Overall and Final Verdict
Like most of you, I’ve been used to seeing the Lexar brand in the SD and USB drive market and more recently SSDs as well. But seeing them move into the crowded memory market was a bit of a surprise. It does make sense though, they have managed to make a name in the flash market alongside countless other brands. I’m also glad that while getting into the memory market, they aren’t just going with a basic desktop-focused kit. They do have that as you can see with the second kit I tested today. But they are also eyeing the gaming market as well. The Hades kit that they sent over has a nice simple styling with its black heatspreaders and the RGB lightbar they have across the top is nice because it can be seen from both the top and the side. The top view of the lighting runs the full length of the stick as well. The lighting is bright enough and has control using either their software or any of the big name motherboard options which means you can tie it all in with your other lighting if you do that. The performance was solid, they aren’t offering anything too high-end, but the 3600 MHz kit isn’t a bad speed though I do hope they work on having options with better timings later as well.
The Desktop kit doesn’t have the RGB lighting or the heatspreaders at all but they look nearly as good with their blacked out PCB and the double stacked layout while only using one stack keeps things clean. The Desktop kit isn’t available in the same speeds as the Hades kit, but its faster 3200 MHz option is solid and lines up with the stock speeds from AMD and Intel. Both kits are listed as having a lifetime warranty which is nice and Lexar has been around for a while now so it isn’t some fly-by-night operation where a warranty like that wouldn’t mean anything. Like with the Hades kit, I wouldn’t mind seeing a little lower timing options. The only other thing that I think the desktop kit could benefit from is the branding sticker dropping the big white section to fit even better with the blacked out look.
Both kits have the potential to be a good option as long as the pricing is right and Lexar is typically good at keeping their products priced well. Of course my timing today is a little off sadly. I’m late on this coverage and both kits were previously on sale at prices that I think would be spot on to where they should be. But I missed that boat. Currently, the 3600 MHz 32GB Hades kit is available for $216.99 but was $159.99 and the 3200 MHz 32GB desktop kit is currently $169.99 but was $124.99. Overall I think these are both good options if you keep an eye out for sales which I’m sure will come back. Especially as we get closer to the holidays.
Live Pricing: HERE
Live Pricing: HERE
