Corsair Dominator ROG 3200C16 Review
Category : DDR4
Published by Marc Büchel on 14.12.16
With their Dominator ROG modules Corsair has some of the best looking DRAM modules on the market. The customer receives a red illumination, which in combination with the red anodized heatspreader, looks really great. Apart from that the specs are interesting as well and DDR4-3200 should definitely pack some punch.
| Manufacturer | Corsair |
| Series | Dominator DDR4 ROG |
| Part Number | CMD16GX4M4B3200C16-ROG |
| Type | DDR4 |
| Capacity | 16 GB (4 x 4GB) |
| Frequency | 3200 MHz |
| Timings | 16-18-18-36 |
| VDIMM | 1.35 Volt |
| Registred/Unbuffered | Unbuffered |
| ECC | No |
| Cooling | Passive Heatspreader |
| Waranty | Lifetime warranty |
| Package Type | Boxed |
With the Dominator DDR4-3200C16 ROG DDR4 kit, Corsair has memory modules in its portfolio, which serve the high-end market. A more detailed look at the specifications shows, that Corsair was cautious in choosing the frequency as well as the timings. The Samsung B-Die chips on these modules are set to run at CL16-18-18-36. If you keep in mind, that other memory makers drive these chips at lower latencies and higher frequencies it's understandable why we're saying Corsair is being cautious.
Closer Look
The new Dominator modules from Corsair are being shipped in its own cardboard box. Apart from that they have been enclosed in blister packaging.
The Heatspeaders of the new Dominators ROG have a finish that's kept in a blend of red and balck, which - apparently - makes them perfrectly suitable for ROG themed builds. The heatspreaders on these modules have been very nicely made, consisting of solid aluminum, a good layer of thermal padding and red illumination.
Taking the heatspeaders off Corsairs Dominator series is not something we would recommend doing at home due to strong adhesive that requires a very careful approach. Once the heatspreaders have been removed we see that Corsair is putting B-Die chips from Samsung on these modules. These chips are pretty commong these days, especially with 4GB modules.
Photo Gallery
Test Setup
In order to thoroughly test memory as well as memory kits, we're making use of Intels Haswell-E platform in combination with a highly binned Core i7-5960X CPU. This allows use to drive memory at highest possible frequencies and therefore do proper scaling tests. Different memory chips (ICs) have different sweet spots in the case of primary timings, which is why we're altering CAS latency, tRCD, tRP as well as tRAS. Overall we build five different presets, which - as explained - can be different from IC to IC used on a memory module. Other than that we're also changing DRAM voltages, wheras we're setting 1.20V, 1.35V and 1.50V. There are actually reasons why we're using these voltages. 1.20V is the standard voltage for DDR4 memory. 1.35V on DDR4 is used in case of slight overclocking and with 1.50V you can push the module by quite a bit. Last but not least it remains to be explained how we find out whether a certain setting is stable or not. For that purpose we're running HyperPi.| Motherboard | ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-5960X |
| Graphic card | ASUS GTX 580 |
| Memory | CMK16GX4M4A3200C16PK |
| SSD | Samsung 845DC EVO 960GB |
| PSU | Seasonic Platinum 660 Watts |
| OS | Windows 7, 64 bit SP1 |
CAS latency 12 / 12-14-14-35
We start to test these modules with tight CAS latency, which in this case is CL12. Setting the memory voltage at 1.20V in the BIOS HyperPi passed at 2'200 MHz. Feeding higher voltage (1.35V) to the memory, makes the frequency scale to 2'500 MHz. Driving the memory at 1.50V allowed HyperPi to pass at 3'00 MHz.
CAS latency 13 / 13-14-14-35
When running CL13 we went through the same procedure like with CL12. Setting the memory voltage at 1.20V in the BIOS HyperPi passed at 2'666 MHz. Feeding higher voltage (1.35V) to the memory, makes the frequency scale to 3200 MHz. Driving the memory at 1.50V allowed HyperPi to pass at 3200 MHz.
CAS latency 14 / 14-15-15-35
When running CL14 we - again - went through the same procedure like with CL13. Setting the memory voltage at 1.20V in the BIOS HyperPi passed at 2666 MHz. Feeding higher voltage (1.35V) to the memory, makes the frequency scale to 3200 MHz. Driving the memory at 1.50V allowed HyperPi to pass at 3'400 MHz.
CAS latency 15 / 16-18-18-36
When running CL15 we went through the same procedure like with CL14. Setting the memory voltage at 1.20V in the BIOS HyperPi passed at 2'800 MHz. Feeding higher voltage (1.35V) to the memory, makes the frequency scale to 3'200 MHz. Driving the memory at 1.50V allowed HyperPi to pass at 3'466 MHz.
CAS latency 16 / 16-18-18-35
When running CL16 we went through the same procedure like with CL15. Setting the memory voltage at 1.20V in the BIOS HyperPi passed at 2'933 MHz. Feeding higher voltage (1.35V) to the memory, makes the frequency scale to 3'200 MHz. Driving the memory at 1.50V allowed HyperPi to pass at 3'200 MHz.
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| Overall it can be said, that the Corsair Dominator DDR4 ROG-3200C16 16 Gigabyte memory kit does what Corsair claims they do and therefore they clear specs without an issue. Apart from that the Dominator kits do have a reputation for being beautiful and this ROG themed kits is not an exception. Nevertheless CL16-18-18-36 at DDR4-3200 is a rather conservative latency set. The maximum frequency this kit could easily cope with was DDR4-3466 at CL15. In this case we had to run it with 1.5V. | - Compatibility with big coolers | ||
| Scaling | + | - | |
| The only latency set with which we've noticed linear scaling was CL15. If we look at CL12, CL13, CL14 as well as CL16 we always see a degression when setting 1.5 volt. This means, that at 1.5 Volt you can drive these sticks close to their maximum frequency. | - Scaling CL15 | ||
| Overclocking | + | - | |
| Using the Rampage V Extreme and our specific memory testing CPU, which has a good IMC, reaching 3.2GHz on the memory was actually easy. Unfortunately the journey stops quite soon at 3466 MHz. In this case we have to feed these sticks with 1.5 volt and it's running with the stock latency set. |
- 3.4+ GHz |
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| Recommendation / Price | + | - | |
| Checking Geizhals.at for prices we find the Corsair Dominator DDR4 ROG-3200C16 16 Gigabyte kit listed for 350 Euro. Corsair is therefore continuing with their pricing scheme and these Dominator modules are definitely no bargain. We would honeslty like to find these modules for less then 300 Euro. Considering that other manufacturers are offering DDR4 memory kits with tighter latency for a lower price these modules are facing tough competition. | - Price | ||
| Rating | |||
| The Corsair Dominator DDR4 ROG-3200C16 receives good 4 out of 5 stars. | |||
