G.Skill introduces CL26 DDR5-6000 for AMD Ryzen 9000 CPUs — world's tightest timings for a DDR5-6000 memory kit

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If you are after super responsive DRAM performance, it doesn't get better than G.Skill's new CL26 kits, at least for DDR5-6000.

DDR5-6000 CL26 G.Skill Memory
(Image credit: G.Skill)

G.Skill has introduced a pair of new DDR5 memory timing variants featuring the lowest set of primary timings the DRAM manufacturer has released since DDR5 first debuted. G.Skill's Trident Z5 Neo RGB, M5 RGB Neo, and Z5 Royal Neo series can now be purchased in a DDR5-6000 CL26-36-36-96 configuration in 32GB and 64GB kits and a CL28-36-36-96 config in 48GB and 96GB kits.

The CL26-36-36-96 configuration is the tightest configuration G.Skill currently makes. According to G.Skill, the 64GB (2x32GB) model is the world's first 64GB kit to ship with timings this tight on DDR5. G.Skill showcased the kit working with full stability in MemtestPro 4.0 on a Ryzen 9 9900X and on an Asus Crosshair X870E Hero.

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G.Skill MemtestPro 4.0 for CL26 and CL28 DDR5 6000 memory kits
(Image credit: G.Skill)

G.Skill also shared the same test showcasing its higher capacity 96GB CL-28-36-36-96 configuration with the same CPU and RAM, which performed an error-free run of MemtestPro 4.0.

These kits are aimed at gamers and power users who want the best timings at the 6000MT/s DDR5 memory frequency. G.Skill states these new kits are built for "select" X870E motherboards and Ryzen 9000 manually series CPUs, which have a "sweet spot" of 6000MHz, and the fabric clock, memory clock, and memory controller clock can run at ideal frequency ratios. However, nothing prevents Intel users from using these kits as long as they are willing to enter their overclocked memory profile. These kits only have EXPO memory support and don't feature an Intel XMP profile (as far as we know).

There is also nothing stopping Ryzen 7000 owners on 800 or 600 series chipset motherboards from using these memory kits. However, users will have to be more mindful of system stability and ensure the kit works without problems with their system.

Pricing has not been disclosed, but it is easy to guess these new kits will probably be some of the most expensive DDR5-6000 kits on the market due to their tight timings alone. Timings can significantly alter DDR5 pricing, with DDR5-6000 CL 28 2x16GB kits costing $120 to $130. By contrast, CL30 kits with the same configuration can be had for under $80.

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Aaron Klotz
Aaron Klotz
Contributing Writer

Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.

25 Comments Comment from the forums
  • 80251
    Was it ever commonplace for RAM kits to NOT have XMP profiles? G.skill definitely seems to be snubbing Intel w/this move.
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    80251 said:
    Was it ever commonplace for RAM kits to NOT have XMP profiles?
    it came with ddr3 so b4 that yes.
    Reply
  • thestryker
    80251 said:
    Was it ever commonplace for RAM kits to NOT have XMP profiles? G.skill definitely seems to be snubbing Intel w/this move.
    Nobody buying premium memory for an Intel platform should be buying anything that slow. That being said G.Skill has been doing separate XMP/EXPO for whatever reason so it's common for them. This is part of the reason that checking a QVL can be so important as many boards can support both XMP and EXPO, but I wouldn't get XMP for AMD unless the kit was on the QVL and the same with EXPO on Intel.
    Reply
  • User of Computers
    I can't wait for the normies to scream and shout that it doesn't work OOTB because their IMC can't run it
    Reply
  • YSCCC
    thestryker said:
    Nobody buying premium memory for an Intel platform should be buying anything that slow. That being said G.Skill has been doing separate XMP/EXPO for whatever reason so it's common for them. This is part of the reason that checking a QVL can be so important as many boards can support both XMP and EXPO, but I wouldn't get XMP for AMD unless the kit was on the QVL and the same with EXPO on Intel.
    Actually for RPL (which survived degradation), for those who need 64GB+ for video/photo editing, for quite a long time DDR5 6000 (2R) 6000 is the best you can get, now I think I see some 6400 cl32. But 2 years ago the best was 6000 cl32, I managed to clock mine in Z690 cl30-36-36-72 1T.
    Reply
  • thestryker
    YSCCC said:
    Actually for RPL (which survived degradation), for those who need 64GB+ for video/photo editing, for quite a long time DDR5 6000 (2R) 6000 is the best you can get, now I think I see some 6400 cl32. But 2 years ago the best was 6000 cl32, I managed to clock mine in Z690 cl30-36-36-72 1T.
    Yeah that's not performance memory which is what this article is referring to. You've also been able to get 10ns 6800 32GB and 48GB modules for around a year and a half so I'm not sure what your point is here. That's all going to be limited by 2R and won't be changed until 32Gb memory IC is mass produced.
    Reply
  • YSCCC
    thestryker said:
    Yeah that's not performance memory which is what this article is referring to. You've also been able to get 10ns 6800 32GB and 48GB modules for around a year and a half so I'm not sure what your point is here. That's all going to be limited by 2R and won't be changed until 32Gb memory IC is mass produced.
    hum maybe I am not speaking clearly, I mean when one wanting 64GB or above yet still wants high performance memory DDR5 6000 with low cl could actually make sense for Intel platform, just not for gaming or benchmarking
    Reply
  • thestryker
    YSCCC said:
    hum maybe I am not speaking clearly, I mean when one wanting 64GB or above yet still wants high performance memory DDR5 6000 with low cl could actually make sense for Intel platform, just not for gaming or benchmarking
    It still doesn't unless you're trying to save money (which is certainly a valid reason) because 6800 CL34 (you can get some CL32 as. well) has the same latency as 6000 CL30. I think 48GB modules might tweak a little better than 32GB, but 2R definitely hurts performance a lot with DDR5.

    Hopefully this year will change things for 32GB modules because 32Gb IC should mean both higher speeds and lower latencies available. JEDEC allows for up to 64Gb DDR5 IC, but I haven't seen anything above 32Gb from any roadmaps/announcements.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    When I read about these low-latency DDR5 modules, I'm always suspicious one way they're reducing latency is by reducing the amount of on-die ECC, if not completely disabling it. That might be fine for gaming, but if the memory's stability (i.e. error rate) is compromised, then I think we should know that, before trying to use it for everyday stuff.

    I really wish JEDEC hadn't left the on-die ECC thing as a hidden implementation detail, but instead had mandated an I2C protocol for querying it. That way, we could see how much ECC a DIMM has and look at the error rates to get a sense of how close to the margins a DIMM is being pushed.
    Reply
  • thestryker
    bit_user said:
    When I read about these low-latency DDR5 modules, I'm always suspicious one way they're reducing latency is by reducing the amount of on-die ECC, if not completely disabling it.
    Just a guess but I'm assuming just voltage since I've seen 6000 CL30 as low as 1.35v and CL28 1.4v, but those are a lot higher than JEDEC. A lot of high speed goes to 1.45v so that might be the situation here.

    That of course doesn't guarantee the error rate wouldn't go up.
    Reply