Features & Specifications
The Kingston HyperX KHX14400D3K2/2GN kit is a dual channel 2GB kit consisting of 2 1GB sticks of DDR3 RAM running at DDR3-1800MHz on 1.9v. The kit can also run at DDR3-1066MHz on 1.5V. Timings at 1800MHz are 8-8-8 and at 1066MHz timings are 7-7-7.

Test Machine
I am using a test system for this review with the following specifications:

• OS- Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 32-bit
• PSU- Top Power 1100W
• CPU- Intel QX9770
• Display- 30-inch Dell

Installation & Use
Visually the Kingston HyperX KHX14400D3K2/2GN kit is very attractive with blue and silver coloring. How the RAM looks is important to many users, especially when using a case with a side window. The dual channel kit installed easily and setting the RAM up only required a jump into the bios of the mainboard.

Once in the bios information from the SPD of the RAM allowed me to pick from the two speeds offered without issue or any type of manual changes to the bios. Choosing the faster DDR3-1800 MHz speed made all the changes needed for operation.

The system was rock solid with the RAM in either speed offered and I played games and worked on the system for weeks alternating between both speeds without any crashes or noted instabilities. For most users the two stock speeds offered will be more than fast enough, though the timings on DDR3 still isn’t what you can find on DDR2 parts.

Overclockers will find that the Kingston HyperX KHX14400D3K2/2GN kit has some headroom for overclocking as well. I was able to get the kit to run at 2000MHz with 2.1V and timings of 8-8-8-24. The machine was stable at these speeds and timings without issue. I couldn’t get any faster or get the timings tighter without random crashes and artifacts.

I ran a couple synthetic tests on the memory when it was running at eth slowest 1066 MHz speed to give an idea of the lowest performance you would see from the Kingston HyperX KHX14400D3K2/2GN kit. I used Sandra Lite XII’s Memory Latency and Memory Bandwidth tests.

Memory Latency
The Sandra Memory latency test showed the following:

Memory Latency Benchmark Results
Memory (Random Access) Latency : 70ns
Speed Factor : 74.00
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

Cache Information
Internal Data Cache : 3clocks
L2 On-board Cache : 19clocks
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

Windows Experience Index
Current Chipset/Memory : 5.9
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.

Detailed Benchmark Results
1kB Range : 3clocks / 1ns
4kB Range : 3clocks / 1ns
16kB Range : 3clocks / 1ns
64kB Range : 15clocks / 5ns
256kB Range : 17clocks / 5ns
1MB Range : 17clocks / 5ns
4MB Range : 25clocks / 8ns
16MB Range : 186clocks / 58ns
64MB Range : 225clocks / 70ns

Memory Bandwidth
The final test I ran on the memory was the Sandra XII Memory Bandwidth test. The following results were recorded:

Memory Bandwidth Benchmark Results
Int Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 8.00GB/s
Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 8.03GB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.

Windows Experience Index
Current Chipset/Memory : 5.9
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.

Int Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth
Assignment : 7.98GB/s
Scaling : 8.06GB/s
Addition : 7.96GB/s
Triad : 8.02GB/s
Data Item Size : 16bytes
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 64.04%

Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth
Assignment : 8.05GB/s
Scaling : 8.03GB/s
Addition : 8.03GB/s
Triad : 8.00GB/s
Data Item Size : 16bytes
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 64.22%

Final Thoughts
When all the testing was finished the Kingston HyperX KHX14400D3K2/2GN kit performed well. It has some headroom left for overclocking and performs well at the programmed SPD settings. The RAM is also a bit cheaper than some other brands of enthusiast DDR3 on the market.