1. Introduction2. G.Skill Sniper DDR3 8GB 1600mhz 1.25v3. Testing Methodology, setup and overclocking4. KitGuru Photoshop Benchmark5. AIDA 646. SiSoft Sandra7. 3DStudio Max 20118. MaxxMem9. Closing Thoughts10. View All Pages

Recently G.Skill announced their latest Sniper memory which is designed specifically for PC gamers and system modders. They have underwent extensive compatibility tests to ensure high performance operation on a variety of Intel and AMD platforms.

This new Sniper series is a new ultra low voltage design which runs at 1.25v, saving power over the course of a year, while reducing emitted heat.

We are looking today at the 8GB kit (2x4GB) which is sure to on the shortlist of many enthusiast gamers looking for an upgrade.

Our kit on review today is the last in this list, available in 8GB/12GB/16GB and 24GB capacities. The timings are set at 9-9-9-24 @ 1.25volts.

The G.Skill Sniper memory arrives in a simple blister pack which offers reasonable shipping protection.

The memory is nicely finished in an army style black heatspreader which is only marginally larger than the PCB itself. This means no fitting problems underneath a heavy duty CPU cooler such as the Noctua NH D14.

A simple colour scheme but one that works well. The reverse side has the specifications sticker showing the model name and timings as well as voltage.

The memory is formed around a black PCB design which looks great.

Today we are using a new motherboard from Asus, the P8P67 Deluxe.

We used the performance setting in the bios which automatically configures the components for a reasonable overclock without increasing the voltages too much.

The system overclocked the Core i7 2600k to 4,386mhz and correctly set up the memory at 1.25volts @ 1600mhz (1632mhz in this case).

System validation is available over here.

We weren't expecting to get much from the memory in regards to overclocking, due to the low voltage nature, but we managed to push the configuration to 1700mhz with a bios setting of 1.3v. The timings were maintained at 9-9-9-24. Any higher than this wasn't stable so we decided to limit testing to these settings.

System validation for the overclocked settings is available here.

At this speed, the CPU speed was increased to 4573.76 MHz.

Test System:
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600k @ 4,388mhz and 4,573 mhz
Motherboard: Asus P8P67 Deluxe
Cooler: Thermaltake Frio OCK
Chassis: Thermaltake Level 10 GT
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Graphics: AMD HD6850
Hard Drives: Intel 128GB SSD (Boot), Samsung 2TB (storage), Crucial 128GB SSD.

Comparison memory: No Brand DDR3 1333mhz 4GB 9-9-9-24

Software:
SiSoft Sandra
Adobe Photoshop CS5 64 bit
3D Studio Max 2011
Aida 64 Extreme Edition
MaxMemm

This version of the script has been thoroughly tested on Adobe Photoshop CS5 and CS4 and is compatible with Photoshop 7. It is important to document however that different versions of Photoshop give different end results. Adobe have been fine tuning the program over the years and enhancing specific filters and algorithms for better performance (some filters were rewritten during the CS2 time period). This means ultimately that comparing times with users running other versions of Photoshop is not going to give consistent results.

All results were gained from Adobe Photoshop CS5 64bit exe on Windows 7 64 bit ultimate and are marked in seconds. Lower times are better.

KitGuru PS Bench 1(4)	Standard 1333mhz 9-9-9-24	G.Skill 1600mhz 9-9-9-24
1. Texturiser (1)	1.8	1.7
2. CMYK	1.9	1.9
3. RGB	1.8	1.8
4. Ink outlines	27.1	27.0
5. Dust & Stratches	2.9	2.7
6. Watercolor	25.6	25.4
7. Texturiser (2)	1.8	1.7
8. Stained Glass	18.9	18.8
9. Mosiac Tiles	12.3	12.1
10. Extrude	154.2	153.8
11. Rough Pastels	10.8	10.7
12. Smart Blur	88.2	88.1
13. Underpainting	31.4	31.3
14. Mosiac Tiles	11.8	11.7
15. Spherize	2.2	2.2
16. Palette Knife	18.7	18.6
17. Sponge	36.5	36.4
18. Smudge Stick	11.3	11.2
Total:	459.2	457.1

We didn't include the 1700mhz results in this test as the CPU overclock will have a huge effect on the results, negating the memory changes. What we can ascertain however is that the memory speed has a small effect on the final result, reducing the script time by a couple of seconds overall.

