G.Skill has unveiled its new Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-8400 C40 2x24GB memory kit for Intel's latest 14th Generation Raptor Lake Refresh chips, which compete with the best CPUs. The company also took the opportunity to show off the upcoming DDR5-8600 variant.
The Raptor Lake Refresh didn't change things at all in terms of memory support. The new wave of 'Intel 7' chips, like the previous Raptor Lake parts, still support DDR4-3200 or DDR5-5600 right out of the gate. According to Intel, however, memory overclocking has improved on Raptor Lake Refresh, but it remains to be seen just how much. You'll still likely need a top-binned 14th Gen processor with a capable integrated memory controllers (IMC) to pair with an overclocking-oriented LGA1700 motherboard to run ultra-high-end memory kits like G.Skill's DDR5-8600 memory.
The Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-8400 (F5-8400J4052G24GX2-TZ5RW) is a dual-channel kit with a capacity of 48GB, comprised of two 24GB DDR5 memory modules. The memory kit achieves DDR5-8400 with timings configured to 40-52-52-134 and a DRAM voltage of 1.4V. The memory kit of course supports XMP 3.0, since it's primarily targeting Raptor Lake Refresh chips, allowing for a one-click setup. However, the odds of plug-and-play are very slim, unless you win the silicon lottery and have a Raptor Lake Refresh chip with an amazing IMC.
G.Skill paired a Core i9-14900K with Asus' ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Encore to demostrate the Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-8400's prowess. The impressive generic benchmark figures peaked at 128.88 GB/s read, 127.03 GB/s write, and 123.83 GB/s copy on the AIDA64 benchmark. Even so, an even faster memory kit is on the way.
G.Skill provided a sneak peek into the Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-8600, which will fight for a spot on our list of the best RAM. The memory kit offers a similar 48GB (2x24GB) capacity as the DDR5-8400 counterpart. The timings for the DDR5-8600 memory kit are 40-54-54-136, so it would appear that G.Skill only had to increase the tRCD and tRP by two clock cycles. However, the brand didn't specify the required DRAM voltage for the memory kit.
With the same test configuration as above, G.Skill obtained 130.66 GB/s read, 130.24 GB/s write, and 126.31 GB/s copy with AIDA64. Those are marginal improvement, in theoretical tests no less, but they're impressive nonetheless.
G.Skill didn't reveal the pricing for either the DDR5-8400 or the DDR5-8600 memory kits. Cutting-edge memory kits are never cheap so expect to pay a significant premium for them. As for availability, we should see the new Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-8400 and DDR5-8600 memory kits by the end of the month.
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