Kingston HyperX Predator RGB DDR4-2933 Review

We heard about Kingston’s new HyperX Predator RGB line of DDR4 at CES 2018 and now thanks to Kingston we have a 4 x 8 GB, a quad-channel set of DDR4-2933 MHz RAM to put through the paces today. What makes this memory unique is an industry-first, Infrared Sync technology to keep your RAM modules synchronized with each other regardless of the system. Paired with an aggressive heatsink design, we have one sharp looking set of DDR4 which easily fits into any system build. Let’s get a closer look at what HyperX has served up for us.

Specifications and Features

The HyperX Predator RGB series is manufactured in Taiwan and the memory carries a lifetime warranty. Looking at the speed and timings of this set of RAM, I initially expected to find Hynix ICs under the heatsinks and according to software and testing, that’s exactly what I found as we’ll see below the specifications table. Kingston’s Predator series DDR4 is available in 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB modules ranging in speed from 2400 MHz up to 3600 MHz but at this time it appears the RGB is only available at 2933 MHz in 2 X 8 GB and 4 x 8 GB sets.

The specifications and features below come directly from the HyperX Gaming website.

Below you can read more detailed specifications of the HyperX Predator RGB memory kit in the AIDA64 and Thaiphoon Burner screenshots. Thaiphoon Burner software is great for analyzing details about RAM such as XMP and JEDEC profiles as well as manufacturing information. Additionally, memory profiles can be created or edited in this software. We can see this kit is built with Hynix MFR ICs, it’s single-sided with eight 1 GB ICs per module. Kingston has included two XMP profiles on this set of DDR4. The first profile is 2933 MHz Cl15-17-17-39 @ 1.35 V and the second which Thaiphoon Burner denotes as “Extreme” is a bit slower at 2666 MHz CL15-17-17-36 @ 1.35 V. The JEDEC standard which this kit boots at initially is 2400 MHz CL17-17-17-39 @ 1.2 V.

AIDA64 and Thaiphoon Burner Info

AIDA64 Details

Thaiphoon Burner Info

Here are some of the features that HyperX Gaming highlights on their website.

Kingston HyperX Predator RGB DDR4-2933 Features
	Dynamic RGB effects featuring HyperX Infrared Sync technology Predator DDR4 gives your system a boost of stunning style you can customize with motherboard RGB software, and you can keep it all in sync, thanks to HyperX’s Infrared Sync technology.
	Edgy, aggressive styling Give your rig a touch of style and speed thanks to Predator DDR4’s edgy black heat spreader and PCB.
	Intel XMP-ready and certified profiles XMP-ready profiles designed for Intel’s latest chipsets
	High speeds matched with low latencies to deliver extreme DDR4 performance HyperX Predator DDR4 is thoroughly tested and designed to complement the latest Intel and AMD platforms to provide faster gaming, video editing, rendering, and better performance.

Packaging

The packaging of the HyperX predator RGB is simple and effective. It is a cardboard shell that sports a flip-up top with a clear window on the front showing off one of the Predator RGB Ram modules. You’ll also see some information about the RAM series, speed and kit size in GB. On the rear of the box is a plastic tab for hanging the memory on a rack in a brick and mortar store. Kinston mentions their free technical support and they include a hyperlink for RMA service. The last bit of information here is a barcode sticker showing the kit size, speed and CAS latency. After cutting the tamper-proof seals on the sides of the cardboard packaging we’re able to lift the lid and remove the blister packs which keeps the RAM sticks securely in their place during transportation. Each pack contains two modules and one includes a case badge and small leaflet pertaining to warranty and installation.

The HyperX Predator RGB

As seen below, the modules are sporting black heat spreaders on black PCBs giving them a very distinctive appearance and a profile reminiscent of a city skyline when lit. The top has a translucent plastic insert which allows the LED RGB to shine through and includes the black HyperX logo. You’ll also see the HyperX logo in silver emblazoned on the front of each Module.

