When the first DDR5 memory kit was released, many enthusiasts were most worried about two things: latency and price. The best release kit was near the DDR5-6400C40 mark, and there was also a Samsung-based 6000MHz C36 kit. Many months later, the technology is mature, which means that those early worries are diminished.
DDR5 latency seems to be declining every month. Back in November 2021, the CAS latency was 40, even with the low speed kit. After 6 months fast forward, you can see that G.Skill has released a 6600MHz kit with only 34 CLs. This looks great on paper, but running the kit at that speed can be a pain on some motherboards. G.Skill knows that and has released a more user-friendly kit. It operates at 5600MHz with a timing of 28-34-34-89. This is the lowest latency DDR5 kit ever.
The G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR-5600 memory at hand for review is a 32GB (2x 16GB) kit that runs at 1.35V. It looks the same as any other Trident Z5 RGB kit and you can choose between black and silver. I have confirmed the other two Trident Z5 kits. It is Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6400C32. (Opens in a new tab) Kit and Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6000 C36 (Opens in a new tab) Return the kit at launch. Comparing this DDR5-5600C28 kit is an interesting exercise.
At the time of writing, the kit costs $ 379, which is a problem. Going back six months, the price is very good. But nowadays, high quality 6000 and 6400MHz memory is available for less. $ 350 (at the time of writing) is more expensive than G.Skill’s own 6400MHz C34 kit. If you look at Newegg, you’ll see that there are only a handful of kits that cost more than $ 379.
But from some perspectives, the best kits were over $ 600 at the beginning of the year when they weren’t essentially available anyway. $ 379 may be a lot, but at least it’s on a downtrend. If AMD’s DDR5-only Zen4 platform will be sold in large quantities when it goes on sale later this year, it’s important to lower the price of DDR5.
RGB lighting can be controlled by G.Skill’s simply named lighting control software. However, if you already have the RGB control app on your motherboard installed, it will also work. According to G.Skill, the kit can be controlled by Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and ASRock RGB control apps. Benchmarked with Asus Maximus Z690 Apex and later popped into a system with MSI Z690 Unify. The MSI Mystic Light app had no problems detecting the lighting in the Trident Z5 kit and synchronizing it with the rest of the system.
Trident Z5 specifications
Model name: G. Skill F5-5600J2834F16GX2-TZ5RK
Memory type: Unbuffered DDR5
capacity: 32GB (2x 16GB)
Rated speed: 5600MHz
Rated latency: 28-34-34-89
Tested voltage: 1.35v
guarantee: Limited life
XMP: Compatible with Intel XMP 3.0
price: $ 379 (Opens in a new tab)
The kit includes the SK Hynix IC. These chips are common in high performance DDR5 kits. They are widely supported and compatible with most motherboards. In particular, in the era of DDR5, most of the early problems have been resolved.
It’s always worth checking the motherboard’s QVL list for compatibility, but even if the kit isn’t listed, you’ll be surprised if you run into problems with a DDR5-5600 kit with SK Hynix. The CPU memory controller is easier than the 6600MHz and above kits.
Test rig
CPU: Intel Core i9 12900K
Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Apex (DDR5)
GPU: Zotac RTX 3080 Ti Amp Extreme Holo
SSD: Seagate FireCuda 530 2TB
PSU: Corsair AX1000
Chassis: Thermaltake Core P8
cooler: CoolerMaster PL360 flux
OS: Windows 11 build 22800.282
I have an important question here. How does it work? As always, it depends on the task. It can be worth it, or even the best memory can be within the margins of error for the most common kits.
File compression and video encoding are tests that can show remarkable progress. The G.Skill 5600 C28 kit closely matches the fastest 6400MHz kit in video encoding and the 6000MHz kit in file compression. It’s also interesting to see how it compares to the C40’s 5600MHz kit. Its low latency isn’t really a big advantage, but it does.
As a pure memory test, the synthetic AIDA64 results are impressive, but the latency results are impressive. Only the absolute top shelf 6400MHz C32 kit offers truly low latency numbers.
game can It varies from game to game, but has the advantage of low latency. Civilization VI shows that there is little benefit from slower memory. Metro Exodus Enhanced also shows a slight boost, but this is actually surprising given that this test is limited to GPUs. The best case to buy expensive, low latency memory is when playing fast paced FPS games at high frame rates. Everything that reduces overall system latency and lag is pleasing to hardcore FPS enthusiasts.
As is most often the case when looking at the best memory, it’s generally overkill and only makes sense if the same high-end systems match. I’m not going to pair 4800MHz memory with Intel Core i9 12900K (Opens in a new tab) And GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (Opens in a new tab) system. On the contrary, you will not buy this kit for use with the 12100F and GTX 1650 systems. It is important to use it in a balanced system.
To be honest with most of us, the range of high quality and affordable 5200MHz or 6000MHz kits provides perfectly acceptable performance in real-world scenarios. Think of this G.Skill kit as not improving performance, so to speak. Think of it as the one that minimizes bottlenecks and makes your high-end hardware shine brightest.
DDR5 memory has come a long way since the sometimes volatile beginnings. Early on, some boards were really struggling with memory above 6000MHz. This seems to have been mostly fixed, and SK Hynix-based memory is now widely supported.
The true strengths of such kits may not come to the fore until the next generation of platforms are released. Is it easy to use clocks above 7000MHz on 13th generation or Zen4 systems? Time will tell.
My CPU is fine up to DDR5-6667, but beyond that it requires a very sudden increase in IMC voltage, indicating that the CPU has reached its limit. DDR5-6667 is still powerful and we look forward to revisiting DDR5 overclocking on next generation platforms. These DDR5-10000 results may be run air-cooled instead of LN2. perhaps.
G.Skill is the best memory vendor in my opinion. It always frees up faster, faster memory and rarely disappoints. This Trident Z5 DDR5-5600 CL28 kit is truly unique. I don’t know anything similar.
It’s a great and easy-to-use kit, and that’s its greatest strength. In theory, you could insert it into your B660 motherboard, configure XMP and run it for the next few years before adding future GPUs. If you do such a thing, you will get the value of your money.
But is it a necessity? As with all fast memory, the answer is no. This is a kind of kit that makes sense only if you have a matching top-end system, and you should still buy a very good 6400MHz kit that is less expensive than this. This is a very fun kit with plenty of OC headroom. Or there are specific use cases. For example, if you plan to spend hundreds of hours on a game that actually takes advantage of the low latency offered.
G.Skill DDR5-5600 C28 Kit teeth I’m very good at what it does, but it seems like a small release. It is not listed outside the United States at all. At $ 379, it’s too expensive compared to some of G.Skill’s own top spec kits. G.Skill’s own DDR5-6000C30 memory can be found cheaply, but a balanced speed / delay 6000C36 Samsung-based kit costs less than $ 300 at the time of writing.
I love this kit, it’s so much fun and very adjustable, but I wouldn’t recommend it if you can buy G.Skill’s own similarly acclaimed kit at a 10-20% cheaper price. We recommend that you get one of the ones in front of this Trident Z5 RGB 5600C28 kit.