Kingston HyperX Fury DDR3 Memory Kit Review By Tom Jaskulka Manufacturer: Kingston Technology Corporation Product Name: HyperX FURY DDR3 Model Number: HX318C10FWK2/8 UPC: 740617230680 Price As Tested: $79.99 (Newegg / Amazon) Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Kingston. Announced at CES 2014, Kingston has released their replacement of the Blu series of RAM modules. Named "Fury," the new HyperX series of DDR3 RAM claim to make overclocking even easier by automatically detecting the appropriate speeds and timings for your motherboard, making these modules "Plug and Play" ready. Arriving in 4GB, 8GB single, 8GB dual or 16GB dual-channel kits, the Fury line will have frequencies of 1333 MHz (CL9), 1600MHz (CL9), or 1866 MHz(CL10). A new asymmetric heat-spreader design in red, blue, white or black colors covers a stylish black PCB, adding a distinct look to this newest memory kit from Kingston. Benchmark Reviews received one of the dual-channel 8GB kits for testing (model HX318C10FWK2/8), so let's see how these modules compare. After taking a look at the modules themselves, I'll run a series of synthetic benchmarks to "peer under the hood" so to speak. Of course, synthetic differences will rarely be felt by a user - so I'll also run a few gaming benchmarks on an A10-7850K Kaveri APU using the integrated R7 Radeon graphics with the memory at stock and overclocked settings. Features & Specifications Get in the game with HyperX® FURY. Even newbies get up to speed fast, since FURY automatically recognises its host platform and automatically overclocks to the highest frequency published – up to 1866MHz – providing plenty of power for your next deathmatch. FURY’s asymmetric heat spreader design lets you stand out from the “square” crowd. It’s available in black, blue, red and– for the first time in the HyperX line –white, with a black PCB. So your rig can reflect your style and you can show it off with pride – without spending a lot, since FURY is affordably priced. Capacities of up to 8GB (single) and 8GB–16GB (kits) Frequency (speed) 1333MHz, 1600MHz, 1866MHz CAS latency 9-9-9-27 and 10-10-10-30 Voltage 1.5V Asymmetric heat spreader for stylish heat dissipation Compatible with P55, H67, P67, Z68, Z77, Z87 and H61 Intel chipsets, as well as A75, A87, A88, A89, A78 and E35 AMD chipsets HyperX Fury Memory Overview The HyperX Fury modules replace the Blu series from Kingston, filling the midrange "sweet-spot" for RAM modules. DDR3 hasn't changed much in the past year or so, but new architectures (Haswell/Kaveri) are starting to make better use of faster RAM speeds. Kingston is offering HyperX Fury RAM kits in speeds from 1333MHz to 1866MHz which should cover the requirements of most enthusiasts. DDR3 2133MHz modules are noticeably absent, but we'll have to see if a simple multiplier setting can change that later on...first let's look at the modules themselves. Kingston packages the Fury RAM in an easy to open plastic case that secures the RAM sticks and keeps them safe in transit - but doesn't make them impossible to remove from the packaging like those "tamper proof" packages. Warranty information and a sticker are contained beneath the sticks themselves. The asymmetric heat-spreader design adds just enough visual "bling" to keep things interesting, while keeping the overall look relatively conservative. The coating on the white versions shown here have a noticeable texture - they're painted a nice, matte white and feel great to the touch. Now that the modules are out of their protective case, the black PCBs used on the Fury line become much more noticeable. The black contrasts nicely with the white heat-spreaders, and adds a bit of "premium" feel over a typical green PCB. Does it affect performance? Not in the least - but for any system with a window, it's a nice touch. Kingston stuck with the "HyperX" branding on top, and the flat surfaces here make inserting the modules into the DIMM slots on the motherboard an easy and comfortable process. The few cutouts add a bit of style, but the overall look is still tastefully conservative. Synthetic Benchmarks Testing Methodology First up: the synthetic benchmarks. Most of the following testing utilities use various memory intensive operations to uncover transfer speeds of the different memory kits. These numbers can vary depending on the CPU used, since most processors now contain their memory controllers on the CPU die. I tested the HyperX Fury RAM at their stock timings (1866MHz 10-11-10-30 1.5V), which were detected almost perfectly by my motherboard - although I'll chalk that up to the older Z68 chipset (incidentally, the Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-Wifi board used by the Kaveri A10-7850K detected the stock timings perfectly). Originally detected at the correct speed but slightly relaxed timings (1866 MHz 11-11-11-30 1.582V), typing in the correct parameters in the BIOS caused zero issues in stability. A quick multiplier change and relaxed tRAS timing resulted in an easy overclock to 2133 MHz (11-11-11-35 1.5V). Since I didn't need to touch the voltage or relax timings very much, those users with a newer chipset may be able to reach even higher clockspeeds than I did. Test System Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3, BIOS