Below is a picture showing the label on the RAM. It shows the part number, recommended voltage and also states the warranty is void if the sticker is removed.

Kingston HyperX Predator RGB DDR4 Ram Label

IR Sync and RGB LED Control

The HyperX Predator RGB line is the first customizable RGB LED memory kit in the industry which features IR Technology. Each module has its own infrared controller which synchronizes to the module next to it keeping the sticks in sync with one another during operation. Even on motherboards without their own controller or software, the Predator RGB stays in sync. One note to make here, the IR technology has a limited range of 18 mm and I did notice that on reboots the pairs on either side of the CPU can get out of sync but a system power down and restart did appear to remedy this.

Kingston does not offer its own software but the HyperX Predator RGB line is compatible with popular RGB control software such as ASUS AURA Sync, Gigabyte’s RGB Fusion and MSI’s Mystic Light which is the one I tested below. As you can see the software does recognize the HyperX Predator, and also gives you control over the RGB operation either in sync with the motherboard or the RAM separately offering many lighting possibilities.

HyperX Predator RGB in Action

Testing and Benchmarks

Listed below is the test system used for benchmarking. You’ll also see all speeds tested during this review. The first two listed are the two XMP profiles included with this kit, the second set are the overclocked settings which were also tested with ADIA64 for stability.

Overclocking

Overclocking is never guaranteed, so the presented results may vary from results on other memory kits. I am not recommending overclocking if you do not know what are you doing. High voltages may damage hardware and it will not be covered by warranty. Any increased voltages used below are within tolerance but are out of the specifications for this RAM kit.

Since we only have the one quad-channel kit and no other results to compare to, all results include the overclocked settings.

Here’s a brief rundown of the two overclocked profiles. At 3400 MHz only the main timings and speed were modified, all other timings were left on auto. During testing, it was found that a slight increase in DRAM voltage up to 1.4 V was required to maintain stability. The 3600 MHz setting used manually adjusted sub-timings to offset the higher main timings of CL18-20. This took some time and effort as well as an additional voltage adjustment up to 1.45 V which you will see, in the following results, was well worth the effort. Directly below I’m including the AIDA64 Cache and Memory benchmark results for comparison.

XMP1: 2933 MHz CL15-17-17-39 1.35 V	XMP2: 2666 MHz CL15-17-17-36 1.35 V
3400 MHz CL16-18-18-38 1.4 V	3600 MHz CL18-20-20-39 1.45 V

Testing Stability at XMP Settings

Stability at XMP settings was tested using AIDA64 diagnostic software and also later during the benchmarks. The HyperX Predator RGB kit was tested stable at XMP settings.

Below is a screenshot from AIDA64 stability test after nearly six hours of full load:

AIDA64 Stability test @ 2933 MHz CL15

Below is a screenshot of the HyperX Predator RGB at 3600 MHz after one hour of the AIDA64 stability test:

AIDA64 Stability @ 3600 MHz CL18

Since the memory is now proven stable through AIDA let’s look at the performance testing and comparisons.

Synthetic Memory Benchmarks

The first synthetic benchmark is AIDA64, specifically the Cache and Memory Benchmark. Here we see the two overclocked settings have an advantage through the AIDA64 Memory tests even though the timings are relaxed the increased speed improves the bandwidth and latency.

AIDA64 Cache and Memory Benchmark

Up next in the synthetic benchmark suite is 7Zip. This is more of a real-world benchmark which gauges the speed of compressing and decompressing files. As you can see below the added speed helped a bit with compression giving their overall scores a slight advantage but the decompression was relatively static across all settings.

7Zip Benchmark

Up next we ran Pifast and HyperPi with the four RAM settings. Pifast is more sensitive to CPU speed than RAM which shows in the nearly identical results. HyperPi, on the other hand, responds very well to memory speed and timings pushing the 3600 MHz setting into the lead. Keep in mind, with these two tests lower scores are better.

