Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 Memory Review – This or Vengeance RGB Pro?

It’s been a year since Corsair released the RGB version of their popular Dominator Platinum DDR4 memory. By now, there are a lot of reviews out there regarding this memory. So, aside from simply reviewing the Dominator Platinum RGB, why don’t we answer one of the most common questions regarding this memory. Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB vs Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 memory, which one should you get? Both the Dominator Platinum RGB and Vengeance RGB PRO are high performance and top of the line DDR4 memory modules. Both looks premium, have RGB lighting, although implementation and the LEDs used are different; and both seems to perform quite well. So, in this review and comparison, let’s take a closer look on the Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 memory and compare it with the Vengeance RGB Pro.

Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4-3200MHz Review

Corsair’s Dominator series has been around for more than a decade now. We have seen various designs and aesthetics since then; but the iconic “comb-like” fins on top of each Dominator memory is always present. Fast forward today and we now have the Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4. It features a sleek all-black design with a bar on top and the iconic grills just beneath it.

The Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 is available in kit of 2 sticks or 4 sticks; with capacities ranging from 16GB up to 128GB and speeds from 3000MHz to 4800MHz. Although, that DDR4-48000MHz is currently nowhere to be found at the time I wrote this review. Perhaps, it’s a very limited stock or item. Most Dominator Platinum RGB in stores have a speed of 3000MHz to 4266MHz.

The specific memory kit that we got here is the Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4-3200MHZ CL16. Below are the rest of the specs of this specific memory kit. After that, let’s take a closer look and discuss more of its features.

Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4-3200 Specifications

Packaging, Closer Look and Tear Down of Dominator Platinum RGB

The Dominator Platinum’s box is somewhat unique, it’s an octagon shape and the packaging alone separate the Dominator Platinum from the other DDR memory that Corsair has. It’s like Corsair is telling us that “this is unique and different guys!”. Well, something like that.

Inside the box is a protective foam surrounding the memory module. You can’t clearly see it, but the memory sticks are protected by a clear plastic shell or covering. The Dominator Platinum has a symmetrical design, so either side looks the same; but there is a sticker on one side where information regarding the memory stick is printed.

The Dominator Platinum RGB feels solid on hand and it does really feel premium. The all-black design and color scheme is very sleek looking and I personally love the aesthetics of the Dominator Platinum. According to Corsair, it “represents the pinnacle of premium craftsmanship, starting with a custom 10-layer PCB that guarantees signal quality and stability”.

Also, the memory chips built into each and every Dominator Platinum are said to be hand-sorted and tightly screened to ensure tight response times and high-frequency performance with ample headroom for overclocking. Well, regarding overclocking, I’ll get into that later.

Corsair’s Dominator Platinum also features a patented Dual-Path DHX cooling technology that cools the module through both the anodized aluminum heat spreader and the copper planes embedded directly into the PCB. You can see that from the tear down below.

It’s very easy to dismantle the Dominator Platinum. You only need a T6 size Torx screw to unscrew the four Torx screws on each side of the module. After that, gently remove the top bar and gently peel off the heat spreader and that’s it. Be careful though since the LEDs are not soldered on the PCB. There are on a separate ribbon, as you can see from the photos above.

Speaking of LEDs, unlike the Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro, the Dominator Platinum RGB features 12 Capellix RGB LEDs. These are said to be brighter and last longer than the usual RGB LEDs and are very small, just 0.2mm³. The Capellix RGB LEDs also use less power, so it basically runs more efficient and with no impact on the memory’s temperature.

A quick search regarding the memory chip – K4A8G085WC-BCTD, reveals that it is from Samsung. Each memory chip has a density of 8Gb and a rated speed of 2666Mbps. There are 8 of these chips to make 8GB of memory per stick. The kit that we have here is also single-sided, meaning only one side of the PCB has memory chips. If I am not mistaken, I think most of Corsair’s memory has this kind of setup or configuration.

