G.Skill Flare Series AMD Optimized DDR3 Dual Channel Memory Unboxing & First Look LInus Tech Tips
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2011-05-08
·
997 words · ~4 min read
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This is a bit of a first for me. This is the first AMD specific memory kit that I
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have unboxed. I was kind of interested in it because this is a new heat
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spreader design for GSkill. So, I wanted to have a look as well as I wanted to
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talk a little bit about what this means. So, it says designed for AMD Phenom 2X6
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CPU. That does not mean that that's the only chip that it works with. This
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compatible motherboard list, while handy and convenient and includes some pretty
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darn good boards like the 890 FXA GD70,
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is not comprehensive. So, this memory kit is a
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DDR3800 MHz kit. It runs at 1.65 volts
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CL9 latency and it is a 4 gig kit, so
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it'll be pretty much compatible with any board out there. But what GSkill is
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saying is that it is specifically validated for these CPUs and these
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motherboards. So, if you're going to go with a combination of a Phenom 2x6 and
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any one of these boards, you buy this RAM, you know, it's going to run 100%
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out of the box and it's going to be effortless. So, that is what they're
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trying to say. So, let's get it opened up and have a look at their Flare series
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heat spreader. I believe that's what it's called. Ooh, don't quote me yet.
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Yes, Flare series heat spreader. So, first of all, it comes with a G-Skill
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RAM fan. And this isn't the one that I've seen in the past. This is a little
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bit different. It's not quite as robust as the one that I unboxed in the past,
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but it's going to get the job done. I can tell that right off the bat. You've
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got two 40mm fans. They appear to be LED
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fans, although I don't know what color they are right now. I actually didn't know there was going to be a RAM fan
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inside here, so I I apologize for not having a power source handy, but they've
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got little uh little foam clips here.
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So, it's going to clip Actually, here I can install it on a No, I can't install it on a motherboard. Sorry. So, it's got
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little foam clips here. It's going to sit right over the RAM clips on the ends. We got one uh yeah, only one power
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connector that powers both fans. It runs off a four pin Molex.
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And I wish I knew what color LEDs they were. Let me see if it says something on
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the back. They're young lint
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fans. Yeah, sorry about that. Okay. Well, moving on. Let's have a look at
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the Flare series memory module. So, these are a high performance module.
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They're running at higher than what what I would consider standard speeds like
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1333 MHz, 1600 MHz. So, while the
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latencies aren't particularly impressive, wow, the heat spreader is.
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And the speed is also a little bit higher than what I would consider
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normal. So, the Flare series heat spreader. This looks terrific. Here is
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your serial number sticker. Don't remove that or you will void your warranty.
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This is also a good reminder if you're ever trying to tune in your memory. I did a guide on that a little while back
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as well. This is where all of the settings that you need to set in the BIOS are. So, let's have a look. So, the
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Flare series memory module heat spreaders are kind of a a I can tell
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right now they're made of aluminum. Okay, they are a dual colored heat
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spreader. You're not getting like a brush finish, but you can tell,
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especially the red, has a beautiful anodized finish. It actually has a
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little bit of a a sparkle to it when you catch it just right in the light. I
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don't know if the camera really uh can catch all of that, but it really looks
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striking in the light. The black is more of a matte finish because when it's
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installed in your system, you're going to want to draw more attention to the
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red than really the black. So, the black is more like the background for the the
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flare that's popping out of the middle. It has kind of a flame shape to each one
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of the uh to each one of these I don't know what to call them,
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but each one of these protrusions from the heat spreader. And the red ones in
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particular are more of a it's really hard to get a good angle on it, but you
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can see the black ones are more wide and short, whereas the red ones really do
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look more like a flame spurt. They're narrower and they're a little bit
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longer. There you can kind of see from that angle. So, it's a standard DDR3
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module and that it'll fit in just about any slot. You want to watch out for your
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height. These are approximately double height modules with with the heat
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spreaders on them. So, if you have a CPU cooler like this one here, uh you might
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actually run into a wee spot of trouble if you're trying to install one of these
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modules directly under the cooler. You can see that there's definitely not
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enough clearance for that. Whereas, if you're putting it in the next over slot
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and then the furthest one away, you would probably be fine. So, thank you
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for checking out my unboxing and first look at the G-Skill Flare series modules
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as well as their new RAM fan. And thank you for checking out my video blog.
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