It’s hard not to know Acer – it’s one of the more prominent mainstream brands in the computer industry. The company’s Predator sub-brand may not ring a bell for the typical computer user who isn’t into gaming. Nevertheless, the Predator label is home to Acer’s premium gaming PCs, laptops, monitors and chairs. To further expand its reach, Acer has created Predator Storage, a new family of high-performance storage and memory products aimed at enthusiasts and gamers alike.
However, Acer won’t actually manage Predator Storage. Following in HP’s footsteps, Acer has handed over the reins to Chinese OEM Biwin Storage to manufacture and commercialize on behalf of the Predator memory and SSDs in the United States and Canadian markets. Today is Predator Storage’s first step into the memory market. The sub-brand introduces its Apollo RGB gaming memory that offers frequencies from DDR4-3200 to DDR4-5000.
The Predator Apollo RGB memory modules have an aluminum heat spreader for effective heat dissipation. According to the brand, the design follows a cyberpunk theme. It has a two tone paint job with a mixture of black and silver colors and is cut to expose most of the LED diffuser. One thing to consider, though, is that the Predator Apollo RGB is 51.4mm (2.02in) tall, so you’ll want to make sure you have the necessary clearance for the memory modules, especially if you’re using a large CPU air . cooler.
Like any contemporary game memory, the Predator Apollo RGB is also equipped with RGB lighting that you can configure to your heart’s content. No software is provided for such purposes, but the memory is compatible with all major RGB ecosystems, including Asus Aura Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0, MSI Mystic Light Sync, and ASRock Polychrome Sync.
Our Predator Apollo RGB memory kit checks in at an unorthodox data rate of DDR4-4500. There are so few DDR4-4500 memory kits on the market that we can count them with the fingers of one hand. As you can see by now, the Predator Apollo RGB is a dual-channel 16GB memory kit, so it consists of two DDR4 memory modules with a density of 8GB each. The memory modules are based on a single-rank design and are manufactured with a 10-layer PCB and 15μm gold-plated contacts.
Using Samsung’s K4A8G085WB-BCPB (B-die) ICs, the Predator Apollo RGB is rated for DDR4-4500 at 19-19-19-39 timings with a 1.45V DRAM voltage requirement. When the XMP 2.0 profile for the advertised speed is not active, the memory modules default to DDR4-2133 with automatic timings at 15-15-15-36. For more information on timing and frequency considerations, see our PC Memory 101 feature and our story on how to buy RAM.
Comparison hardware
| Memory Kit | part number | Capacity | data rate | Primary times | Tension | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermaltake ToughRAM RGB | R009D408GX2-4600C19A | 2x 8GB | DDR4-4600 (XMP) | 19-26-26-45 (2T) | 1.50 | Lifetime |
| Predator Apollo RGB | BL.9BWWR.255 | 2x 8GB | DDR4-4500 (XMP) | 19-19-19-39 (2T) | 1.45 | Lifetime |
| Patriot Viper 4 Blackout | PVB416G440C8K | 2x 8GB | DDR4-4400 (XMP) | 18-26-26-46 (2T) | 1.45 | Lifetime |
| Klevv Cras XR RGB | KD48GU880-40B190Z | 2x 8GB | DDR4-4000 (XMP) | 19-25-25-45 (2T) | 1.40 | Lifetime |
| TeamGroup T-Force Xtreme ARGB | TF10D416G3600HC14CDC01 | 2x 8GB | DDR4-3600 (XMP) | 14-15-15-35 (2T) | 1.45 | Lifetime |
Our Intel test system consists of an Intel Core i9-10900K and Asus ROG Maximus XII Apex on the 0901 firmware. On the other hand, the AMD testbed uses an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and ASRock B550 Taichi with the 1.30 firmware. The MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Gaming Trio is the best graphics card in our RAM benchmarks.
Intel performance
The Apollo RGB kit performed as expected on the Intel platform. The memory struggled with rivals with lower frequencies and optimized timings. However, it was surprising to see that the Apollo RGB even beat the T-Force Xtreem ARGB DDR4-3600 C14 kit, if only by a few points. The Apollo RGB ranks second on the gaming chart.
AMD Performance
On the contrary, the Apollo RGB memory performed best on the AMD platform. The memory kit managed to beat all memory kits except the T-Force Dark Z FPS DDR4-4000 C16 memory kit. Gaming on the AMD platform also favored Predator Storage’s kit as it jumped to the top of the gaming chart.
Tune overclocking and latency
Despite using Samsung B-die ICs, increasing the DRAM voltage to 1.5V got us nowhere. However, bumping it to 1.55V allowed us to overclock the memory to DDR4-4600. We also reduced the timing from 19-19-19-39 to 18-18-18-38.
Lowest stable timing
| Memory Kit | DDR4-3600 (1.46V) | DDR4-4000 (1.45V) | DDR4-4200 (1.45V) | DDR4-4400 (1.45V) | DDR4-4500 (1.55V) | DDR4-4600 (1.55V) | DDR4-4666 (1.56V) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermaltake ToughRAM RGB DDR4-4600 C19 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 18-24-24-44 (2T) | 20-26-26-45 (2T) |
| Predator Apollo RGB DDR4-4500 C19 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 18-18-18-38 (2T) | 18-18-18-38 (2T) | N/A |
| Patriot Viper 4 Blackout DDR4-4400 C18 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 17-25-25-45 (2T) | 21-26-26-46 (2T) | N/A | N/A |
| Klev Cras XR RGB DDR4-4000 C19 | N/A | 18-22-22-42 (2T) | N/A | 19-25-25-45 (2T) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| TeamGroup T-Force Xtreem ARGB DDR4-3600 C14 | 13-14-14-35 (2T) | N/A | 19-19-19-39 (2T) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
If you’re completely happy with DDR4-4500, the Apollo RGB kit will be very happy with a 1.5V DRAM voltage and tight timings of 18-18-18-38. That was the lowest we could push the memory before the instability started.
Bottom Line
The first time is always the hardest, and despite it being the company’s first time entering the memory market, Predator Storage has done a good job with the Apollo RGB DDR4-4500 C19 kit. We will not go into the aesthetics of memory as it is a subjective matter. Performance-wise, the Apollo RGB won’t disappoint, but it will struggle to compete with some DDR4-4000 and above memory kits with tight timings, more specifically on Intel platforms. To its advantage, the Apollo RGB features high-quality Samsung B-die ICs, so overclocking and tweaking are definitely on the menu, but your mileage will vary.
The price tag of the Apollo RGB DDR4-4500 C19 kit will be the hardest to swallow for most consumers. The MSRP for the memory kit is $299.99, so it’s on the pricier end of the spectrum. It’s hard to consider the Apollo RGB DDR4-4500 C19 at current prices, especially when you have strong competitors like Patriot’s Viper 4 Blackout DDR4-4400 C18, which will set you back just $134.99. However, hardware doesn’t always sell at the manufacturer-set MSRP, especially when it comes to products like memory that often have volatile prices, so it remains to be seen whether the Apollo RGB DDR4-4500 C19 will live up to the $299.99 price tag. . retained when it lands at retailers this month.