While you don’t need Corsair’s software to overclock or tweak the Dominator Platinum RGB; you do need to install Corsair’s iCUE software to customize the lighting effects. If you also own one or more of Corsair’s product then integrating or syncing the Dominator Platinum RGB with the system won’t be a problem.

I have to admit, those blocks or square patterns are pretty unique and they give a different and refreshing eye candy than the usual bar-like RGB lighting. I only got a 2-stick memory kit, so the visual effects don’t look as good compared to a 4-stick or even 8-stick kit like the one on the photo above.

Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB vs Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4

Both the Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB and Vengeance RGB Pro are premium and high-performance products from the company. However, even without the LEDs turned on, you can already tell the difference just by looking at the top bar area.

The Vengeance RGB Pro doesn’t have Capellix RGB LEDs and the RGB LEDs are soldered on the top portion of the PCB of the Vengeance RGB Pro. This means that the Dominator has a bit of the advantage since the Capallix RGB LEDs don’t consume as much power compared to the regular RGB LEDs on the Vengeance. And on top of that, the Capellix RGB LEDs are not soldered on the PCB.

Another key difference between the Dominator Platinum RGB vs the Vengeance RGB Pro is the internal design. The Vengeance doesn’t feature the Dominator’s Dual-Path DHX cooling technology. However, I don’t think that would be a big issue since the Vengeance RGB Pro runs cool and has a sufficient-sized heat spreader as well.

Also, according to Corsair the Dominator is supposed to overclock better than the Vengeance RGB Pro due to the hand-screened memory ICs. Corsair did also mention on their press release that the “Vengeance RGB Pro is tightly screened for high-performance”.

The Dominator Platinum RGB is available with speeds up to 4800MHz, while the Vengeance RGB Pro is available with speeds up to 4600MHz only. Although, I don’t think most of us will buy memory kits with speeds beyond 3200MHz. A 3000MHz or 3200MHz is very much sufficient for day to day use or gaming needs.

Overclocking aside, I guess the most obvious difference between the two is the aesthetics. Some of you may like how the Dominator Platinum looks like, while others would prefer the RGB lighting on the Vengeance RGB Pro. Their respective prices also differ, with the Dominator Platinum RGB having a (slightly) higher price than the Vengeance RGB Pro. Although, I don’t think that their prices would be a major deciding factor, since depending on where you buy, the price difference isn’t really that significant at all.

Now let’s see what kind of performance do we get from the Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 memory.

Test Setup for Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4

I tested the Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 on an MSI MEG Z390 ACE motherboard powered with an Intel Core i7-8700K. The rest of the specifications of the system are as follows:

Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64bit ver. 1903
Motherboard: MSI MEG Z390 ACE
Processor: Intel Core i7-8700K
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i RGB Platinum AIO
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4-3200 16GB
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super Founders Edition
Storage Drives: Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe SSD, Crucial MX500 2TB
Power Supply: Seasonic 850W Prime Titanium
Chassis: Thermaltake Core P5

Below are the AIDA64 SPD information of the Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 memory, including the CPU-Z screenshots of the system.

Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4-3200MHz Benchmark Results

We can see from the benchmark results that the 3200MHz Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 memory is just were it is supposed to be. Its performance is between a 3000MHz memory kit and a 4000MHz memory kit. It’s just on par with the other 3200MHz memory kit that we have tested before.

Since the 16GB Vengeance RGB Pro kit that I have is only a DDR4-3000MHz (XMP) kit; I decided to overclock it to 3200MHz and match the timings and speed of the Dominator Platinum RGB. As expected, it performed similarly with the Dominator Platinum; and it actually performed slightly better when it comes to latency. Although, their real-world use is actually unnoticeable at all.

Honestly, there’s not a huge difference between a 3000MHz memory kit and a 3200MHz memory kit. You can’t probably tell the difference if a system is running on a memory with a speed of 3000MHz or a speed of 3200MHz. Not unless you benchmark the system memory.

