INTRODUCTION

   As far back as i can remember RAM was one of the 4 most important "ingredients" when building a brand new PC system right alongside the CPU, mainboard and the graphics card. This to date hasn't change but even though just 5 years ago most consumers thought that having 8GB in their systems was more than enough (some even went as far as to consider it overkill) today even 16GB is not quite enough for many applications, gaming included. Granted 16GB RAM kits are still extremely popular and are found in the majority of the current generation gaming systems today (our previous primary test rig also has that amount of RAM installed) but 32GB and above are what most professionals and enthusiasts aim for currently. Well since we finished building our test rig a while back, we decided to gather several DDR4 quad kits to test starting with the Dominator Platinum RGB 32GB 3200MHZ CL14 (4x8GB) kit by CORSAIR.

   Founded in 1994, CORSAIR has grown from pioneering the high-performance DRAM market into one of the world’s leading providers of high-performance PC peripherals and components. CORSAIR offers a complete range of products to equip gamers, enthusiasts and e-sports athletes, including mechanical keyboards, precision gaming mice, wireless headsets, high-performance components that gamers use to build gaming PCs, and the CORSAIR ONE fully-integrated gaming PC. With a company-wide commitment to quality, innovative design, advanced features and high performance, CORSAIR products have won thousands of media and industry awards, earning their place in gamers’ hands and PCs following years of development and engineering by a team dedicated to building great products they themselves would want to use.

   The Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 RAM kit is Intel XMP 2.0 certified and is currently available in 16/32GB dual-channel and 32/64/128GB quad-channel kits with frequencies all the way up to 4800MHZ and timings as low as CL14 (3000MHZ CL15, 3200MHZ CL14/CL16, 3600MHZ CL16/CL18, 4266MHZ CL19 and 4800MHZ CL18). These high frequencies coupled with the low timings are achieved largely thanks to the 8GB B-Die Samsung memory chips CORSAIR chose to use and of course the innovative design of the modules themselves (10-layer PCB / anodized aluminum heat spreader with Dual-Path DHX cooling technology). The 12 individually addressable CAPELLIX RGB LEDs (first unveiled in this year's CES according to CORSAIR these are not only 60% brighter compared to regular SMD LEDs but they also use 40% less power) located at the top of the anodized aluminum housing can be controlled via CORSAIR's iCUE software (17 lighting effects / lighting speed and direction). Last but certainly not least the Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 RAM kits are covered by a limited lifetime warranty (for complete peace of mind as CORSAIR puts it).