Team Dark Memory Review

[ADmodz]

Team Force Dark memory review.
By ADmodz 

Team Group is a name that you may very well have come across before in the past, and that is because they are amongst the worlds top Memory Manufacturers. So with that said, Team Group approached me and sent one of their latest offerings in the shape of the Dark DDR4 Gaming range of Ram Sticks for me to review.

 So lets get right on with it, Starting off with the design of the Sticks we have a very stylish yet aggressive look with the heat spreader that spans across the length of the unit and then overhangs on the edges with the unique "armoured wing" design. These are not purely for aesthetics however as they do a fantastic job of keeping the sticks very cool and dissipates the heat very effectively compared to the lower priced DDR4 variants. What's more is that the heatspreader is double layered so it also doubles as fantastic protection for the unit itself. The units we have come in a smooth grey/silver metal colour with black underneath and the company logo and name sits central of the heatspreader. We received a set of 2x8gb which is to be used in Project Sofia.

 
 The technical specifications of the units are as follows:
 
Warranty: Lifetime
Memory Type: DDR4
Package Memory Format: DIMM
Package Memory Pin: 288
Performance Profile: XMP 2.0
Memory Size: 16GB Kit (2 x 8GB)
SPD Latency: CL15-15-15-35 / CL16-18-18-38
SPD Speed: 3000MHz
SPD Voltage: 1.35V
Heat Sink: 4-piece Aluminium heat-sink

 The unique features of the Dark DDR4 Ram is that it has an ultra low working voltage range from 1.4V to as low as 1.2V which allows a very modest 40% energy saving. Whats more is that you can overclock it with 1 step using the supported XMP 2.0. It is worth noting that at 1.20v the memory runs at a relatively low 2133mhz and this is what it will run at straight out of the box and into your system until you then alter the settings in bios to change it to 3000mhz to get the best out of the units, but this is what will bump the voltage upto 1.35V On an MSI board, users get the ability to unlock the XMP 2.0 function which then allows the units to run at 3200mhz at 1.40v.
 
 To put these Ram modules to the test we ran it on multiple benchmarking systems from AIDA64, Cinebench r15, pcmark 8 and Super Pi.
The system we used was as follows:
 
Mobo: Z270i Gaming Pro Carbon
CPU: i7 - 6700k
GPU: Sapphire RX480 8gb
Ram: 16gb (2x8) 3000mhz T-Force Dark DDR4
PSU: Antec Pro 850
SSD: 2x kingston Hyper X 3k 240gb
M.2: Samsung sm961 256 NVME
 
Results are as follows:
 
AIDA64 Memory Read:
Team Group T- Force DARK XMP Profile: 45912 MB/s
 
AIDA64 Memory Write:
Team Group T- Force DARK XMP Profile: 50111 MB/s
 
AIDA64 Memory Copy:
Team Group T- Force DARK XMP Profile: 43012 MB/s
 
AIDA64 Memory Latency:
Team Group T- Force DARK XMP Profile: 47.8 ns
 
Cinebench r15 CPU:
Team Group T- Force DARK XMP Profile: 1037 FPS
 
Cinebench r15 GPU:
Team Group T- Force DARK XMP Profile: 178.51 pts
 
PCMark 8 Conventional:
Team Group T- Force DARK XMP Profile: 4512
 
SuperPi:
Team Group T- Force DARK XMP Profile: 431.4
 
3DMark Time Spy:
Team Group T- Force DARK XMP Profile: 6089
 
3DMark Fire Strike:
Team Group T- Force DARK XMP Profile: 15894
 
So as you can see, the Team Group Dark DDR4 Ram offers solid results with a very good level of consistency, but then that’s to be expected from a company with such a high caliber of standing within the community. The low voltage is perfect for those who are energy conscious or running on a lower watt PSU, whilst the higher voltage, higher speed modes are perfect for those wanting maximum performance. Combine that with the advantage of overclocking to an incredible 3200Mhz on Msi gaming pro carbon ac boards, you have an incredibly respectful competitor in the market on your hands. The stylish, yet aggressive look fits in with any theme or build and even though it has no RGB Leds built in, it still holds it own as far as aesthetics go surprisingly well!
 