P1.20 System Memory: (See charts for tested memory, all modules used a command rate of 1) Processor: Intel Core-i5 2500K @ 4.6 GHz Audio: Asus Xonar DG Video: XFX Radeon R9 290 Disk Drive 1: WD Black 1TB 7200 RPM Disk Drive 2: OCZ Vertex 2 50GB (SRT Cache) Enclosure: NZXT Phantom 820 PSU: Cooler Master V700 Monitor: HannsG 27" 1920x1200 LCD Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit Results AIDA64 AIDA64 is one of Benchmark Review's most popular utilities. For the purposes of reviewing DDR3 SDRAM, AIDA64 has a built-in Cache and Memory Benchmark that - well, I'll just let them tell you: Memory bandwidth benchmarks (Memory Read, Memory Write, Memory Copy) measure the maximum achievable memory data transfer bandwidth. The code behind these benchmark methods are written in Assembly and they are extremely optimized for every popular AMD, Intel and VIA processor core variants by utilizing the appropriate x86/x64, x87, MMX, MMX+, 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2, SSE4.1, AVX, and AVX2 instruction set extension. The Memory Latency benchmark measures the typical delay when the CPU reads data from system memory. Memory latency time means the penalty measured from the issuing of the read command until the data arrives to the integer registers of the CPU. This is a synthetic benchmark, so these numbers are firmly in the "theoretical performance" arena. The memory controllers on newer Ivy Bridge and Haswell chips would probably see a slight improvement over these numbers, but at least they are useful for comparing modules to each other. The main take-away here is the relationship between latency and speed - the Fury modules perform as expected, but it seems lower latency modules can achieve similar performance. SiSoft Sandra Lite SiSoft's Sandra benchmarking tool is a System Analyzer, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant. While it contains an entire suite of tests, for memory we're only concerned with the Memory Bandwidth benchmark. Sandra shows a similar story - essentially running the same test as AIDA64, the memory bandwidth numbers follow the same trend. Performance Test 8 Fast, easy to use, PC speed testing and benchmarking. PassMark PerformanceTest ™ allows you to objectively benchmark a PC using a variety of different speed tests and compare the results to other computers. PassMark's PerformanceTest benchmark allows you to easily compare your results to a huge database online. For our purposes, we're interested in the Read Uncached and Write memory tests. Again, you'd be hard-pressed to notice the difference with these numbers. If you were to go by synthetics alone, price would probably end up as the most important factor. Other than very memory-intensive scientific or computational applications (which probably wouldn't use a Z68 chipset...) you just can't "feel" a difference between most sets and speeds of RAM. Unless you're gaming on an integrated GPU, that is... Gaming Benchmarks on Kaveri Many enthusiast gamers won't see a visual benefit from system memory. The discrete GPU (and associated GDDR5 memory) will be doing most of the graphical heavy lifting. That equation changes when using an integrated GPU though - without the dedicated graphics memory, on-board graphics cores share the DDR3 RAM with the rest of the system; quickly shifting the graphics bottleneck to memory bandwidth. Here, memory speed and latency can make a very real difference. I tested the HyperX Fury RAM kit at the stock 1866 MHz and overclocked 2133 MHz speeds, then threw in a few comparison modules for reference. While it isn't a comprehensive list of benchmarks, hopefully it will help illustrate how memory speeds can make a difference if you're gaming using the integrated Radeon graphics on an APU. Test System Motherboard: Gigabyte G2-F2A88XN-Wifi System Memory: (See graphs for memory tested) Processor: A10-7850K 3.7 GHz / 4.0 GHz Turbo Audio: On-board Video: Integrated Radeon R7 @ 960MHz Disk Drive 1: Intel 335 Series 240GB SSD Operating System: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit Results Bioshock Infinite Running on a modified Unreal Engine 3, Irrational's Bioshock Infinite won its fair share of awards in 2013. Utilizing DX11 specific features like Contact Hardening Shadows, Diffusion Depth of Field and HDAO Ambient Occlusion, Bioshock Infinite's floating city of Columbia was visually breathtaking yet ran surprisingly well on a range of hardware. Repeating much of the same story from the synthetic benchmarks (this time with more relevant values), the HyperX Fury kit still shows an improvement over a typical DDR3 1600 CL9 set. With a very easy overclock, a decent 16% increase in frame rates was very attainable over the common DDR3 1600 CL9 kits. Overall, the increase in speed from the higher-clocked HyperX Fury kit made exploring Columbia an even better experience if you were using an APU. Tomb Raider (2013) Square Enix's Tomb Raider reboot is built with some AMD-specific technologies - that being said, the A10-7850K still isn't quite powerful enough to run special features like TressFX in full 1080p resolutions. Still, on medium presets and lower resolutions Tomb Raider is very playable on modern integrated graphics chipsets. Using the Normal preset for the