Patriot Viper Elite II DDR4-4000 C20 Review: No Poison

Virtually every piece of modern computer hardware has RGB lighting. The memory market, in particular, is filled with flashy memory kits, and in fact it’s getting harder and harder to find regular kits. Fortunately for the ‘purists’, Patriot recently launched its Viper Elite II series, the successor to the brand’s Viper Elite series. Not only is the Viper Elite II aiming for a spot on our list of the best RAM, but the series is also trying to win over consumers who still value good old-fashioned design without all the glitz.

The Viper Elite II memory module has an aluminum heat spreader with a black and red theme. The heat spreader is a bit light in the hand, but should be able to do its job without any problems. The memory modules are 35 mm (1.38 in) high, so they are only slightly larger than standard memory modules that do not have a heat spreader.

There’s no RGB lighting on the Viper Elite II, so it relies on the aggressive design to set itself apart from the competition. Patriot implanted the Viper logos on both sides of the heat spreader and on top of the heat spreader.

The Viper Elite II has a black, eight-layer circuit board. Each memory module is 16 GB in size and features a dual-rank design. The memory modules use Hynix Integrated Circuits (ICs), although Thaiphoon Burner couldn’t find the exact model. The ICs are read out as H5AN8G8N?FR-VKC.