Almost every day, we hear talk about ever-faster DDR5 memory speeds. In less than two weeks I wrote about G.Skill’s upcoming Trident Z5 DDR5-6800 CL32 memory (opens in new tab)As impressive as that kit may be, it looks like a mere tease of what Intel’s 13th Gen CPUs will finally be capable of.
Intel List of memory kits that support XMP 3.0 (opens in new tab) (via bench life (opens in new tab)). The latest kits support up to 7600MHz. Yes, it’s DDR5-7600. The kit in question was created by G.Skill and has been validated on Asus’ upcoming Maximus Z790 Apex motherboard. There is also his 7466MHz kit made by G.Skill, but this time validated with his more global Z790 Hero and Apex.
Several other high-speed kits are listed, with Teamgroup, Kingston, and Adata all having kits above 7000MHz. Note that not all have 2x16GB capacity. I have some 2x32GB sets running at a staggering 7200MHz. This is a good indicator that the 13th generation memory controller has been upgraded. None of the fastest kits have been validated (at least not yet) with 12th generation processors.
These very fast modules will likely utilize the 2nd generation Hynix A die chips. First-generation Micron and Samsung-based memory doesn’t reach these speeds, but the best kits available today in the 6400MHz to 6600MHz range use his Hynix M die. DDR5 is getting better all the time. And there are years of development ahead of that.
As DDR5 speeds increase, any remaining latency issues will fade into the rearview mirror. There are exceptions, but games tend to be latency sensitive, so his high-quality DDR4 kit is perfectly viable, even if he runs at half the speed of DDR5. But once the speed crosses his 7000MHz threshold, his 7200MHz on the C34 roughly matches his top spec 3600 C14 set. The 2nd and 3rd order timings are still better than the best of his DDR4 kits, but the real difference is irrelevant. In addition, it has the advantage of doubling the bandwidth.
Moorlam
Best DDR5 RAM (opens in new tab): latest and greatest
Best DDR4 RAM (opens in new tab): Affordable and Fast
What we don’t know is the price of these mega kits – DDR5 will still cost more than DDR4, and there’s no question that these extremely fast kits will be very expensive. A 7000MHz+ 2x32GB kit is a ridiculous amount of money. Hopefully it won’t last forever as production ramps up, especially as demand surges as Ryzen 7000 and 13th Gen upgraders enter the market.
Personally, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on this 2nd generation DDR5. I may not need it, but I certainly want it.