 Whats even more positive is that these sticks come in at a very reasonable price bracket, from as little as £109/$109 for a 16gb set of 2x8gb sticks. This puts it in a very cool advantage over its competitors and it certainly is a set that you should consider if your after versatility and performance on a lower budget, with looks to match. 
 
I was very pleased with the results I got from my testing and the Dark DDR4 sticks take pride of place in the Sofia Build, and overall with everything into consideration the modules get a very respectable 9/10 from me!

[DocSwag]

I would personally like to see numbers for the 8% perf gain for the heatspreader, ddr4 is so low power it doesn't need one anyways.

 

Also, I may be wrong but most 3200 MHz ddr4 kits run at 1.35v so 1.4 is actually kinda high. And 1.2v at 2133 is the default JEDEC spec I think

[Jurrunio]

I'd still prefer the one with LEDs on in terms of looks.

[Jito463]

11 minutes ago, ADmodz said:

Team Group is a name that you may very well have come across before in the past, and that is because they are amongst the worlds top Memory Manufacturers.

Funny, I've never heard of them before.  Ever.  And I've been using computers since the 90's.

 

Not saying they're not well known in some circles, but I've never come across them before.

 

[TheRandomness]

-Thread moved to Member Reviews.

[ADmodz]

Just now, TheRandomness said:

-Thread moved to Member Reviews.

Thank you 

[ADmodz]

17 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

I would personally like to see numbers for the 8% perf gain for the heatspreader, ddr4 is so low power it doesn't need one anyways.

 

Also, I may be wrong but most 3200 MHz ddr4 kits run at 1.35v so 1.4 is actually kinda high. And 1.2v at 2133 is the default JEDEC spec I think

Yes the 1.2 is the default JEDEC.

On the msi gaming pro carbon ac mitx board,I had to up the voltage to 1.4 to run at 3200mhz.

i could of tried a little lower voltage,but went with 1.4

ive seen this memory run on the Asus ROG boards at 1.35 volts 

[ADmodz]

17 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

I'd still prefer the one with LEDs on in terms of looks.

I didn't want the led version.wasnt fitting in with the build

[iRileyx]

For non led/RGB modules they look pretty sweet.

 

Dare I say it, they look better than dominators imo. 

[ADmodz]

8 minutes ago, RKRiley said:

For non led/RGB modules they look pretty sweet.

 

Dare I say it, they look better than dominators imo. 

I like them,they go well with the msi pro carbon ac motherboard perfectly

 

[DocSwag]

17 minutes ago, ADmodz said:

Yes the 1.2 is the default JEDEC.

On the msi gaming pro carbon ac mitx board,I had to up the voltage to 1.4 to run at 3200mhz.

i could of tried a little lower voltage,but went with 1.4

ive seen this memory run on the Asus ROG boards at 1.35 volts 

Ohhhhh

 

I thought that the kit was rated for 3200 or something, though it's just a 3000 MHz kit that's designed to run at 1.35. So you tried to OC it to 3200 but needed 1.4?

 

My bad  

[ADmodz]

15 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

Ohhhhh

 

I thought that the kit was rated for 3200 or something, though it's just a 3000 MHz kit that's designed to run at 1.35. So you tried to OC it to 3200 but needed 1.4?

 

My bad  

That's correct.i even tried 3400mhz.but no go 

[dcgreen2k]

Wow, thanks for doing this! I was having a hard time debating over Team or Corsair.

[ADmodz]

7 hours ago, thegreengamers said:

Wow, thanks for doing this! I was having a hard time debating over Team or Corsair.

My pleasure.

Team memory is good stuff.works as it should and looks nice too 

have fun