Kingston's kit has an enormous 16GB per second theoretical peak transfer rate
One of the biggest changes Intel has made with Core i7 is, of course, the integration of the memory controller onto the chip die. For its high end chips, it's also switched from dual to triple channel controllers.
Given that changes in memory speed should have a far larger impact on Core i7 than they did on the Core 2 series – where the FSB was more likely to be a bottleneck – putting the fastest possible memory into a Nehalem machine will be key to unlocking its true performance.
So continuing the 'Speed Week' theme here at TechRadar, these are five of the best memory kits around, whatever machine you have at home.
OCZ PC3-10666 Platinum - £232
Most of the main memory manufacturers already have three stick kits on the market for enabling triple channel support on an X58 motherboard. The bad news is that Core i7 requires DDR3 memory, which does still command a price premium.
OCZ's Platinum kit consists of three 2GB modules for a whopping 6GB of RAM, which actually works out at quite a reasonable price. Better yet, it's rated for tight latency timings of 7-7-7-20. Crucially, it also conforms to the low voltages allowed by the on board memory controller of Core i7.
The heatspreaders on OCZ's Platinum range are an unusual honeycomb design, which allow air to flow over the memory chips for extra cooling. The kits also come with a lifetime warranty.
Kingston HyperX KHX 1600003K3 - £204
Raw speed rules all as far as Kingston is concerned, and while this 3GB kit may not suit those who want the large amounts of RAM that 64bit operating systems allow, the 2000MHz clockspeed will find a few fans. That's because there's an enormous 16GB per second theoretical peak transfer rate on offer here.
There is a slight drawback. In order to hit the modest memory voltages allowed by Core i7's rather sensitive controller – 1.65v compared to other DDR3 platforms which allow 2v or more – sacrifices have to be made. In this case the latency settings of 9-9-9-27 may slow things down a bit, but not too much. We'll be able to report further after a full review.
Super Talent DDR3 PC3-10666 - £75
The good news is that not all motherboards based on the X58 chipset are relying on the Core i7 chip itself for voltage regulation. If a board has individual BIOS settings for the memory modules themselves, there's a good chance you'll be able to get away with older modules that require a little more juice. Like this older and better value kit from Super Talent.
If you're looking to build a very fast system based on the Core 2 or Athlon platforms, the good news is that fore modules like this prices are no longer quite as outrageous as they were. It's a twin pack of single gigabyte sticks runs at 1333MHz, with latency settings of 8-8-9-18. That means you could put together a 4GB system for around £150.
Corsair Dominator 2000C9F - £224
The cream of the crop when it comes to performance memory, Corsair's Dominator range is legendary. Its success is largely thanks to a unique – and expensive – heatspreader design which draws warmth from both sides of the chips to keep them super-cool under overclocking.
This lightening fast 2000MHz DDR2 kit has been around for a while now, but is still the uncompromising choice for anyone looking to push a Core 2 system to the limit. It overclocks stupidly well and even comes packaged with clip on fans to increase cooling and stability.
Corsair hasn't been slow off the mark with i7 support though, and there are Dominator kits available for triple channel set-ups at 1600MHz and 1866MHz speeds.
G.Skill 4GB PC2-8500C5 - £72
The launch of Nehalem hasn't managed to change the fact the very best value quad core chip for overclocking remains Intel's aging Core 2 Q6600. Because it uses DDR2 memory, it's very easy to build a low price system around, and still packs enough power to compete with the best when FSB speeds are tweaked.
As far as these older Core 2 chips go, quantity is a far better bet than quality – in terms of speed and timings – for memory. So long as the chips aren't going to fail under pressure, the FSB and chip cache will be the data bottleneck long before the RAM struggles to cope with demand.
There are lots of 4GB memory kits out there for getting the most from a Core 2 chip under Vista 64 (or even Linux, if you're brave).
G.Skill's 1066MHz kit is both swift and very good value, and while it may not come armed with the fancy heatsink of some of its peers, it will help out with practical things like gaming.