So, Rocket Lake is good for something. The 11900K nails DDR4 overclocking record at 7156MHz

HyperX Predator DDR4 4600
(Image credit: HyperX)

A new DDR4 overclocking record has been set by the MSI OC Team in Taiwan at a frankly staggering 7,156MHz. The record was set using a single stick of HyperX Predator 4600MHz 8GB DDR4. As the name suggests, the module is nominally rated at 4,600MHz, so represents a hefty overclock over the XMP profile.

If you're looking to set your own records, then the specific module you need to pick up is the HX44C19PB3K2/16, because the naming of RAM modules is a bit of a mess, and you're going to need to be specific to get this record-holding stick of memory. 

It's worth noting that while this is a world record for RAM overclocking, it's not going to do much for you when it comes to gaming. Firstly because it's only a single stick of RAM, and is therefore only using one of your memory channels. The CAS Latency has also been hit hard to reach this frequency, with the stick running with a CAS Latency of 58. Gulp. For comparison, at 4600MHz the XMP profile has a CL of 19.

HyperX Predator DDR4 4600 overclocking record

(Image credit: Kovan Yang)

There's also the issue that this overclock was achieved using liquid nitrogen, which isn't that practical for day to day gaming. It's still an incredible overclock though.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise to learn that the MSI OC Team used an MSI motherboard to achieve this feat. Namely, the MSI MEG Z590I Unify—actually not an insanely expensive enthusiast-class motherboard for a change. 

The fact the team turned to Intel's latest Core i9 11900K is more eyebrow-raising though, as the general consensus is Intel's top-end Rocket Lake chip isn't too exciting in itself. It would seem it has a few speedy aces up its 14nm++ sleeve though, especially when it comes to RAM speeds. In fact, the top four DDR4 RAM overclocks all use Rocket Lake chips, with the AMD Ryzen 7 4700GE the red team's first entry in 5th place, nearly 500MHz behind this new record.

Rocket Lake may be providing the goods here, but the overclocking team did have to massively downclock the Core i9 11900K to hit that world record memory clock. The CPU was running at just 1,490.85MHz, which is a 57.4% drop in the operating frequency. 

Alan Dexter

Alan has been writing about PC tech since before 3D graphics cards existed, and still vividly recalls having to fight with MS-DOS just to get games to load. He fondly remembers the killer combo of a Matrox Millenium and 3dfx Voodoo, and seeing Lara Croft in 3D for the first time. He's very glad hardware has advanced as much as it has though, and is particularly happy when putting the latest M.2 NVMe SSDs, AMD processors, and laptops through their paces. He has a long-lasting Magic: The Gathering obsession but limits this to MTG Arena these days.

Read more
A promotional image showing multiple Corsair Vengeance CUDIMM memory sticks on a desk
Corsair rolls out its first CUDIMM memory sticks for Intel Arrow Lake gaming PCs and they're as pricey as you'd expect them to be
OC record 1
Core i9 14900KF CPU hits a world record 9.12 GHz and proves Intel chips are still good at something
MSI RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Trio OC Plus graphics card under a red light
This MSI Afterburner file unlocks 36 Gbps RTX 50-series memory overclocks for, y'know, the few people that actually own a card
A photo of Corsair's Vengeance DDR5-8400 CUDIMM memory kit
Corsair Vengeance DDR5-8400 CUDIMM review
A collection of DDR4 and DDR5 DIMMs against a blue background, with a PC Gamer Recommended logo
Best RAM for gaming in 2025: I've tested the best DDR4 and DDR5 RAM to find the right kits for you
MSI MPG 242R X60N
MSI's new 24-inch gaming monitor hits a sizzling 600 Hz and has me wondering how many Hz you genuinely need
Latest in Memory
A photo of Corsair's Vengeance DDR5-8400 CUDIMM memory kit
Corsair Vengeance DDR5-8400 CUDIMM review
Corsair's personalized memroy on a gradient
Corsair's new 'personalised RAM' gives you the option to pick the look and speed of memory you hide in the case anyway
A promotional image showing multiple Corsair Vengeance CUDIMM memory sticks on a desk
Corsair rolls out its first CUDIMM memory sticks for Intel Arrow Lake gaming PCs and they're as pricey as you'd expect them to be
Corsair Vengeance RAM sticks
We've more or less hit RAM price equilibrium: this 32 GB 6000 MT/s DDR5 kit is closing in on the price of a comparable DDR4 kit
G.SKILL DDR5
G.SKILL and Kingston break the 12,000MT/s DDR5 memory barrier with Intel's new Arrow Lake CPU
A pair of Team Group DDR5-RAM kits against a teal background with a white border
Need some speedy DDR5 for a new build or gaming PC upgrade? This Team Group 32 GB kit is just $86
Latest in News
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense
Tzarina Katarin Bokha, the Ice Queen of Kislev
Total War: Warhammer 3 rolls out a cool Kislev overhaul, changes befitting Tzeench’s magic, new projectile units and creakier skeletal horses
An image of a golden first place award from Geoguessr
'We're actually getting GeoGuessr on Steam before GTA 6': the Google Street View puzzler arrives on Valve's platform this April
Napster client circa 1999
Former music-pirating platform Napster to be reborn rather ironically as a metaverse for musicians to connect with their fans after $207 million deal
The snazzy red and black HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless headphones float in a teal void. The microphone is attached to the headset.
The best wireless gaming headset is now even better in the Amazon Big Spring Sale, boasting a more than $50 discount
A chip being held up in an Intel fab
Intel is reportedly 'working to finalize commitments from Nvidia' as a foundry partner, suggesting gaming potential for the 18A node