Kingston HyperX Blu RAM review
Kingston’s HyperX RAM range has left a respectable mark in the hardware enthusiast space, and has become a favourite for many PC gamers. Enter the HyperX Blu subcategory which is meant to appeal to budget conscious system builders looking for high-end performance.
There are dozens of variables to consider when it comes to choosing RAM. The most important thing is quantity, but module speed, and to a lesser degree, latency timings, are also considered important for enthusiasts, as are voltages and temperature levels.
While there are many things to consider when looking at RAM, the noticeable effect of the variables on the end-user experience is debatable.
Indeed, the average user will not notice the difference between 4GBs of DDR3 running at 1333Mhz and CL9-9-9-27 latency timings, and a 1600 MHz kit running at 9-10-9-27 timings. The difference in price, however, can be substantial, which is why many gamers decide what kind and how much RAM they want and then try to find the cheapest brand.
Kingston caters for the high-end with its HyperX H20 and HyperX T1 series, while the HyperX Genesis range has been the choice for many regular gamers looking for Kingston RAM. Kingston is now looking to target entry-level gamers with the HyperX Blu range, releasing a number of DDR3 and DDR2 kits running at a variety of different clock speeds and latency timings.
The kit we looked at is a modest 2GB (2x1GB stick) which runs at a less-modest 1600MHz; default latency timings set to 9-9-9-27. This kit sells for around R280, which is really only about R30 less than a regular 2GB DDR3 HyperX kit running at basically the same specs. A similarly specced 4GB (2x2GB) HyperX Blue kit goes for about R500, and is a far more advisable purchase for a desktop machine.
The HyperX Blue kits feature a minimalist heat-sink design, which feels natural for the product range. Installation is standard, and as advertised, our review kits ran stable at 1600MHz with 9-9-9-27 latency timings. With a slight voltage increase I was even able to overclock the kit all the way up to around the 2000Mhz mark before experiencing any issues – an impressive feat for budget RAM.
The HyperX Blu kit performed admirably in a number of RAM centric benchmarks. At default speeds, SiSoft Sandra‘s cache and memory test reported 61.54 GB/s memory bandwidth, which is on par with other similarly specced HyperX RAM. At 2000MHz this figure was pushed up to 69.8 GB/s.
While this looks great on paper, we were unable to reflect any noticable performance differences in games or resource heavy applications when switching between our test-bed’s default Mushkin DDR3 1600MHz RAM. This not a bad thing, as the Muskin kit is significantly more expensive GB-for-GB than the HyperX Blu kit.
Overall, Kingston’s HyperX Blu range delivers what it set out to – high-end performance and a low-end price tag. While the Blu range offers similar specs and performance to the standard HyperX kits you will see floating around locally, they are slightly cheaper. While a regular 4GB DDR3 1600MHz HyperX kit sells for around R650, an equivalent “Blu” branded kit can be had for around R500 – and there is no noticeable performance difference between the two.
Then of course there is the overclocking potential, which will vary between individual kits, but if you’re lucky you could wind up with a bargain – 4GB 2000MHz DDR3 RAM kit for R500.
Pros
– Cheap
– Great specifications
– Solid performance
– Overclocks to 2000MHz
Cons
– None
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