AIDA64 Extreme Edition is a streamlined Windows diagnostic and benchmarking software for home users. AIDA64 Extreme Edition provides a wide range of features to assist in overclocking, hardware error diagnosis, stress testing, and sensor monitoring. It has unique capabilities to assess the performance of the processor, system memory, and disk drives. AIDA64 is compatible with all current 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems, including Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Performance increases are really healthy when moving from 1333mhz to the higher settings on the Sandybridge platform.

SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) you need to know about your hardware, software and other devices whether hardware or software.

Sandra is a (girl) name of Greek origin that means “defender”, “helper of mankind”. We think that’s quite fitting.

It works along the lines of other Windows utilities, however it tries to go beyond them and show you more of what’s really going on. Giving the user the ability to draw comparisons at both a high and low-level. You can get information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, PCI, PCI-X, PCIe (PCI Express), database, USB, USB2, 1394/Firewire, etc.

Native ports for all major operating systems are available:

• Windows XP, 2003/R2, Vista, 7, 2008/R2 (x86)
• Windows XP, 2003/R2, Vista, 7, 2008/R2 (x64)
• Windows 2003/R2, 2008/R2* (IA64)
• Windows Mobile 5.x (ARM CE 5.01)
• Windows Mobile 6.x (ARM CE 5.02)

All major technologies are supported and taken advantage of:

• SMP – Multi-Processor
• MC – Multi-Core
• SMT/HT – Hyper-Threading
• MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE 4.1, SSE 4.2, AVX, FMA – Multi-Media instructions
• GPGPU, DirectX, OpenGL – Graphics
• NUMA – Non-Uniform Memory Access
• AMD64/EM64T/x64 – 64-bit extensions to x86
• IA64 – Intel* Itanium 64-bit

Memory bandwidth scaling is solid, from 21GB/s at 1333mhz to 22GB/s at 1600mhz. Our overclocked settings at 1700mhz score 23GB/s which is a very good result indeed.

V2011 is the first release of 3DStudio Max to fully support the Windows 7 operating system. This is a professional level tool that many people use for work purposes and our test will show any possible differences between board design today.

Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2011 software offers compelling new techniques to help bring designs to life by aggregating data, iterating ideas, and presenting the results.

Streamlined, more intelligent data exchange workflows and innovative new modeling and visualization tools help significantly increase designers’ creativity and productivity, enabling them to better explore, validate, and communicate the stories behind their designs.

Major new features:

• Slate: A node based material editor.
• Quicksilver: Hardware renderer with multithreaded rendering engine that utilizes both CPU and GPU.
• Extended Graphite Modeling Toolset
• 3ds Max Composite: A HDRI-capable compositor based on Autodesk Toxik.
• Viewport Canvas toolset for 3D and 2D texture painting directly in the viewport
• Object Painting: use 3D geometry as ‘brushes’ on other geometry
• Character Animation Toolkit (CAT): now integrated as part of the base package
• Autodesk Material Library: Over 1200 new photometrically accurate shaders
• Additional file format support: includes native support for Sketchup, Inventor
• FBX file linking
• Save to Previous Release (2010)

We render a KitGuru custom created scene at 1920×1080 and record the time taken, lower is better.

By increasing the memory bandwidth and efficiency the time taken to complete the render is reduced by over a second.

MaxxMem2 PreView is a handy, free program to rate memory performance. It can be downloaded over here

Solid results and noticeable improvements when compared against the reference clocked 1333mhz memory.

The ultra low voltage G.Skill Sniper DDR3 memory has proven to be a great performer with our Asus based Sandybridge system, even showing some overclocking headroom to 1700mhz with only 1.3 volts. If you want to ‘go green' but aren't willing to compromise on performance then this is a good option to shortlist.

Obviously, many people reading this won't care about saving a few pounds a year on their electric bill but will value the reduced power demand and heat output, especially with quieter cases and weaker airflow systems. In this instance we recorded a 3c temperature drop from a diode when compared against other 1.65v memory running at the same settings. Whether this translates into any gains real world will depend on your specific system and requirements. It certainly won't hurt anyway.

On another positive note this memory is surprisingly compatible, we tested it in a variety of other motherboards, including AMD solutions. Often it just needed a motherboard bios update for the voltage to be correctly identified without a problem. The final overclock wasn't fantastic, but to be fair with 4GB density modules, it becomes slightly more difficult to push them further.

Right now we don't have a confirmed pricing for the UK market, but it is estimated at £85 inc vat which means it is a fantastic purchase. In the coming months we expect to see new revisions of this memory that will overclock higher with minor voltage adjustments.

Pros:

• great pricing
• good heatspreaders
• works with oversized CPU coolers
• excellent performance
• reduced power demand

Cons:

• overclocking capabilities are limited

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