Patriot Viper Xtreme Division 4

Patriot Viper Xtreme Division 4 16GB review

Cometh the boards, cometh the memory kits. The release of Intel's quad-channel enabling X79 motherboards may have left the simulated ring of cash registers reverberating in the ears of every RAM manufacturer, but it's the ideal time to enable such a high-end feature because DDR3 is so darned affordable right now. On top of that the sweet spot for quad-channel memory kits is healthy 16GB. Ker-ching. On paper, the Patriot kit appears to be excellent value. It has opted for a more average 1,600MHz bus speed, helping reduce latencies to the 8-9-8 timings; something it attempts to call 'low latency'. Though we'd prefer to call it 'perfectly normal latency' at this speed. This quad-channel kit looks suitably impressive, with chunky aluminium heat spreaders that stand 42mm high. These won't interfere with the standard Intel water cooler, but other coolers may struggle - it's worth checking. A touch of OC There's no doubting the heritage of the Division 4 memory – Division 4 is inherited from the dual-memory kits called Division 2. The hefty aluminium heat spreader certainly helps make you feel you're getting your money's worth, and does look the business when installed in dual-banks.As we've noted, the CAS 8 latency can be considered low for DDR3, but it's what we're now expecting for 1,600MHz memory.