[Hardware] Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4-3200 C16 4x8GB Review: Fairest of Them All

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Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4-3200 C16 4x8GB Review: Fairest of Them All
Upholding the Dominator pedigree.

Corsair's Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4-3200 waltzes into a market that's one of the most competitive playgrounds in the hardware world, with new faces popping up left and right. Corsair, however, remains one of the few veteran players that has maintained its position and has several offerings on our list of top memory kits. 

The company's Dominator memory line goes all way the back to the DDR2 days. Still, the Dominator branding remains relevant thanks to Corsair's continued determination to revamp the series throughout its lifetime. The Dominator Platinum RGB is the most recent installment in the Dominator series, and Corsair recently started to offer the memory kits in white trim.

Despite all the transformations over the years, the Dominator memory modules stay true to their origins. The new Dominator Platinum RGB retains the iconic top fins, and with this iteration, Corsair dresses the memory modules in a white aluminum heat spreader with a semi-glossy finish. The gold-painted fins complement the heat spreader perfectly, while Corsair attached the matching white top bar to the body of the memory modules via four small gold screws.

From the ground up, the Dominator Platinum RGB memory modules measure 55mm (2.17 inches). All the RGB goodness is located on the top bar. There a total of 12 Capellix LEDs in each stick, one behind each square and two behind the Dominator logo. In terms of benefits, Corsair's Capellix LEDs are smaller than conventional RGB LEDs and shine brighter while consuming less power.

One thing you should know about the Dominator Platinum RGB's lighting is that it's exclusive to the Corsair brand, meaning you can only control its effects through the included iCUE software. The software allows you to synchronize the memory module's illumination with other Corsair products within the brand's ecosystem to create pretty light shows, but that can be a drawback if you want a more expansive set of options to control other components.

Being a memory kit that targets quad-channel platforms, the Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4-3200 arrives with four single-rank 8GB memory modules. The models have a 10-layer PCB that's po[CENSORED]ted with Hynix H5AN8G8NCJR-TFC, also known as C-die or CJR, integrated circuits (ICs).

At stock settings, the Dominator Platinum RGB memory modules post at DDR4-2133 with the default timings configured to 15-15-15-36. The memory modules only come with one XMP profile, which sets them to DDR4-3200 at 16-18-18-36 with 1.35V. For more on timings and frequency considerations, see our PC Memory 101 feature, as well as our How to Shop for RAM feature.