DDR5 isn't hanging about. The memory standard may still be viewed as being new for the vast majority of us since its introduction to the PC market last year, but it's gaining speed quickly. And I mean that literally. The latest memory kits and specifications announced by G.Skill show DDR5-7800, DDR-7600, and DDR5-7400 kits are on the way.
The performance memory company also published a screenshot showing its Trident Z5 RAM clocked at a whopping 4,000MHz for an effective DDR5-8000 rating. The shot shows the memory running on an Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Apex motherboard with an Intel Core i9 13900K in the driving seat. The 2x 16GB kit has 38-48-48-125 timings, which is surprisingly speedy. You're looking at real-world latencies of 9.5ns, which is impressive given the frequency.
Incredible stuff when you consider that the memory standard launched just last year at what can now only be considered utterly pedestrian DDR-4800 speeds. While some of these new kits from G.Skill may take a while to come to market, there are plenty of DDR5 sticks out there that are close to or exceeding 6,000MT/s. And while you will pay a premium over slower kits, the push to go faster is clearly a driving force.
One of the reasons for this renewed push for DDR5 is because Intel's new Raptor Lake and AMD's Zen 4 processors support the standard, while at release only Intel's Alder Lake did. It's worth noting that Alder Lake and Raptor Lake support DDR5 as well as the more-affordable DDR4, while AMD's Ryzen 7000 chips only support DDR5.
Best DDR5 RAM: the latest and greatest
Best DDR4 RAM: affordable and fast
The good news for anyone looking to buy either of these new platforms is that pricing for DDR5 has continued to fall since launch and the initial scarcity over the last holiday period. While you're still paying more for DDR5 than for DDR4 there are at least now plenty of 16GB kits available for less than $100, such as this Kingston Fury Beast kit on Newegg for $93.
Admittedly you won't be looking at the sort of speeds that G.Skill has just announced at these sorts of prices, but as the market gets more competitive you can expect prices to drop further and for speeds to keep increasing.
