Geil believes it has the best RAM for gaming for anyone who owns (or is planning to build) a small form factor (SFF) system. It's an odd marketing pitch, as special RAM is not needed for a compact build—just one that fits.
To Geil's credit, its new Evo Spear Phantom Gaming Edition memory could be considered low profile these days, as it doesn't have a towering heatsink design like many RAM kits do. However, it's really just a "standard-height" kit, in Geil's own words.
"Featuring a stylish and stealthy standard-height heat spreader, Evo Spear Phantom Gaming Edition memory can be used in most case designs especially the SFF systems and full-sized gaming PCs. It’s ideal for gamers, enthusiasts, and case modders looking to maximize gaming performance with minimum investment," Geil says.
Geil is also pushing the low power angle, saying its new memory "is available as single modules and kits up to 64GB and runs as low as 1.2V and at max 1.35V, thereby resulting in less power consumption and higher reliability."
Running at that voltage is not unique to just the Evo Spear series, though. Lower speed kits like Corsair's 16GB Vengeance LPX DDR4-2666 and G.Skill's 16GB Ripjaws V Series DDR4-2666 also run at 1.2V.
Geil's website doesn't break its kits down individually, by my hunch is that its newest Evo Spear kits in DDR4-2400 and DDR4-2666 form run at 1.2V, while the DDR4-3000 and DDR4-3200 variants require 1.35V. That is pretty standard in the memory industry.
Finally, Geil also partnered with ASRock on this new RAM. It should work fine in any DDR4 motherboard, though according to Geil, ASRock provided some additional validation for its Phantom Gaming motherboards.
"It meets ASRock’s validation beyond industry standards and offers a cost-efficient upgrade for faster gaming, video editing, and 3D rendering. Gamers and enthusiasts no longer need to compromise on case design," Geil says.
The Phantom Gaming logo is also plastered on Geil's new RAM, in case you're interested in matching the look of your memory with your motherboard.
What it boils down to is a whole lot of marketing. That doesn't mean the RAM is bad, and if priced right, it could be compelling for any setup, compact or otherwise. Geil has not announced pricing or said when the new kits will be available. As points of reference, here's a look at pricing for some of its regular Evo Spear kits:
- Geil Evo Spear AMD Edition 8GB DDR4-2400: $39.99, Newwgg
- Geil Evo Spear AMD Edition 8GB DDR4-2666: $54.99, Newegg
- Geil Evo Spear 16GB DDR4-3000: $79.99, Newegg
I suspect its Phantom Gaming models to priced at least in the same ballpark, but we'll have to wait and see.
