CORSAIR’S DOMINATOR LINE is nothing if not
striking. In stark contrast to its small,
slick Vengeance series, the Dominators
are heavy metal sticks that stand tall
in your motherboard’s RAM slots. The
Dominator Platinum RGB has the addition
of a dozen individually addressable LEDs
along the top of each stick, enabling a
variety of flashy RGB effects courtesy of
Corsair’s iCue program. We’re reviewing
the 32GB 3,600MHz CL16 model; a high-
powered four-piece set that will set you
back over 500 bucks.
Do they look good? Without a doubt.
iCue’s preloaded patterns make for some
seriously funky options, making these
perhaps the greatest choice for builders
looking to show off their rig’s internals.
Want a rainbow spiral revolving around
your entire mobo? It’s got you covered.
Color-coding to denote the temperature
of your CPU? You’ve got it. It’s surprising
Corsair hasn’t figured out a way to let us
play Tetr is on these little LED stacks.
We’re not the biggest fans of over-the-
top lighting, but it’s hard to deny how coolCorsair mixes things up
with its flashiest RAM yet
Dominator
Platinum RGB
32GB DDR4
3,600MHz C16
8
VERDICT Corsair Dominator Platinum
32GB 3,600MHz
HEADLIGHT Stunning
appearance; fully addressable LEDs;
good performance.
GOODNIGHT Heavy and tall; high price per
gigabyte; AMD compatibility issues.
$530, http://www.corsair.comSPECIFICATIONSCapacity 32GB (4x 8GB)
Speed 3,600MT/s
Latency 16-18-18-36
Memory Type DDR4
Best scores are in bold. Our test bench consists of an Intel Core i9-7960X, an ASUS Prime X299-Deluxe, a Nvidia Voltage 1.35V
GeForce GTX 1080 and a Samsung 850 Evo 250GB SSD.Corsair Dominator
Platinum RGB
32GB 3,600MHzG.Skill Flare X
32GB 3,200MHzCorsair Dominator
Platinum
32GB 2,400MHz
SiSoft Sandra Memory Bandwidth (GB/s) 67.7 64.9 55.8
SiSoft Sandra Memory Latency (ns) 26.3 25.6 29.7
Cinebench R15 (Index) 3,130 3,084 3,111
Rise of the Tomb Raider (fps) 125 124 124
FryBench Time to Complete (m:s) 1:10 1:10 1:11
25GB 7-Zip Compression Time (m:s) 5:58 6:12 6:38
25GB 7-Zip Decompression Time (m:s) 2:30 2:30 2:38
Price per Gigabyte $16.56 $13.90 $14.38BENCHMARKSthese can look. More important, though,
is performance. We had to meddle with
the BIOS settings to get this RAM to
work; if you’re running this on an AMD-
compatible mobo, be prepared to spend
time in the BIOS to get the settings right.
While possible in theory, we struggled
t o g e t t h i s R A M r u n n i n g a t 3 , 6 0 0 M H z o n a n
AM4 motherboard. Switching to an Asus
Prime X299-Deluxe, we had it up and
running smoothly enough (a hasty mash
of the CMOS clear button was required,
though). Once we got things going, it was
hard not to be impressed; hefty memory
bandwidth and tight latency make it clear
that this RAM is not to be messed with. It
also demonstrated speedy zip and unzip
times, but our other tests showed little to
impress; this isn’t going to blow any other
DDR4 memory out of the water.
Pricing is obviously a key concern
when upgrading RAM, and the Platinum
RGB ain’t cheap. This isn’t memory for the
faint of heart or the slender of wallet. Per
gigabyte, it costs more than pretty much
every other 32GB RAM kit on the marketright now, but the smooth 3,600MHz
means that there isn’t much it’ll struggle
with. When it comes down to it, it’s
difficult to unreservedly recommend
the Platinum RGB; while the latencies
are relatively low, there are faster kits,
and they tend to be cheaper. The need
for 32GB of memory is up for debate as
well; 16GB is often sufficient, but that’s
an argument for another day. Size is also
a concern; the overhead on these sticks
is significant, meaning that it might be
incompatible with bulky coolers.
If RGB is your thing, this is impressive.
iCue makes for a great selection of color
and pattern customization—combining
this with other RGB products from Corsair
can result in a veritable lightshow. For
builders looking to make an uber-stylish
rig, the Dominator Platinum RGB is a
solid choice. –CHRISTIAN GUYTONin the lab
86 MAXIMUMPC JUN 2019 maximumpc.com