DDR5 Round-Up: Crucial, G.SKILL, Kingston, KLEVV Tested

1. Crucial, G.SKILL, Kingston, KLEVV DDR5 Tested2. Crucial 4800MHz 16GB DDR53. G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo RGB 5600MHz 64GB4. Kingston Fury Beast RGB 6000MHz 32GB5. KLEVV CRAS XR5 RGB 6000MHz 32GB6. Testing Methodology7. Compute and Productivity Tests8. Memory Benchmarks9. 3DMark Tests10. Gaming Tests11. Closing Thoughts12. View All Pages

So there we have a look at four different DDR5 memory kits and how they perform to buyers on AMD’s still relatively new AM5 platform. Clearly, the AMD preference for higher-density memory modules still serves well. And that’s perhaps more important than the go-to 6000 MHz DDR5 sweet spot, though the price of 2x32GB sets is pretty lofty too.

Let’s briefly summarise the kits individually.

G.SKILL’s Trident Z5 Neo RGB 64GB 5600 MHz C28 set performed very well in our testing. Generally, the 32GB modules hovered around the top of our performance charts, and that’s even versus the 6000 MHz competitors that also run the AMD CPU’s memory controller at a higher clock speed.

What we effectively see is that the higher density of 32GB DIMMs in this case is enough to overcome the deficit of running at 5600 MT/s data rate. That tight CAS Latency of 28 helps a lot too.

It’s hard to summarise this particular G.SKILL set too much, as availability in the UK seems practically non-existent. But G.SKILL’s design of the module is visually appealing, the quality is as good as always, and the specification runs well. I like this kit, and I would be more than happy to consider it, subject to UK availability pricing being sensible and competitive, of course.

Looking at the Kingston Fury Beast RGB 32GB 6000 MHz C36 set, this tended to be the kit that pushed hardest against G.SKILL’s 64GB setup in our testing. 6000 MHz with reasonable timings of 36-38-38 looks to be a sensible option for the AMD platform. Especially as this will run the platform frequencies at their optimal, headache-free levels.

I really like Kingston’s inclusion of multiple EXPO and XMP modes. This is an ideal quality touch for users who perhaps updated to a flaky BIOS and need to drop the frequency a bit. And if you switch between Intel and AMD platforms, the inclusion of both EXPO and XMP is convenient.

I will happily give similar feedback to Kingston as I did to G.SKILL; the module design is solid, the lighting quality is good, and the specification runs well.

Importantly, Kingston also looks to be very competitive and sensible with pricing. At the time of writing, this kit is available for sub-£190, and even down at £160-ish if you hit the specific offer period. That’s a quality set of RGB memory for a very competitive price – good job on this one, Kingston!

Moving on to KLEVV’s CRAS XR5 RGB, we get another 6000 MHz 32GB kit but with looser timings of 40-40-40 versus Kingston. This reduction in latency tightness impacts performance compared to the Kingston competitor. Generally, performance from the KLEVV modules was close to that of Kingston, but close – as in – just a little bit behind most of the time.

Now there are some benefits to the looser timings, of course. KLEVV’s kit runs at 1.30V instead of the 1.35V used by G.SKILL and Kingston. But that’s probably a minor benefit, to be perfectly honest.

While the raw styling of KLEVV’s CRAS XR5 RGB modules is excellent in my opinion. I think the well-done white and golf ball appearance heatspreader looks very good. The RGB lighting is not as good as the G.SKILL and Kingston competitors. KLEVV’s light diffusion bar is clearly lacking, with evident gaps between the RGB LEDs that impacts lighting smoothness.

Currently priced at £153 on offer, this puts our tested KLEVV kit only a small amount of money below the Kingston competitor. For a price difference of less than 10%, I think Kingston’s competing kit is the better purchase, unless you really like a white colour scheme.

And then when we look at the Crucial 16GB 4800 MHz DDR5 set, we have to analyse this kit through the prism of its affordable pricing. Performance, unsurprisingly, tends to lag the higher speed and higher capacity kits that we compared in this piece. But there are some instances where the slow frequency and low-density modules are unimportant. Rendering performance, for example, didn’t really reduce too much with this Crucial set.

Let’s be blunt with this, Crucial’s design is about as basic as it comes because no budget is wasted in designing these modules to be fancy. There’s no RGB lighting, no superfluous heatspreader, and no enhanced clock speed.

To somebody who is really cash-strapped and just wants a way to cheaply and effectively start a DDR5-based system, this kit serves a purpose. Perhaps the £90 saved on this kit versus a mid-range 32GB RGB set allows you to step up from a Ryzen 7 7700 to a Ryzen 9 7900. If so, this low-cost kit absolutely serves its purpose. I would, however, be putting it quite quickly on the in-need-of-upgrade list for when funds permit.

So there we have a decent look at four different DDR5 memory kits that we had in for review on our AMD AM5 test system.

G.SKILL’s modules offer up a nice balance, but their pricing and availability is TBC. Crucial’s kit serves a purpose of being a low-cost – perhaps introductory – purchase. KLEVV’s CRAS XR5 RGB could probably do with an improvement to its RGB lighting design for today’s market. And the Kingston Fury Beast RGB performs well, looks good, and is priced competitively. This 6000 MHz C36 Kingston set has basically no weaknesses and looks to be an excellent go-to option currently.

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Crucial 4800MHz DDR5 16GB

Pros:

• Cost effective DDR5 entry point
• Decent performance in some workloads
• Minimalist

Cons:

• Limited performance in anything bandwidth or latency sensitive
• Questionable functionality for the future

Buy from Amazon UK for £65.96 HERE.

KitGuru says: Cheap and cheerful, Crucial's 16GB 4800MHz DDR5 sticks solve a wallet-based problem… tough you'll likely want to upgrade soon.

G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo RGB 5600MHz 64GB

Pros:

• Premium styling
• Excellent RGB LED lighting
• Good performance from dual 32GB sticks
• Tight timings for DDR5

Cons:

• Limited availability and likely high cost in the UK
• Some users will likely prefer 6000MHz when spending this sort of money

The 32GB kit is available from Amazon UK for about £184 HERE. We don't have confirmed pricing for the 64GB kit (as reviewed) but we expect it to be in premium territory, in the mid-to-high £300 range.

KitGuru says: A solid set of memory that offers good performance on AM5. Pricing in the UK is unknown, but there may also be an enthusiast contingent who simply opt for 6000MHz memory when searching for a premium kit.

Kingston Fury Beast RGB 6000MHz 32GB

Pros:

• Strong performance on the AM5 platform
• Multiple XMP and EXPO profiles is very useful
• Good RGB lighting system
• Attractive pricing

Cons:

• ‘Industrial‘ design may not appeal to all

Buy from Amazon UK for about £150 HERE.

KitGuru says: An excellent set of memory that offers solid performance, multiple running modes, and good RGB lighting. There's a lot to like from the Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 RGB, especially with pricing as aggressive as it currently is.

KLEVV CRAS XR5 RGB 6000MHz 32GB

Pros:

• 6000MHz with slightly reduced voltage works well.
• Pricing is affordable for 6000MHz RGB DDR5.
• Module is attractive, with the unique golf ball design.
• White and black module colouring is very appealing.

Cons:

• RGB lighting smoothness is notably lacking.
• Tough competition versus kits with tighter timings for not much more money.

Buy from Amazon UK for about £153 HERE.

KitGuru says: KLEVV offers up a highly attractive kit that trades a bit of latency performance for a lower operating voltage. The modules generally look good, but the RGB LED lighting smoothness through the diffuser is in need of improvement. 

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