So, performance-wise my Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4-3200MHz is just performing as expected. But when it comes to overclocking, well that’s a different story…

How About Overclocking the Dominator Platinum DDR4?

Well, unfortunately, the memory stick that I got didn’t quite overclock well with the MSI MEG Z390 ACE motherboard. I’m not sure why, because I was able to overclock the Vengeance RGB Pro from 3000MHz (XMP) to 3400MHz stable. I can even push it to 3600MHz but it wasn’t very stable at those speeds anymore. I’m not sure why my Dominator Platinum RGB won’t even overclock to 3400MHz. Well, it should be able to do that considering that others were able to overclock theirs up to around 3800MHz-4000MHz.

I tried to install it to my X570 system; consisting of an MSI MEG X570 ACE motherboard powered with AMD Ryzen 7 3700X. And surprisingly, I was able to overclock the Dominator Platinum RGB to 3400MHz. Beyond that, it would simply fail.

I guess the memory kit that I got isn’t as good compared to other kits, that why it’s not overclocking well. The other reason is the system I used. Probably it would overclock well with a different motherboard, from Asus or Gigabyte. Unfortunately, I currently don’t have one to test it with.

So, it’s not really a guarantee that you will get a memory kit that overclocks well, at least in my experience. The system that you have also plays an important role. But at least the XMP settings works well.

Pricing and Availability

The Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 memory is now available. Its price does vary depending on the memory kit; the capacity or size of the kit and the speed. Also, there are memory kits that have a lower CAS Latency but faster frequency and they tend to be more expensive (or very expensive). The Dominator Platinum RGB is also backed by a limited lifetime warranty and the Corsair worldwide customer service and technical support network. Since the price varies and changes from time to time, kindly check out the links below for the latest pricing and availability.

Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 latest pricing and availability (#ad):
For US: available on Amazon.com here or Newegg.com here
For UK: available on Amazon UK here

CORSAIR Vengeance RGB PRO DDR4 latest pricing and availability (#ad):
For US: available on Amazon.com here or Newegg.com here
For UK: available on Amazon UK here

Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 Review Conclusion – So Which One To Get?

Time to wrap up this review. The Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 is a premium and great looking memory module. It performs well as expect, though in my case, I can’t really say that it overclocks well. Perhaps it may be an isolated case, hopefully I can get a different kit, perhaps with different speed for testing.

Design-wise, I like the Dominator Platinum RGB more compared to the Vengeance RGB Pro. And I think this is also one of the major factors in deciding whether you should get the Dominator Platinum or the Vengeance Pro. If you are an (extreme) overclocker looking to break some world record, I’m pretty sure you already know what memory kit will you get and I’m pretty sure you already have a good idea about this topic as well.

However, for most of us, I think aesthetics would be the major deciding factor. The Dominator Platinum is a bit more expensive compared to the Vengeance RGB Pro, so pricing could also play as a factor. However, looking at the currently pricing, the difference isn’t really that significant at all.

By the way, you also need to check if the motherboard or system that you currently have (or will buy) supports the Vengeance Pro and/or the Dominator Platinum. From what I read, the X99 platform doesn’t support both memory or has compatibility issues with the system. I’m not sure if a BIOS update for those X99 motherboards has already been released. So, before buying a memory module, be sure to check if the motherboard supports it or not.

I also think that the 3000MHz or the 3200MHz is the sweet spot when it comes to speed. There are a lot of article and reference recommending the 3200MHz memory speed as the sweet spot. When I have more time, I’ll do a side by side test which is better when it comes to gaming.

If you don’t like the RGB lighting, Corsair also has the Vengeance LPX, and it too is a really good memory module. Not to mention it’s also cheaper and smaller than the Dominator Platinum and Vengeance RGB Pro.

At the end of the day, I think it really depends on one’s preference. The Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 memory module is an excellent memory kit. And I can say the same for the Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 as well. Unless the motherboard doesn’t support it, you can’t go wrong with either memory modules.