of stimulating beverage (English Tea Store loose-leaf Breakfast blend no.1 or single-malt Scotch preferred). EXAMPLE using G3930/HD 610 graphics and Corsair Vengeance @ 3000MHz: 2 minute 1080p video clip .mt2s format. 10-second title added. 8-second credit added. Ice-blue color overlay added. Thin edge bevel effect added. Output: H264 selected. After Effects render/export to Desktop time in minutes and seconds: 8GB RAM - 12:58 16GB - 5:41 32GB - 2:03 Note the drastic improvement the more RAM you use. Other Memory Benchmarks (again with Celeron G3930 dual-core @2.9GHz): MaxMEMM Single Thread @2133MHz - Copy 24223MB/s / Read 18361MB/s / Write 21276 @3067MHz - Copy 26252MB/s / Read 19791MB/s / Write 21276 Sisoft Sandra Latency - Random access 2kB - 32kB page size - 4.2ns 512kB - 1MB page size - 18.8ns Memory Bandwidth Single Thread @2133MHz - 1881GB/s Memory Bandwidth Single Thread @3067MHz - 2417GB/s In summary, this is high-performance RAM with lots of pretty lights. Highly recommended if you can justify the asking price!

Pros: *Goes with my color scheme, thx to the black metal heat sinks and the rgb lighting. *Uses xmp profiles, works great as my board has an auto xmp profile switch. So it automatically runs at the profile speed no tweaking needed. *No cord needed for these to use the lighting effects. Which is good cause who needs more wires running thru their case. *Top cover pops off if you want more light to show, Which is also a nice extra.

Cons: No cons honestly, corsair makes great products...

Overall Review: Yes I would recommend these to anyone. Corsair spends alot of time to make sure their stuff works right out of the box. great job corsair, and newegg your awesome as always! :)