The Patriot Sector 7 modules are part of Patriots Extreme Performance Enhanced Latency line up with each module hand tested before it leaves the factory. These modules differ from the Viper series in the construction of the heatsinks. The Viper Series used an AOC (Aluminum on Copper) heat shield that utilized the benefits of both Aluminum and copper to deliver excellent cooling to the dram chips.

Conclusion: If you choose to overclock these modules, then there is enough headroom to get you over 2000MHz and allow you to use a base clock of up to 200MHz on your Core i7 X58-based system without fear of the memory limiting your overclock. The Patriot Sector 7 modules offer a step up in performance for a low price. They have about the same price as modules rated at 1600MHz, making them quite a deal.

Overclocking: The memory was OCed @ 2074MHz 9-10-9-27, bumping the QPI volts up on the modules helped stabilize the overclock as the speed increased. Once above ~2000MHz I had to bump up the TRCD setting to 10 to keep going and higher. The highest stable clocks I could achieve with this set was 2074MHz with timings of 9-10-9-27.

Compared to:

• Mushkin Redline 996805 1600MHz 6-8-6-24
• G.Skill Pi Series 1600MHz 7-8-7-24
• Mushkin 998687 1866MHz 8-9-8-24
• Corsair Dominator TR3X6G1600C8D 1600MHz 8-8-8-24
• Kingston HyperX T1 1600MHz 9-9-9-27
• Mushkin Blackline 998677B 1333MHz 7-7-7-20

Benchmarks: CPU-Z, Windows Task Manager, Geekbench 2.1, SuperPi 1.5, SiSoft Sandra, PC Mark Vantage, Batman Arkham Asylum.