Join The Club
Corsair has just announced a new DDR5 memory design that has me wishing we were still living with 2024 prices. It's called Shugo, and is unfortunately only a limited edition, created "for builders who see the machine as both a performance PC and a personal design statement."
It's also, erm, $600 (£579) for a 32 GB DDR5-6000 kit, so... yeah, there's that. Fancy limited editions are always more expensive than regular ones, and there's the memory shortage to factor in, too, but $600 is another level. For reference, a lot of similarly specced DDR5 kits right now are going for about $400, which is already a massively inflated price point.
The designs, made "in collaboration with community artists", of course look very nice, as you can see from the image above. But a big part of what makes this limited line-up interesting is its use of micro-drilling.
Shugo DDR5, Corsair says, "introduces CORSAIR patent-pending light-emitting micro-drilling technology, which allows RGB lighting to shine through the side of the module and become part of the artwork itself. Each SHUGO design incorporates its own micro-hole pattern, creating lighting effects that emerge from the art rather than sitting apart from it."
"Each module features premium aluminum heat spreaders, high-resolution UV printing, and precision pad printing to create a layered, collector-grade appearance"
"Statement" indeed, though I'd argue any gaming PC these days is somewhat of a statement, given the way prices have gone and are still going. On that front, research analysts reckon we're still in store for significant price hikes going forward, to the tune of 50% extra for DRAM customers next quarter, which will, of course, filter down into actual RAM prices for consumers before long.
Oh, what could have been if only the market had remained in 2024 mode. Perhaps then I could get more excited about new RAM aesthetics like this, as perhaps they wouldn't cost an arm and both legs. I can still appreciate the product, though, I suppose. And heck, who knows, perhaps it'll even feature in some pre-builts that get price slashed in sales events down to near-reasonable levels. A man can dream.
1. Best DDR5 overall:
G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32 GB DDR5-7200
2. Best budget DDR5:
Teamgroup T-Force Vulcan DDR5-5200
3. Best high-capacity DDR5:
G.Skill Trident Z5 64 GB DDR5-6400 CL32
4. Best DDR4 overall:
TEAM XTREEM 16 GB DDR4-3600
5. Best budget DDR4:
G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB DDR4-3600
6. Best high-capacity DDR4:
Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32 GB DDR4-3200
