A Closer Look at the Patriot Viper RGB
There are two versions of the Viper RGB kit available. One with white heat spreaders and one with black heat spreaders. For this review, we will be looking at the kit with the black heat spreaders.
The memory modules feature a black heat spreader with a chromed viper snake head design in the center. The peaks of the frosted LED diffuser stick up above the ends of the modules by 1.5mm. Depending on the CPU cooler used, this may cause interference during installation.
The top edge of the memory module features a frosted LED diffuser with the Viper logo in the center of the module. The diffuser is designed to reduce or eliminate LED hotspots and give a more uniform look to the module when it is lit up.
Internally, the Viper RGB PCB has memory modules populated on only one side. Up near the top edge, are the RGB LEDs.
The memory ICs themselves are Samsung B-die with the model designation of K4A8G08.
Patriot is binning those ICs HARD. B-die can usually do really tight timings given enough of a voltage bump, but the difference between the 3200 and 3600 kits I have (both Viper RGB) is like night and day.