Our last encounter with a Kingston product was when we received the quad-channel HyperX Predator memory kits and those sticks sure roll down the performance road like a semi freight carrier with authority! But that's the quad-channel side of the story and since many people can't really afford or lets say utilize the X99 chipset's immense potential buying the Predator for them is out of option, so for the Z170 lovers Kingston rolled out the Savage dual-channel kits that guarantee near identical performance like it elder cousin the Predator.
The kit we received is a 3000Mhz model model no HX430C15SBK2/16 and comes with two XMP 2.0 profiles of 2666Mhz and 3000Mhz both at 1.35v and at timings of 14-14-14-36 and 15-16-16-39 respectively. All of this is accompanied by the famous life time warranty from Kingston, though one rarely needs to claim it!
Packing and Closer Look
The HyperX Savage comes in a traditional cardboard box with a see through cutting. The HyperX logo looks great on the black and rust backdrop and all in all the entire packing looks beautiful.
Two memory kits rest securely in a clear clamp shell packing and comes with a warranty and installation guide, a HyperX Gaming decal is also included for showing off on your rig!
These are low profile RAMs and this is evident from the asymmetric yet short heat spreader design for maximum compatibility even with bulky air cooler, though liquid cooler users wouldn't be mindful of memory height. For comparison we have the HyperX Fury which is similarly designed but less edgy and wild of-course!
Its a beautifully designed memory with an all black aluminum heat spreader embellished by a laser cut HyperX logo on the front and a sticker with vital details such as part number, rated voltage etc at the back. I did find the bland Savage DDR4 marking out of place on the front since its simple paint unlike the embossed metal sticker of HyperX along side. This kind of disrupts the entire symmetry of the look.
The memory is downright awesome when it comes to overall design & looks. The above picture speaks for itself so not much talking is needed.
Test Setup and Benchmarks
Since the HyperX Savage is a dual-channel memory it is supposed to work on Z170 board but will also work on a quad-channel X99 board though the reverse of this is rarely possible! So I hooked up the memory kit to the following configuration -CPU: Intel Core i7 5930K 3.5Ghz hexacore processor OC at 4.1Ghz
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1 Gaming X99-Gaming 5P
RAM: Kingston HyperX Savage 16GB DDR4 (2x8) 3000Mhz Memory Kit
Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 240mm Liquid Cooler
Graphics Card: Gainward Phantom GLH GeForce GTX 960 2GB DDR5
Storage: Corsair Neutron GTX 480GB SSD
Power Supply: Corsair AX860i 860W 80+ Platinum
OS: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
BIOS: F1
GPU Driver: NVIDIA ForceWare 355.60
Kingston has been the very few memory manufacturer's who's memory work for me in the first go itself be it a DDR3 or a DDR4 and the HyperX Savage was no different. Installation was quick and the system booted up without a single hick-up at default 2133Mhz. Upon entering the BIOS and enabling the XMP Profile #2 our system swiftly managed a boot up at 2666Mhz at rated timings and voltage.
Next step was to enable the XMP Profile #1 which brings the Savage to its full potential of 3000Mhz at 1.35v and 15-16-16-39 timings. A thing worth mentioning over here is that if you plan to use this kit at 3000Mhz on a X99 platform the BCLK will raise to 125 from the default 100 just like in case of any 3000Mhz or above memory, this won't affect the performance but will add a slight overclock to your processor.
We had no issue whatsoever with both the profiles and even while running the benchmarks but the memory courtesy to the Hynix MFR nature proved to be stubborn overclocker and didn't budge any further from 3000Mhz no matter what voltage we supplied it. This is understandable since the HyperX Savage is identical to the RipJaw V in terms of Hynix chips used that imparts limited overclocking potential to both these kits.
AIDA64 Cache and Memory Benchmark
AIDA64 implements a set of 64-bit benchmarks to measure how fast the computer performs various data processing tasks and mathematical calculations. Memory and cache benchmarks are available to analyze system RAM bandwidth and latency.
7-zip
HyperX Savage 16GB 2666Mhz
HyperX Savage 16GB 3000Mhz
This suite allows you to measure the performance of your computer. The benchmark shows a rating in MIPS (million instructions per second). There are two tests, compression with LZMA method and decompression with LZMA method. Once the total passes reaches 100, the score is taken. Higher the score better is the computer's overall performance.
SuperPi Mod 1.5 1M and 32M
SuperPi is a simple program that utilizes the processing power and memory speed of the system to calculate the value of Pi upto 1 Million or 32 Million decimal point depending upon what you choose. The time is calculated in minutes and seconds so lower the score faster is your computer.
wPrime v2.10 32M and 1024M
wPrime is a leading multithreaded benchmark for x86 processors that tests your processor performance by calculating square roots with a recursive call of Newton’s method for estimating functions. It is influenced by memory timings and frequency.
Cinebench R15
CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s CPU performance. Cinebench is fairly sensitive to changes in memory frequency and timings.
Intel XTU
Intel XTU is a utility mainly used to overclock the processor and memory to benchmark the system for its stability and performance. The score obtained is a projection of the computer's true potential signifying its performance in real-life tasks.
My Verdict
When it comes to high speed memories that are as easy as a plug and play device then nothing beats Kingston hands down, and the Savage is yet another success story from the English manufacturer. With a high speed of 3000Mhz at CL15 right out of the box the kit does put up some impressive scores that are either in synch or ahead of the competition. And on the brighter side for those who don't have a motherboard right now up for a 3000Mhz kit the 2666Mhz CL14 XMP profile does the trick right making it not only a widely compatible memory but also an ideal choice for someone who is planning a system upgrade later on!
Looks wise there is nothing else like it with crossed vents and asymmetric design it looks more like a tribal dagger than a RAM stick doing full justice to its name but in all of this edgy design their is a sheen of elegance courtesy to the gun metal finish and black color complimented by the laser cut HyperX logo. Considering all this there is no way one can overlook or ignore this memory kit when building a system.On the downside the Savage 16GB 3000Mhz DDR4 comes at a price tag of $135 which is a bit higher than near similarly performing models. Also the limited overclocking potential might be a disappointed for some even though at 3000Mhz itself it performs brilliantly.
So the Kingston HyperX Savage is a kit meant for those who value reliability, solid-hassle free performance and elegant looks over price, willing to settle for nothing less but the very best.
I give it 8/10
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