Themed PC builds are nothing new, but now more than ever, they are accessible to the average user. Whether you are going for a subtle, monochromatic build or an RGB overdose straight out of a euphoric, rainbowy unicorn-laden dream, form and function can go together without breaking the bank. In today’s review, we are going to look at a RAM kit from ZADAK that delivers competitive performance and pricing. Did I mention that, aesthetically, it could fit into either enough of the spectrum mentioned above? This is our review of the ZADAK Spark RGB 3200MHz RAM kit.
Specifications
- MSRP: $100 (ZADAK Website)
- Base Frequency: 2133MHz
- Base CAS Latency: 16-18-18-38
- Base Voltage: 1.35V
- Memory Kit Size: 2 x 8GB
- DRAM Manufacturer: SK Hynix
- Module Manufacturer: Apacer Technology
- Tested Frequency: 3200MHz
- Tested CAS Latency: 16-18-18-38
- Tested Voltage: 1.35V
- Format: NON-EEC Unbuffered DIMM
- Head Spreader: Anodized Aluminum
- Pin Out: 288-Pin
- XMP Support
- RGB Control: ASUS Aura Sync, MSI Mystic Light Sync, Razer Chroma, ASRock Polychrome Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0
- Warranty: Lifetime
- Available Speeds: 2666 MHz, 3000 MHz, 3200 MHz, 2600 MHz, 4133 MHz
In case you are unfamiliar with the brand, the ZADAK name has only been floating around for around five years. An offshoot of storage and memory giant Apacer Technology, the ZADAK brand was born out of a passion for PC modding and design. This branch initially focused on water-cooled computers and cases, but has begun to grow through the pursuit of bold ideas, exploring the curious edges of PC part possibilities. With a special attention to these details, ZADAK is releasing the Spark line of products.
If you missed that, let me say it again: ZADAK Spark isn’t just a RAM kit. There is also an all-in-one (AiO) CPU water cooler that carries the Spark pedigree. You may catch a glimpse of it in some of the product pictures within this article, because we reviewed the ZADAK Spark AIO not too long ago!
Upon receiving the product, it was apparent that ZADAK wants to be known as a quality brand, through and through. We don’t often talk about product packaging here, because it has zero bearing on performance, but there was a care in packaging that felt like they aim to become a force to be reckoned with.
The DIMMs have a balanced heft to them thanks to the anodized aluminum heat spreader. Their design is simple, but elegant. The second I saw them, I knew they would populate the RAM sockets in my white, black, and silver build perfectly! The main body of the heat spread is black with silver caps and just enough spacing in the middle to let the RGB shine through.
The RGB of the ZADAK Spark RAM is programmable through a myriad of popular controller software. Since I am already using Aura with my ASUS Prime X570-Pro and Razer Chroma for the Razer Huntsman TE, I tested both out to see what kind of dynamic, multi-zone control I could get. As it turns out, it all depends on the software.
Initially, I had to use an older version of Aura Sync to control the ZADAK Spark RGB. After a more recent update to Aura with the ASUS Armoury Kit, I was able to control them just fine. There was plenty of control to tune the colors and effect just right. Razer Chroma, was a different story all together. It did not see the kit at all. This is one area that your mileage may vary.
The colors are not overly bright, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t beautiful. The default setting has them cycle through a rainbow of colors, but it didn’t feel like I was staring into the fever dream I described earlier. The gradient blended brilliantly as they presented a cascade of color flowing into the next without being blinding.
The aesthetics of the ZADAK Spark RGB are great, but that does not tell us anything about function. Let’s dive into some data!
Synthetic Benchmarks
As we get into the numbers, let’s lay out the system specifications for our test bench:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3800X
- Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H100i RGB PLATINUM SE 240mm Liquid
- RAM: 32GB ZADAK Spark RGB DDR4-3200
- Motherboard: ASUS Prime X570-Pro
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition
- Storage: 1TB WD_Black SN750, 256GB Patriot Scorch, 2 TB Seagate FireCuda
- PSU: NZXT E850
- Case: NZXT H510 Elite
To begin our synthetic tests, we ran PCMark 10 for general productivity performance numbers as well its gaming specific test, AIDA64 for RAM read/write speeds and comparison with a few other RAM kits in its class, SuperPi for computation numbers, and PassMark to give us a picture of how well it handles caching. For comparison, we put Patriot’s Viper RGB and Silicon Power XPower Turbine RAM through some of the same tests.
There are two factors to note within these tests. The first factor is that each of the compared product runs comparatively with XMP enabled, but the XPOWER Turbine has a higher base clock speed (2400MHz) versus that of both the ZADAK Spark and the Patriot Viper RAM kits. The other factor is that ZADAK sent us two 16GB kits for this review. To keep tests equal, we will only be comparing the performance of each RAM kit at 16GB. We will still show some of the numbers running at 32GB within our charts.
Beginning with PassMark 9, the ZADAK Spark performs marginally below (~150MB/s) the Patriot Viper and XPOWER Turbine in cached memory, but exceeds them in write performance by ~1GB/s. What is really interesting about these numbers is that even though at 2133MHz, the ZADAK Spark comes very close to the write performance of both kits tuned to 3200MHz.
Moving on to AIDA64, the ZADAK Spark RGB RAM matched the Patriot Viper at 25.52 GB/s in write speeds, but edges both the Viper and Turbine out in read speeds. This is an interesting turn from our testing in PassMark 9. We are, however, looking at numbers that are within the margin of error from one another and the differences in performance would be nearly imperceptible.
With SuperPi, the benchmark will calculate the digits of Pi out to a specific decimal. For our test, we ran it all the way out to the 32 millionth decimal. In this test, we saw the Spark compute these numbers in a little over nine minutes. When placed in comparison with the other modules tested, the Spark held a ~3 second lead at 2133MHz and ~2 second lead with the XMP profile enabled.
Finally, in PCMark 10, we ran the gaming specific test to give us a picture of how the PC overall handled computational processes related to gaming. While the difference in performance scores between the kits was marginal, the ZADAK Spark fell squarely in the middle of the pack. When putting this into actual difference in frames per second, the difference was quite insignificant - around 3 FPS difference.
Final Thoughts
Choosing a RAM kit for your PC can be a bit confusing in a market filled with options. What ZADAK offers with the Spark RGB is a kit that is both affordable and stylish. The performance was on par with the RAM kits we tested it against, even pushing ahead of in some instances. The RGB is not overwhelming, but it does provide a nice accent to your overall on top of well built DIMMs.
We are still waiting on an official North American release for ZADAK products, but we have been assured that it is coming soon. When it comes down to it, the ZADAK Spark RGB can live in balance between form, function, and affordability, giving your system the resources it needs without draining your bank’s resources dry. That is a win in my book.
The product discussed in this article was provided by the manufacturer for the purposes of review.