Predator Talos DDR4-3600 C18 2x8GB Review Sluggish Heavyweight

Clean design without the flashy lights

OUR VERDICT

The Predator Talos DDR4-3600 C18 is an average memory kit that could appease AMD owners, but the Intel crowd might want to give this one a pass.

FOR

+ Tolerable AMD performance

+ Reasonable price

+ Robust and RGB-less design

AGAINST

- Poor performance on Intel

- Slim overclocking headroom

Predator Storage, an Acer sub-brand, is the newest player to join the storage and memory game. Being the new kid on the block, Predator Storage's memory portfolio is currently comprised of the Apollo and Talos lineups. While the Apollo series has proven to be a worthy competitor in the memory market, the Talos' potential remains to be seen. 

Predator Storage sells the Talos memory in both single module and dual-channel presentations. The latter is available up to 64GB (2x32GB), while the frequency ranges start at DDR4-2666 and top out at DDR4-4800.

The Talos kit is the polar opposite of the Apollo. Predator Storage opted for a more simple design that's not adorned with gaudy RGB lighting, so the heat spreader carries a black-and-white theme with only the Predator logo in the middle.

The first thing you notice when holding the Talos in your hand is its weight. The memory module is noticeably heavier than other memory that we've tested. The heat spreader is made from a zinc alloy material. The Talos weighs in at 97.91 grams (0.22 pounds). The memory is tall but not excessively so at 45.6mm (1.16 inches).

The Talos is equipped with a black PCB with eight layers, and Predator Storage claims the heavy heat spreader helps keep the operating temperature in check. The 16GB memory kit consists of two 8GB memory modules with a single-rank design. The integrated circuits (ICs) hail from Micron. However, Thaiphoon Burner wasn't able to detect the exact model. If we fill in the blanks, the ICs could be Micron E-die (MT40A1G8SA-075:E).

The Talos memory modules check-in at DDR4-2666 with 19-19-19-43 timings. Only one XMP profile is present, which sets the data rate to DDR4-3600, timings to 18-20-20-42, and the DRAM voltage to 1.35V. For more on timings and frequency considerations, see our PC Memory 101 feature, as well as our How to Shop for RAM story.

Comparison Hardware

Our Intel-based system uses an Intel Core i9-10900K processor and Asus ROG Maximus XII Apex. The motherboard runs on the 0901 firmware. On the opposite side, our AMD testbed is based on the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and the Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero. The latter is on the 3501 firmware. For graphics, we turned to the MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Gaming Trio to take care of the gaming RAM benchmarks.

Intel Performance

Predator Storage's Talos memory didn't have a good showing on the Intel platform. The memory kit came in last in both application and gaming performance and didn't shine in any particular workload.

The Talos performed better on the AMD platform. The memory kit found itself in the middle of the pack in both application and gaming performance. Once again, the Talos didn't put in any outstanding performance in a specific benchmark.

Overclocking and Latency Tuning

Bumping the DRAM voltage from 1.35V to 1.45V allowed us to push the Talos from DDR4-3600 to DDR4-3900. We had to increase the CAS Latency by one cycle, but managed to drop the tRAS by two cycles.

Lowest Stable Timings

Lowest Stable Timings

With the same increase in voltage, we tightened the Talos' memory timings from 18-20-20-42 down to 15-18-18-38. It's an acceptable margin considering that the memory uses Micron ICs.

Bottom Line

The Predator Talos DDR4-3600 C18 won't attract everyone's attention. The aesthetics are fine, but the memory kit's uneven performance is one of its weakest points. The Talos performed better on our AMD system than the Intel testbench. This will inevitably reduce the number of potential buyers for this particular Talos memory kit.

The MSRP for the Predator Talos DDR4-3600 C18  is $119.99, but you can find the memory kit for just $92.99 on Newegg. It's a fair asking price, however, if you're looking for something that's faster or with more flair, Adata's XPG Spectrix D50 DDR4-3600 C18 retails for only $109.99.

Source: tom’s HARDWARE