Gadgetory

- Corsair's Dominator memory has always been their top of the line stuff. It's always focused on aesthetics and also performance. Here today, we've got their Dominator Platinum RGB. Now, I recently came into the H115i RGB Platinum cooler, and I absolutely loved it. Yes, it was expensive, but it wasn't just the best cooler in Corsair's lineup, it was pretty much, I felt, the best all-in-one out there at the moment bar none. As we've seen the Platinum RGB logo on the new Dominator memory, it definitely has a lot to live up to. Now, I'm not gonna beat around the bush or beat you guys around the bush, this stuff is more expensive than typical DDR4 memory. It comes in many different flavors and sizes, I'll put a price list up here for you guys, so you can check it out yourself. So, what we've got here, first of all the build quality, forged, anodized aluminum. It's got also black on black PCB, and that PCB itself is 10-layered PCB. The more layers you have on the PCB, the better it is for reducing noise, and hence better for over-clocking. Coupled with that, the top part is then made of die-cast zinc alloy, and the fins are stamped aluminum. So you can really start to see that a lot is going into the design of this, not just to make it look pretty, but also to perform better where Corsair's emulating their DHX dual-channel cooling technology, which apparently has the metal closer-integrated to the DIMMs themselves, which then initially draws away the heat and then helps to draw away the heat further compared to other DDR4 memory. I will be putting this to the test later in this video. But also, another point about this Dominator memory is it features new Capellix RGB lighting system, with 12 individually back-lit zones, that don't need any extra cables, they just fit into your DIMM slots and run off the DIMM slots' power itself. I'm told this lighting system is pretty much exclusive to Corsair at the moment, and of course, as you can see in some of the B-roll already, it allows the light to come through more evenly, brighter, and also doing so using less power. So, basically, in a nutshell, this is where technology's going, and as it stands, this RAM is going straight onto my test system. We're gonna start over-clocking! (calm techno music) So now, just finished the temperature test and I decided to test the Dominator Platinum here, versus the only other four sticks that I had on hand that would accept the exact same XMP profiles as the Dominator, and that was the G.SKILL Flare X memory. And so, four sticks versus four sticks, the Corsair came in with 49 degrees, 50 degrees, 49 degrees and 46 degrees after 15 minutes of testing, and then on the surface with my IR camera, got 47 degrees. This is in a 29 degree ambient environment, so it is the Aussie summer, but think of it as the worst-case scenario, which in this case, for stress testing, is actually a really good thing. Moving on to the G.SKILL memory, came in with 57 degrees, 59 degrees, 58 degrees, 55 from software readouts, then with the temperature sensor, it read 61 degrees on the surface, that was the max temperature reported, so the Corsair memory is coming in a lot better when it comes to keeping the temperatures down. This is probably due to the heat sinks themselves weighing 98 grams versus 45 grams in total for the memory on the Corsair Dominator versus the G.SKILL Flare X. Now, in terms of other memory that G.SKILL have, I'm pretty sure that the Flare X isn't their best memory that they have for sale, I think their Trident Z Royal stuff is currently the best memory they have, but I don't know how that will perform. They said they were gonna send some over a while ago, never got any in here to test. But regardless, if you guys know another memory set that you'd like to see the Dominator go up against, let us know in the comments section below. But, as it stands, this is really good news for the Dominator Platinum RGB, because it means that it's not just aesthetics and bling. They actually do put a lot of time into making the performance top-notch. But that aside, let's check out the over-clocking on this stuff. (calm techno music) So, after over-clocking with DDR4 memory, it can get finicky, it can get a little bit crazy, and that's what happened this time around. We did get two of the sticks to 4 gigahertz at CL 19, at 1.4 volts. That was really impressive. Then, the other pair got to 3.9 gigahertz at the same CL 19, 1.4 volt. But when I tried to put all four sticks in together, it would only go to 3.6 gigahertz effective, so maybe it's the board in this case, I mean DDR4 memory can get really finicky when it comes to over-clocking and setting in certain