HyperX is one of the most popular gaming memory manufacturer in the industry, with great performance and reputable reliability. As RGB lighting for PC components has become the trend, HyperX releases the Predator RGB DDR4 memory. Let’s take at look at the RAM and see how it performs.
Unboxing
The particular memory kit we tested is clocked at 3600 MHz, with two 8 GB sticks. The rated frequency can be achieved by choosing one of the two included XMP profiles. You can choose from speed at 2933 MHz up to 4000 MHz and capacity of 4 GB (single module) to 128 GB (in kit).
At the front of the box, the specific frequency and capacity of the kit are clearly indicated. A small plastic window is present to show the design of the Predator RGB’s heat spreaders. The packaging is mainly in black with typical red accents.
A short description in different language is printed at the back, alongside all the regulatory icons, UPC code and serial number.
There is not much to see inside the box, except for the warranty and installation guide and a HyperX sticker. The two Predator RGB memory sticks are sitting neatly in a hard plastic tray.
HyperX Predator RGB DDR4-3600 16GB Kit
The aluminum heat spreaders of the Predator RGB is painted black with aggressively designed brushed metal on top. The metal is shaped like two arrows pointing towards the center. The wordings, “PREDATOR” and “DDR4”, are printed on either sides of the front, while the “HyperX” logo is embossed with another layer of metal at the center. There is information about the RAM on a sticker at the back, including the model/part number, serial number and operating voltage (1.35 V).
At the bottom, there are a total of 288 golden pins for power and data transmission and the PCB is painted black to match with the existing color scheme.
On the top, there is a RGB LED light bar that stretch across nearly the whole length of the memory stick. Some sections of the heat spreader are opened, which allows the RGB lighting to shine to the sides as well. You can see the HyperX name on the light bar, even after the RAM is installed into a PC case.
Review
Testing Methodology
To evaluate the performance of the particular memory kit, we use a total of two benchmarking software. AIDA64‘s internal “Cache and Memory Benchmark” is used to determine the read, write and copy speeds, as well as the latency. Cinebench R15‘s CPU test is perfect for testing how the memory kit’s speeds affect CPU performance. The memory kit will be tested in three different settings/profiles.
- Default: 2400 MHz at 15-15-15-39
- XMP Profile 1: 3600 MHz at 15-15-17-36
- XMP Profile 2: 3000 MHz at 17-18-18-39
Test Bench Setup:
- CPU: Intel Core i5-8400 @ 2.8 GHz (65W TDP)
- Motherboard: ASRock Z370 Killer SLI
Performance
This HyperX Predator RGB memory kit is rated for frequency up to 3600 MHz. As expected, higher frequency results in larger bandwidth, with read speed at 49243 MB/s, write at 51661 MB/s and copy at 44237 MB/s. At the two lower frequency profiles, the performances were in line with the other RAM we have (KINGMAX Zeus Dragon RGB’s review here). Speeds were at around 35000 MB/s at 2400 MHz, and were increased to around 43000 MB/s at 3000 MHz (~22.9% improvement).
The Predator RGB did well in terms of latency and outperformed the Zeus Dragon RGB. At 3600 MHz, latency was only 48.7 ns. It lengthened to 51.2 ns at 3000 MHz and 57.8 ns at 2400 MHz.
We first expected the results in Cinebench R15 were somewhat similar to the bandwidth benchmarks. Surprisingly, the Predator RGB performed marginally better when clocked at 3000 MHz than 3600 MHz by 1.12%. It may related to slightly slower timings in the 3600 MHz’s XMP profile. Though, it still beat the score of 971 at 2400 MHz (~0.93%).
RGB Lighting
The Predator RGB RAM‘s lighting is designed to work with most major motherboard manufacturers, including ASUS Aura, GIGABYTE RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light and ASRock Polychrome. You can choose to sync the LEDs on the Predator RAM to match other components in your system. Or you can select it to show a different RGB lighting effect, which depends on which motherboard is used.
The RGB lighting on the RAM is very bright and vibrant. The light is diffused evenly across the whole light bar. The transition between colors is smooth and fluent. Because of HyperX’s Infrared Sync technology, both RAM sticks are perfectly in sync.
Conclusion
The HyperX Predator RGB DDR4 RAM is no doubt a good-looking memory. The aggressive double-layer metal styling on the heat spreader complements well with the RGB light bar at all angles. At the same time, the memory performed as expected. If you are willing to push the boundaries, there should be a lot of headroom to squeeze even more performance out of the Predator RGB, by lowering the timings and overclocking the frequency.
During our benchmarks, the memory ran stably without big issues. However, our particular memory kit does not apply the correct FSB frequency and memory frequency, when the XMP Profile 1 (DDR4-3600) is chosen. Any other fields, such as timings, are set correctly. It may limit to only our specific kit and motherboard BIOS. This is not a huge problem, and can be easily fixed by manually selecting the desired frequencies in the BIOS.
The Predator RGB DDR4 RAM is backed by a lifetime warranty. The DDR4-3600 kit we tested is priced at $197.99 USD at the time of this review. You can also pick the 2933 MHz/3200 MHz kit for $20 USD less. In fact, the Predator RGB is reasonably-priced when similar memory kits with RGB lighting always cost more than $220 USD. If you want both awesome aesthetics, RGB lighting and performance for the memory, look no further for the HyperX Predator RGB DDR4 RAM.
You can purchase the memory from your local/online resellers or the links below from Amazon and Newegg.
- Amazon US: HyperX Predator RGB DDR4-3600 16GB Kit (HX436C17PB3AK2/16)
- Newegg US: HyperX Predator RGB DDR4-3600 16GB Kit (HX436C17PB3AK2/16)
Thanks Kingston for providing us the memory for review. (Review Sample)
Feel free to leave comments below, if you have any opinion about this website. Share the website around if you enjoy reading it. Subscribe to our Newsletter or follow our Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
Support this website simply by shopping in Amazon. It will give us small kickbacks, if you use the above affiliate links to make any purchases, which will help us grow.