Intel NUC NUC5i5RYK Running HyperX Impact 1600MHz and 1866MHz Memory Review
Final Thoughts and Conclusions:
Our performance tests showed that a 1866MHz memory kit performs better than a 1600MHz memory kit in every benchmark that we tried, so if you are going for performance the answer is crystal clear as to which kit to invest in. We were very shocked to learn that there is absolutely no price difference between a Kingston HyperX Impact Black 8GB 1600MHz CL9 memory kit ($71.99 shipped) versus a Kingston HyperX Impact Black 8GB 1866MHz CL10 memory kit ($71.99 shipped). Since both kits cost the same amount of money the obvious choice would be to go with a 1866MHz memory kit! If you wanted to go with a HyperX Impact Black 16GB 1600MHz CL9 kit of memory you can for $134.99 shipped or for $140.74 shipped you can move up to the 16GB 1866MHz CL10 kit that we used here today. The part number on the 16GB 1866MHz kit is HX318LS10IBK2/16 to make sure you are looking at the right one.
Keep in mind that not all DDR3L 1866MHz memory kits are going to work in the latest Intel Broadwell based NUC kits. We learned from Intel that some 1866MHz kits will hang on boot due to the advanced SPD settings and this is why Intel does not officially support 1866MHz memory kits. From what we gather the biggest culprit is the tCWL setting as if it is set to 10 or higher the system will not post. If you have a SODIMM kit of DDR3L memory that is 1866MHz or faster and won’t work in a NUC you might want to try lowering the tCWL timing in the UEFI under the manual memory adjustments to 9 and see if the system boots. This is not something an average consumer will want to mess around with, so we understand why Intel doesn’t officially support 1866MHz kits.
If you are looking at building an Intel NUC NUC5i5RYK or Intel NUC NUC5i5RYH and want the best performance possible we can easily recommend the Kingston HyperX Impact Black Series and either the 8GB or 16GB 1866MHz dual-channel memory kits. We found the Kingston HyperX Impact Black Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3L 1866MHz CL10 204-pin SODIMM memory kit performed flawlessly and you can’t beat the price or lifetime warranty.
Legit Bottom Line: The Kingston HyperX Impact Black 16GB kit of 1866MHz DDR3L Memory helped improve the overall system responsiveness on our Intel NUC (NUC5i5RYK) and the system was rock solid!