With the launch of Intel Core Ultra 200S processors and Z890 motherboards, RAM manufacturers are in fierce competition to see who can publish the highest DDR5 scores. In just the past four days, we have seen three world records set for DDR5 scores, and the competition is so neck-to-neck that all three are within 50 MT/s of each other.

DDR5 RAM is currently the fastest available on the market, with standard speeds ranging from 4,000 to 6,400 M/Ts. However, overclocking can boost that value incredibly high, especially with the help of extreme cooling solutions.

Record 1: G.Skill crosses the 12,000 barrier

On 25th October 2024, G.Skill announced that they had successfully broken the 12,000 MT/s barrier in DDR5 with their G.Skill Trident Z5. In fact, four overclockers from around the world had reached over 12K speeds. Of course, the kits were overclocked using liquid nitrogen for cooling, and a combination of Core Ultra 9 285K with ASUS ROG Maximum Z890 Apex was used.

Here are the details about each OC:

• BenchMarc @ DDR5-12066
• OGS @ DDR5-12046
• Dreadzone @ DDR5-12046
• CENS @ DDR5-12042

The first three OC kits had the same latency, i.e., 52-92-92-127-2 (tCAS-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tCR), while the fourth kit was with 62-92-92-127-2 timings.

Record 2: Kingston breaks the 12,100 barrier

The same day G.Skill crossed 12,000 MT/s, Kingston set a new DDR5 record with their Kingston Fury Renegade DDR5 running at a whopping 21,108 MT/s. Kovan Yang, the overclocker who set the record, used an Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF CPU with liquid nitrogen to cool the kits. The processor was running at 400 MHz with its E-Cores disabled.

The OC was achieved using the MSI MEG Z890 UNIFY-X motherboard, and the kit’s timings @ 12,108 MT/s (or 6053.7MHz) were 48-120-120-127-2 (tCAS-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tCR).

Record 3: G.Skill reaches 12,112 MT/s, beating Kingston

Today, G.Skill has returned with a new world record for DDR5 kits, breaking Kingston’s previously set 12,108 MT/s figure. The OC was done by Safedisk, a famous overclocker from ASUS ROG. The setup used was an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K with E-Cores disabled, an ASUS ROG Maximus Z890 Apex motherboard, and a liquid nitrogen-cooled G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB.

The result? Trident Z5 reached 12,112 MT/s with 52-92-92-127-2 timings, breaking Kingston’s records by just 4 MT/s. This may not be the end either, though we’ll have to see what Kingston and other memory manufacturers are cooking to beat G.Skill’s record.

About the Author

Sameed Hussain

Sameed is a writer specializing is tech & hardware.