built-in benchmark and running at a resolution of 1280x720, the HyperX Fury RAM hovered around the 60fps mark. Overclocking gained a bit of headroom and smoothed out the minimum FPS drops, but the overall trend continued; even down into the more memory-constrained High preset at a resolution of 1920x1080. Unigine Valley / 3dMark11 The UNIGINE Engine powers a popular series of GPU benchmarks. Starting with the Sanctuary and Tropics benchmarks, Unigine Corp. is probably most known for its popular Heaven benchmarking utility. The new version, "Valley," contains procedurally generated rocks and vegetation and advanced visual technologies like dynamic sky, volumetric clouds, sun shafts, depth-of-field and ambient occlusion. I used the most recent Valley benchmark for the Kaveri integrated graphics testing, and ran the "Basic" preset. Like Unigine Heaven/Valley, most enthusiasts are also familiar with Futuremark's 3DMark 11. A DirectX 11 powered video card benchmark suite, it runs a series of graphics and physics tests to arrive at a composite score. For the Kaveri APU, I'll be using the Performance preset. The scores are pictured above, and follow similar trends set by the game engines. Frames-per-second during the Valley benchmark averaged around 23fps, with all memory kits dipping into the low teens and showing bursts into the mid 40s range. DDR3 RAM Final Thoughts The RAM story hasn't changed much over the past year or so (well, until DDR4 kits start making an appearance). Still, the new HyperX Fury modules from Kingston have managed to refresh a popular line of memory modules and offer something distinctive, even if they are still DDR3 underneath. I especially like the cosmetic touches - as the enthusiast market shifts ever more to a group that will pay more for the little details, things such as the black PCB and various colors help the Fury kits stand out. And they come in white! White chassis have become much more popular over the last year, so it is nice to have other component manufacturers on board (here's hoping for white accents on motherboards...). Fury HyperX RAM Conclusion I have no complaints about the performance of the HyperX Fury modules. The 1866 MHz kit I received was stable at the rated frequencies, and was detected with the correct timings on newer boards/BIOS versions. A slight, easy overclock to 2133 MHz was simple to accomplish, and the gains on a Kaveri APU platform were worth the effort. They weren't the fastest kit I've tested, but with a little more tweaking I bet they'd be close. Similarly, I can't complain about their appearance either. The asymmetric heat-spreader is interesting without being too extreme, and the various colors allow for a color match if desired. The white versions received for this review had an attractive matte finish, and the black PCB contrasts nicely. Overall, they are an attractive set that can either blend in with the rest of a build or shown off through a case window. I didn't get the sense there was anything shoddy about the construction of the HyperX Fury modules - quite the opposite. Most RAM modules tend to feel the same, and the only time you really "feel" any differences is while you're installing them. The Fury modules installed smoothly in DIMM slots on multiple motherboards without excessive force, and seated with a satisfying "click." The flat surfaces on top of the heat-spreaders were useful for installation as well, providing a solid point to exert the slight pressure needed to seat the sticks in the motherboard. Functionally the HyperX Fury modules performed as expected. The "auto-detect" feature worked flawlessly on an A88X board with a Kaveri APU, and the speed was detected accurately on an older Z68 board too. I'm willing to bet newer BIOSes and boards would have no issues detecting the correct timings, making the Fury memory kits a simple upgrade for a memory bandwidth boost. Finally, we arrive at the price. The HyperX Fury modules tested today are now available online for $79.99 (Newegg / Amazon). While the DDR3 market has been pretty volatile over the past year with prices constantly changing, that is an excellent price point for a dual-channel 8GB kit of 1866 MHz RAM (and they overclock pretty nicely too). The 1866 MHz modules seem to be the best deal of the bunch, as it seems they are only a few dollars more than the 1333/1600 kits with similar latencies. Overall, Kingston has a winner with their HyperX Fury memory kits. They offer quite a bit of performance for the price, are decent overclockers and look great. With a little tweaking they can keep pace with faster memory kits, but even in stock trim they make for an easy upgrade. I feel that I could recommend the HyperX Fury RAM to anyone looking to complete a new build or add capacity to an existing one. Pros: + Works as advertised + Stable at stock timings + XMP profiles detected + Overclocks easily + Attractive, well-done heat-spreaders + Black PCB + Available in white! + Lifetime warranty Cons: - Some boards may not detect timings with 100% accuracy (BIOS dependent) - Not available in speeds over 1866 MHz at this time Ratings: Performance: 8.50 Appearance: 9.00 Construction: 9.00 Functionality: 8.50 Value: 8.50 Final Score: 8.70 out of 10. Recommended: Benchmark Reviews Seal of Approval.