At first we would like to thank Patriot Memory for offering a sample of their Viper 4 Series DDR4 16GB 2400MHz Memory Kit for testing and reviewing.

 

 

About Patriot Memory:

 

“Mission Statement

 

To be the vendor of choice for the computer and consumer electronic industries with a commitment to service and quality

 

Vision

 

Commitment, focus on innovation in technology, product quality, and customer satisfaction are the key enablers of our future success

 

Company Profile

 

Established in 1985, Patriot Memory builds a full range of memory module and flash memory products, offering a perfect blend of quality and value. Patriot products include Extreme Performance (EP), Signature Lines (SL) and Flash Memory solutions (FM)”

 

Product Features:

 

Patriot Memory’s Viper 4 Series memory modules are designed with true performance in mind. Built for the latest Intel® X99 platform, the Viper 4 series provides the best performance and stability for the most demanding computer environments.

 

The Viper 4 series utilizes a custom designed high performance heat shield for superior heat dissipation to ensure rock solid performance even when using the most taxing applications. Built from the highest quality Build of Materials, Patriot Memory’s Viper 4 Series memory modules are hand tested and validated for system compatibility.

 

Available in quad channel kits, 16GB and 32GB kits, Patriot Memory’s Viper 4 Series will be offered at speeds from 2400MHz up to 3000MHz and XMP 2.0 ready. Hand tested for quality assurance the Viper 4 series is backed by a lifetime warranty.

 

 

Product Specifications:

 

Patriot Memory were nice and supplied us with a memory kit in order to test along with our Z170 platform; to be more specific, the model we have received is the Viper 4 DDR4-2400MHz 16GB, which consists of four sticks of 4GB each. As it says on the box, they were originally meant for the Intel X99 platform and do support the XMP 2.0 standard. On the top area of the packaging, we will get to see the speed rating of the product along with the total capacity:

 

 

 

On the back side of the packaging we will get to see a small product description along with the product code name:

 

 

 

The four RAM sticks are available inside in blister packaging, two-by-two:

 

 

 

By having a closer look, we will discover that each stick comes with a black PCB and heatsinks on both sides; the modules are not very tall, which helps with compatibility when installing large heatsinks; speaking of heatsinks, the modules have a top red aluminum component attached in order to further help with heat dissipation:

 

 

 

If we turn the module on the opposite side, we will get to see a small sticker which houses the product code name along with the pre-programmed memory timings and stock speed (2400MHz 15-15-15-35):

 

 

 

The top aluminum components are held with two screws:

 

 

 

These can be easily removed in order to transform the kit into a low profile set:

 

 

 

Besides the actual product we will also receive a nice case badge:

 

 

 

Test Setup

 

CPU: Intel I5 6600K Retail

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14

Motherboard: BIOSTAR GAMING Z170X

RAM: Currently tested kit

Video: HIS 380X

Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W

SSD: OCZ Vector 150

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

 

The pre-programmed timings and frequencies can be also found by using AIDA64:

 

 

Right after confirming full stability thanks to Memtest86 in Windows at stock settings, we have dialed down to 2133Mhz while keeping the timings for comparison purposes. The overclocking stage came right after this so we were able to run at 2666MHz, with the stock timings but we needed at the same time to raise the voltage from the stock 1.2V to 1.35V, which Intel recommends as being the highest safe voltage for DDR4 kits. We have also run the validation thanks to CPU-Z:

Validation

 

 

Test Results

 

Synthetic Benchmarks

 

SuperPI XS 1.5 2MB

 

wPrime 32M

 

 

Memory Bandwidth, Latency

 

AIDA64 Bandwidth

 

 

 

Cinebench R11 Rendering

 

Cinebench R15 Rendering

 

x264 Encoding

 

PCMark 8

 

 

 

The revised Viper 4 version with black PCB looks considerably better than the initial one which sported a green one and now also matches the heatsink color scheme; also, if you do have a black/red color scheme on your motherboard, this kit will fit right in. While the model we have tested is not the fastest out there, for tasks which not include encoding and rendering and mostly office work or gaming, the Viper 4 16GB 2400MHz should perform wonderfully.

With the arrival of the Z170 platform and X99, most hardware enthusiasts were forced to leave their favorite DDR3 memory kits behind and adopt the new standard; we really hope that more and more people will upgrade to the new technology, this way increasing current DDR4 sales and hopefully the prices will drop even more.

Despite the lower stock speed, we found these modules being able to climb up to 2666MHz, while keeping the stock timings; on our platform, we only needed to increase the stock voltage to 1.35V which should be safe for a 24/7 operation; despite the increased voltage in the overclocking environment, the modules continued to operate at a very low temperature.

 

The Patriot Memory Viper 4 Series DDR4 16GB 2400MHz Memory Kit can be found online for about 154 Euros.

 Patriot Memory Viper 4 Series DDR4 16GB 2400MHz Memory Kit is Recommended For:

 

 

We would like to thank again to Patriot Memory for making this review possible!