Conclusion
Looking up the price for 2x4 GB sets of DDR3-1866 Viper 3 via geizhals.de, we see offers currently starting at 54 Euros plus shipping across the EU. This makes the Patriot the best value in the 8 GB category, as the only Ballistix set, that beats it on the combination of specs and price, is based on Micron chips, that are way less overclockable.
Once again, we took a humble Patriot product, which didn’t promise much on paper, and ended up running it at 50% over its rated frequency. We guess that being busy with other business ventures does not allow Patriot to concentrate on maxing out the Viper lineup which, from an overclocker's perspective, is actually a good thing. Although it also means that Patriot do not pay attention to detail; green PCB and featherweight heatspreaders are two things quite a few users might want to see changed.
Award
Still, the 8 GB version of Viper 3 Black Mamba does not drop the pace set by other Patriot models, for what it deservedly gets an ocaholic rating of
4.5 stars out of five.