- Performance comparison

In the table below you can find the results of the Sisoft Sandra given for each of the three PC3-12800 rated 2GBx3 kits. Obviously the higher numbers indicate a better performance at least for Memory Bandwidth and Cache&Memory Index.

Starting from the 1066MHz, we see that the Crucial PC3-12800 is the fastest solution, a lead also maintained at 1333MHz. At the 1600MHz and the 1866MHz, the faster memory module was the OCZ PC3-12800.

The highest performance came from the Crucial modules, reaching the 1896MHz (via overclocking).

- Summary

Today we had the chance to examine two new 6GB memory kits for Intel's X58 platform. The x64 bit operation system works better with more memory, so a 6GB fast kit is always a nice tool in the hand of enthusiasts.

The Crucial PC3-12800 proved to be a highly overclockable memory kit with very aggressive embedded timings. However, our test motherboard (Asus P6T Deluxe) could not automatically set the timings for the 800MHz, something we did manually. We would also like to see a better pricing for Crucial PC3-12800 DDR 3 kit, which is currently listed at $282 at Crucial's website.

The OCZ PC3-12800 kit comes certified for the Core i7 CPUs and standard specifications for the category. OCZ has paid attention to the design of the black aluminium heatspreads and besides the attractive appearance, they hopefully do their job efficiently. The kit lived up to its promises and delivered DDR3-1600 with CL8 @ 1.66V. The Asus P6T Deluxe worked perfectly and in the modules gave the highest scores in both DDR3-1600/1866 speeds. Although we didn't manage to further overclock the kit, we are very happy with its retail price, which is ~$125 after rebate.

The recession has not left anyone untouched, so we think that the OCZ's kit is a more reasonable purchase for amateur or enthusiast users, at least for now..