Pifast and HyperPi 32M

To finish off the CPU-based benchmarks, we have a collection of them: The Cinebench R15 and R11.5 are rendering benchmarks and as you can see from the results RAM has a limited effect on the overall scores leaving all of them within one percent of each other. Intel’s XTU benchmark, which is based on Prime95, responds well to memory settings preferring tighter sub-timings. The 2666 MHz XMP and the hand-tuned 3600 MHz overclocked speeds both have this trait and it shows in the results. The last benchmark here is Windows own, Winsat memory test which is run from the command line. This test measures only bandwidth which gives the higher speeds the obvious advantage.

Cinebench R11.5, Cinebench R15, Intel XTU and Winsat

To wrap up the synthetic benchmark portion, we have included some 3D benchmarks using 3DMark Firestrike and Firestrike Ultra. In these benchmarks, you’ll see that the RAM speed plays a very small role in the overall results. In Firestrike @ 1920 x 1080p we see a 2.5% gain at 3600 MHz over XMP1 and in the highest resolution of 4K, the variation in results was about one percent.

3DMark Firestrike and Firestrike Ultra

HyperX Predator and AM4 Compatibility

Just for curiosity, the HyperX Predator RGB was also tested on an MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC for compatibility with AM4 systems. The RAM was tested with XMP1 @ 2933 CL15 and also tested at 3200 MHz CL16 with the stock voltage of 1.35 V. All four modules were used, which can be quite difficult on AM4 systems and is very dependant on the memory being compatible with the system. This wasn’t thorough testing but both settings ran the AIDA64 stability test set to memory and cache only for 30 minutes each which to me is a good indicator that it’ll run just fine on AMD systems. Here are the AIDA64 Cache and memory benchmark shots from both tested speeds and the stability test screenshot at 3200 MHz after 30 minutes of run time.

AIDA64 Cache and Memory Benchmark @ 2933 MHz on AMD	AIDA64 Cache and Memory Benchmark @ 3200 MHz on AMD
AIDA64 Stability Test @ 3200 MHz on AMD

Conclusion

Overall the Kingston HyperX Predator did well across all tested speeds, even the XMP2 @ 2666 MHz did very well in all but the bandwidth tests. Overclocking went well pushing it up from DDR4-2933 to DDR4-3600 with looser than stock timings and only slightly over stock voltage but it did show decent gains in ram intensive tasks as well as bandwidth. If you don’t have the patience for overclocking RAM then you won’t be leaving a lot of performance on the table by using either one of the XMP profiles supplied by Kingston.

The new Predator RGB DRAM with the included IR sync technology will keep your modules in sync on motherboards that don’t have any type of RGB control system leaving them to slowly flow from one color to the next. They’re also compatible with most of the popular control software available to date, combined with a compatible motherboard, this puts you in complete control of a multitude of colors and patterns. Pairing RGB LEDs with their aggressive heatsink styling gives the HyperX Predator RGB a very distinctive look.

This RAM also has a wide range of compatibility between AMD and Intel systems running well on both of them from my testing. It was also quite simple getting the HyperX Predator up to 3200 MHz on the X470 motherboard and running stable at stock voltage on all four modules. Anyone familiar with AM4 systems knows that this platform can be quite finicky about Hynix IC, doubly so when using four DIMMs.

As for pricing, the Predator RGB can be found for $513.00 at HyperX Gaming and I also found it at Newegg.com for $599 but that was through an international reseller which may account for the high price. It appears that at this time there is limited availability in the U.S. Bold styling, great looking RGB LED, compatibility between AMD and Intel and a lifetime warranty makes the HyperX Predator RGB a very attractive option for any system builder. Overclockers Approved!

Click the stamp for an explanation of what this means.

Shawn Jennings – Johan45

Kingston HyperX Predator RGB DDR4-2933 Review is a post from: Overclockers - The Performance Computing Community