RAM
CRUCIAL £451
First in value, last in style
If you’re after 64GB of
DDR5, your options are
limited. The Intel Alder
Lake memory controller
struggles with high density
configurations, which is why there
are very few 2x32GB kits
available. The Crucial DDR5-
4800 2x32GB kit is as generic as
it gets, but if you need a lot of
RAM for whatever task you want
to throw at it, it’s a great choice.
During our testing, the
Crucial kit threw up a few
surprises, sometimes matching
a 5,200MHz kit thanks to its
dual rank design. Add to that its
low operating voltage and
surprisingly good value formoney, and it’s a good solid kit
for work or play. It’s the kind of
kit that will have a long life, too.
In a few years from now, 64GB
will still be more than useful.
The Crucial Ballistix name is
no more and this bare PCB kit
won’t win any beauty contests
or set speed records. It really is
just a couple of boring sticks of
RAM. But as a set and forget kit
for an alt-tabbing gamer or
workstation user, it’s definitely
worth a look.SPECS SPEED: 4800MHZ / TIMING: 40-39-39-77 / CAS LATENCY: 40 / VOLTAGE: 1.1V / DIMMS: 2X 32GB2
Trident Z5 RGB
G.SKILL £400
Overkill kit for high-end systems
G.Skill rarely makes a
misstep when it comes
to high performance
memory. The company
consistently delivers fast kits
that end up on the shortlists of
gamers, enthusiasts, and us. Its
DDR5 offerings are no different,
and this Trident Z5 DDR5-6000
with its 36-36-36 timings really
hits the sweet spot for high
frequency and tight timings.
The kit is available in both
black and silver finishes. Its
futuristic look and RGB
implementation look fantastic
with its lovely diffused light bar
along the top of the shroud.
Some eyeball-scalding
individual LEDs can be a bit over
the top, but actually that’s not
the case here. The price of this
kit has come down a long way
from its steep launch price. In
fact it doesn’t cost all that much
more than a decent 5,200MHz
kit, and with its extra speed and
tighter timings, it’s an easy
recommendation. You get great
performance, looks and,
surprisingly, actually now value
for money. It’s widely available
too! What a world.SPECS SPEED: 6000MHZ / TIMING: 36-36-36-76 / CAS LATENCY: 36 / VOLTAGE: 1.3V / DIMMS: 2X 16GB
1
High speed and tight timings
Eye catching design
Consistently falling priceVERDICT
64GB for a dent price
Bland and generic design
Call that a brand name, Crucial?VERDICT2DOES DDR5 RAM
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
FOR GAMING?The answer depends on what
speeds and latencies we’re
talking about. Games tend to be
sensitive to latency, where lower
is better. This means a good low
latency DDR4 kit is still a perfectly
viable gaming option. However,
the real-world performance
differences are small, and
non-existent in GPU limited
scenarios which is usually the
case unless you’re chasing very
high frames per second.
If you have a good DDR4 kit,
lets say a 2x16GB DDR4-3200
C14 kit or better, there’s little
reason to spend the money to
upgrade to DDR5 for gaming.
The higher bandwidth of
DDR5 is beneficial in other areas
though, particularly in creative
type applications. DDR5 uses less
power, 32GB is generally the
baseline and a DDR5 system is
better for future proofing. As time
goes on, we can also expect
faster and lower latency kit.Group Test
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