Apacer Blade Fire DDR4 3200MHz 32GB Memory Kit Review

Performance Benchmarks

Cinebench

Before we get into the results, I want to reiterate that every kit apart from the review sample was tested on the X99 platform. Sadly, this wasn’t possible in this case due to stability issues which clearly impacted on the performance numbers. As you can see, the i7-6700K isn’t a match for the 5960X and the Z170 chipset is only capable of using dual-channel configurations. Despite this, the memory kit fares pretty well at stock parameters given the processor’s 4-core capabilities.

After the overclocked was applied, the Cinebench score increased slightly but the minimal difference remains within a margin of error. Clearly, the manual overclock has almost no impact on the CPU’s multi-threaded performance.

AIDA64

In terms of memory bandwidth, the modules fared rather well and reported a superb write result.

Once overclocked, the memory offered more consistent numbers across copy, read and write rates.

At stock values, the memory’s latency remains extremely low and easily achieves the top spot. Saying that, this is the first time I’ve tested latency figures on Z170 so this might explain the huge lead compared to competing solutions.

Overclocking the memory kit reduces the latency to 50ns which is another very strong showing.

SiSoft Sandra

Here we can see the modules perform really well and surpass other premium kits like the G.Skill TridentZ.

Once overclocked, the Apacer Blade Fire maintains its strong position and reported the best results we’ve seen in a dual channel configuration.

WPrime

Rather surprisingly, the CPU’s 8-threads reported a much better compute time than I anticipated and wasn’t far off the 16-thread, 5960X. This showcases the memory’s performance on the Z170 platform and how well it compliments the i7-6700K.

As expected, overclocking the memory only reduced the compute time by a minuscule amount.

3DMark Fire Strike

At default settings, the memory attained an excellent 3DMark Physics score given the dual channel configuration and Z170 chipset.

Clearly, there’s a noticeable improvement compared to the stock results which illustrates the benefits of manually overclocking the DIMMs to such a high speed.