We tested the Apacer Panther Rage RGB
The Panther Rage RGB is the latest gaming oriented memory kit from Apacer, sitting at the top of the food chain high frequency sub models and RGB lighting.
Specification wise, we are looking at the Black version as opposed to the golden one. This also happens to be the 3200MHz model in 2x 8GB kit.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
The memory kit we got is a part of the Panther Rage family of high performance DIMMs from Apacer. The Panther Rage family has frequencies ranging from 2400MHz up to 3200MHz; with 16 to 18 CAS Latency.
| SERIES | Panther Rage |
| MEMORY TYPE | DDR4 |
| CAPACITY | 16GB (2x 8GB) |
| CHANNEL | Dual Channel Kit |
| TESTED SPEED | 3200MHZ |
| TESTED LATENCY | 16-18-18-38 |
| TESTED VOLTAGE | 1.35V |
| REGISTERED/UNBUFFERED | Unbuffered |
| ERROR CHECKING | NON-ECC |
| SPD SPEED | 2133MHz |
| SPD VOLTAGE | 1.20V |
| Cooling | Passive (Heatsink) |
| HEIGHT | 40mm |
| WARRANTY | Limited Lifetime |
| FEATURES | Intel XMP 2.0, RGB Lighting, ASUS AURA SYNC |
Our kit is at the top end of the pack with 3200MHz of tested frequency and 16-18-18-38 timings. It is Intel XMP 2.0 certified with support for ASUS AURA SYNC technology.
PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES:
The Apacer Panther Rage RGB comes in a slim packing with a two piece plastic shell holding the memory kit together. There isn’t much going on here with the exception of the feature set stated at the back.
Bundled accessories are non existent so if you are looking for something like a case badge, you wont get any.
DESIGN AND BUILD QUALITY:
The Apacer Panther Rage RGB is a decent looking memory kit, emphasizing the panther design in a mirror finished fashion. Not really a fan of this design especially with the Gold version of the kit. We also get to see the intricate RGB lighting bar in a jewel like pattern.
With a height of around 40mm, the Apacer Panther Rage RGB is compatible enough with most tower and down draft coolers. That said, it is still much better if you’ll use a liquid cooling unit if you’re planning to showcase the memory kit.
The Apacer Panther Rage RGB is a single rank module. The ranked side had 8 memory chips, with 1GB of capacity each. A total of 8GB for each stick on our Panther Rage RGB model.
If you have an ASUS motherboard with support for the ASUS AURA SYNC, then lighting shouldn’t be an issue. It is also certified to work with TUF motherboards via the TUF Gaming Alliance certification.
TEST SETUP AND METHODOLOGY:
The performance of the system shall be evaluated by various benchmarking tools and applications. We are testing this system with the high-performance settings enabled at the OS, with the default UEFI configuration. Background processes such as anti-virus and third-party applications are disabled as well. Outlined below are the applications and benchmark tools for reference:
| TEST SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS | |
| PROCESSOR | Intel Core i5-6600K |
| MOTHERBOARD | ASUS Z170-A |
| CPU COOLER | Cryorig C1 Top Flow |
| MEMORY KIT | Crucial Ballistix Tactical |
| GRAPHICS CARD | ASUS GTX 1060 STRIX OC 6GB |
| INTERNAL STORAGE | Crucial BX200 480GB |
| POWER SUPPLY | CORSAIR RM850X 850W |
| DISPLAY | 27″ DELL U2715H |
| OPERATING SYSTEM | Microsoft Windows 10 Pro |
CPU AND MEMORY PERFORMANCE:
- Super PI – 32M Calculations
- wPrime – 32M and 1024M Calculations
- AIDA64 Extreme Edition – Memory Benchmark
PRODUCTIVITY PERFORMANCE:
- GIMP – 7 MB worth of image processing
- HandBrake – 150 MB MP4 to H.264 video encoding
- WinRAR – Internal benchmark tool
GAMING PERFORMANCE:
- Battlefield 4 – Ultra Settings | V-SYNC off
- DIRT: Rally – Ultra Settings | V-SYNC off
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Ultra Settings | HairWorks off | V-SYNC off
The Apacer Panther Rage RGB memory kit we got has a JEDEC standard of 2133MHz with default timings at 14-14-14-34 under 1.20v. At its XMP settings, the Panther Rage RGB features a 3200MHz frequency, together with a 16-18-18-38 timing set under 1.35v.
We never had any compatibility issues with the Apacer Panther Rage RGB on our motherboard. Requiring us just to enable the XMP and reboot the system.
CPU AND MEMORY PERFORMANCE:
Super PI is a single-threaded program that calculates pi to a specified number of digits after the decimal point. It is a widely used benchmark within the industry.
WPrime is a multi-threaded program that calculates a set number of square roots. It verifies the results by squaring them, then compares it with the original numbers.
The AIDA64 Memory Benchmark measure the data transfer bandwidth and latency of the system memory.
The Apacer Panther Rage RGB showed us solid results both at SuperPI and wPrime. It is however, slower than the Trident Z kit at AIDA64’s memory benchmarks.
PRODUCTIVITY PERFORMANCE:
GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation Program, is a free and open-source image editing tool. A 7 MB worth of images is be processed and converted to gauge the system performance.
HandBrake is a free video encoding tool that supports a wide variety of media codecs. A 150MB worth MP4 video is converted using the H.264 codec to gauge the system performance.
WinRAR is a file archive utility that can create, view and unpack numerous archive file formats. The software’s built in benchmark tool is utilized to gauge the system performance.
On our real world benchmarks, the Apacer Panther Rage RGB at 3200MHz is up there with the best memory we got.
GAMING PERFORMANCE:
Battlefield 4 is Electronic Art’s popular First Person Shooter, running on the Frostbite 3 game engine developed by DICE. It utilizes the DirectX 11 and the Mantle API.
DIRT: Rally is CODEMASTER’s take on the rally racing game genre. It utilizes the EGO game engine with support for the DirectX 11 API.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is CDProjekt RED’s award-winning Action Adventure RPG. The Witcher 3 utilizes the REDengine 3 with DirectX 11 support.
Gaming performance is nothing special, which is something I could also say for the rest of the pack.
WRAPPING IT UP:
Performance wise, we are looking at a proper 3200MHz RGB memory kit from Apacer. We have nothing to complain here really, especially with the results comparable to the more expensive kit we got.
Again, the memory kit looks decent enough, but I’m still not a fan of designs based on animals. Apacer is known to go over the top with their designs so this is actually a mellower one. We’re just glad that the RGB lighting is far better than the heat-sink design with a build quality to back it up. Still, the company really need to up the ante aesthetic wise if they want to appeal to most gamers.
Now as for the pricing, we did a little google shopping and found out that the price for a single 8GB stick is around $100 USD. That’s safe to assume that we are looking at $200 USD for two. A decent price point for a memory kit with excellent performance and a lighting feature that doesn’t suck.
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Summary
The Apacer Panther Rage RGB 3200MHZ 16GB DDR4 is a performance oriented memory module with a good RGB lighting feature.