things, but in the case of this Dominator memory here, at least if you get it in a pair on most motherboards, this stuff here goes to 3.9 gigahertz. So it's really impressive speeds, especially at CL 19. So, this stuff for the test bench is definitely looking like it's going to be really good when it comes to testing out, not just the CPU, which can get to 5 gigahertz, the 1900K, but also this Dominator stuff, which can theoretically should get to 3.9 gigahertz across all four sticks. But in this case, it's just not, because it's just been released, maybe ASRock have to update the BIOS on the Taichi Ultimate. With that aside, let's go over now and check out the RGB bling on the top of this memory and how you can control it, what patterns they have, and what you can do with the iCUE software. (calm techno music) Now's the time to look at aesthetics and controlling those aesthetics. The iCUE software is pretty much the best in the game for controlling RGB software. You've got layers, but within those layers, you can control different settings and different patterns. In this case, you've got 16 to choose from, there's also the audio which will react if you've got a Corsair pair of headphones plugged in. My personal favorites in this case were the sequential effect and also the stack, as well as color wave. And you can control the speeds and directions. Also in terms of setting up your DIMMs in order, you can get a visual confirmation of the order and what motherboard and set the direction of the DIMMs themselves. So, you can get exact control in the iCUE software itself. It's very detailed, and they've even improved it to the point where it's much more responsive than it was when I took a last look at it when I was testing out the previous DDR4 memory with RGB on it. It's come a long way, to the point where it's practically near perfection. I really like what Corsair have done with the iCUE, and also the control on this DDR4 memory. However, one thing with the DDR4 memory itself, this time around I couldn't opaque the layers out, in other words, I couldn't have multiple layers in use with the DDR4 memory. Perhaps that's a limitation without plugging in additional cabling to the DDR4 memory, which I'm sure nobody wants. Anyway guys, in a nutshell, the Dominator Platinum RGB memory is simply the real deal. It's not just aesthetics as we saw with the over-clocking and temperatures, it's also the performance as well. Yes, it will be some of the most expensive memory out there, but granted, you get what you pay for. If you pay for this memory, you're gonna simply get the best in the business. That's what I'm slowly starting to realize with the Platinum branding on Corsair's products. It's not just the best product within their own lineup of products, it's pretty much the best in the industry for whatever you're gonna use it for. For instance, the H115i, as I said in the intro, the Platinum RGB, that thing's amazing, this memory here, absolutely amazing. Anyway guys, with that said, I'm gonna get on outta here and start building up this potato I've got on the desk over there. I mean, this thing is like, the worst in the biz. So, we're going from the best in the biz to the worst in the biz, that's how things go around here at Tech YES City, I don't know why, that's just sometimes how it is. If you guys enjoyed this one, then be sure to hit that like button. Also let us know in the comments section below, what you think of the Dominator Platinum RGB memory. It is honestly the best DDR4 memory I've come into, and if you guys saw me at CES last year, I was coming into a lot of DDR4 memory. Build quality and also the over-clockability here for air over-clocks is phenomenal in hot ambient temperatures. And, with that said, I'll catch you in another tech video very soon. Peace out for now, bye. Also guys, sub buttons down there, little bell icon, if you click that, you'll get the videos the moment they're released. Also, Instagram, TechYESCity. If you wanna get that inside scoop, the potato build, the pre-potato build's actually posted up there. And also, for patrons, I will put the sub-timings because it's very difficult to over-clock DDR4 memory, you need all the sub-timings especially on this ASRock board. I'll post them up on Patreon, and I'll catch you in the next one, bye. (calm techno music) (beep) Now in terms of other memory that G.SKILL have, I'm pretty sure that the Flare X isn't their best memory that they have for sale, I think their Trident Z, um, golden mirror stuff-- ♪ You were the first ♪ ♪ You'll be the last ♪ - [Muffled Radio Voice] See the merch, look at this guy, that's best shirts in the game, guys, link in description.