Biwin Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DDR5-6000 C28 4x48GB Review: High-Performance Memory For Demanding Applications

Not many 192GB memory kits are available in the consumer market, making the Biwin Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DW100 DDR5-6000 a standout choice that rivals the best RAM options.

Interestingly, not long ago, 128GB of memory on a mainstream motherboard was quite impressive, but DDR5 technology has really pushed the limits of memory capacity. Thanks to the introduction of non-standard capacities, such as 24GB and 48GB memory modules, it's now possible to build a system with up to 192GB of memory with the latter, or even 256GB with the new 64GB modules. That’s why Biwin has introduced a special Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DW100 DDR5-6000 memory kit, ideal for users such as prosumers and professionals with high-capacity memory requirements.

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The Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DW100 memory modules feature an elegant black 2mm aluminum alloy heat spreader with an electrophoretic coating. This coating offers a more uniform application and provides some degree of corrosion resistance. As a special 'Gold Edition,' the reviewed model boasts golden highlights that give it a distinctive, premium appearance. The memory modules look equally good in consumer, gaming, and workstation systems.

To meet enthusiast expectations, Biwin has equipped the Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DW100 memory with a standard RGB diffuser. The programmable RGB lighting features eight independent zones, which can be managed via your motherboard's software. Compatibility extends to all major motherboard manufacturers, including Asus, MSI, ASRock, and Gigabyte. At 1.98 inches (50.24 mm) tall, the Black Opal DW100 memory modules are taller than standard modules; therefore, consideration should be given when using a CPU air cooler.

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Biwin employs a 10-layer PCB for the Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DW100 memory modules. Additionally, the company has incorporated silicon pads with a thermal conductivity of 2.5 W/m · K, positioned between the black PCB and the aluminum heat spreader to facilitate heat dissipation. The integrated circuits (ICs) are sourced from SK hynix, specifically the H5CGD8MGBDX021 (M-die) variants with a capacity of 3GB. There are a total of 16 M-die ICs, with eight located on each side of the PCB, arranged in a dual-rank configuration. Furthermore, the power management integrated circuit (PMIC) is the 0P=BE EY4, a widely utilized component manufactured by Richtek.

The stock configuration for the Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DW100 memory modules is DDR5-5600, featuring timings of 46-45-45-90. These modules are equipped with Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO profiles for DDR5-6000. Upon activation, the memory will operate at the specified data rate with timings of 28-36-36-102 and a DRAM voltage of 1.4V. See our PC Memory 101 feature and the How to Shop for RAM story for more on timing and frequency considerations.

Comparison Hardware

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The Intel system features the Core Ultra 9 285K processor and the MSI MAG Z890 Tomahawk WiFi motherboard with firmware version 7E32v1A90. Conversely, the AMD system utilizes the Ryzen 9 9900X processor and the MSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi motherboard with firmware version 7E49v1A64. The Corsair iCUE Link Titan 360 RX LCD CPU liquid-cooling solution efficiently maintains optimal temperatures for both the Arrow Lake and Zen 5 processors.

The MSI GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Gaming X Trio addresses more graphics-intensive workloads, ensuring our gaming RAM benchmarks do not experience a graphics bottleneck. TeamGroup's A440 Lite PCIe 4.0 SSD strikes a balance between performance and storage capacity, offering 2TB of high-speed storage that reaches speeds of up to 7,400 MB/s, ideal for Windows 11 24H2 installations, benchmarking software, and gaming.

Meanwhile, the Corsair RM1000x Shift ATX 3.0 power supply provides a reliable and sufficient power source for our test systems, directly powering the GeForce RTX 4080 with a native 16-pin (12VHPWR) power cable. Ultimately, the Streacom BC1 open-air test bench can accommodate all of our hardware.

Intel Performance

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The Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DW100 showed impressive performance on the Intel test system. The memory kit operates at DDR5-6000, a solid data rate for mainstream setups, and features tight timings that help it stand out from the competition.

AMD Performance

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Biwin's memory kit performed wonderfully on the AMD platform. DDR5-6000 makes it easy to run modern Ryzen processors at a 1:1:1 ratio for the Infinity Fabric Clock (FCLK), the unified memory controller clock (UCLK), and the memory clock (MEMCLK). This setup delivers optimal performance without any compromise.

Overclocking and Latency Tuning

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Usually, expectations are modest for high-capacity memory kits. However, the Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DW100 DDR5-6000 C28 pleasantly exceeded expectations by running at DDR5-6200 with the same timings as DDR5-6000. The only needed change was increasing the DRAM voltage to 1.45V.

Lowest Stable Timings

The default timings for DDR5-6000 were pretty good to start with, and even after boosting the DRAM voltage to 1.45V, we didn't notice a significant difference. Most of the memory timings stayed the same, except for tRAS, which we adjusted from 102 to 96 clock cycles.

Bottom Line

The Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DW100 DDR5-6000 C28 memory kit offers impressive capacity and performance that are sure to impress. While Biwin has optimized this memory kit for AMD systems, it also works wonderfully with Intel setups and includes both XMP 3.0 and EXPO profiles for easy configuration. Keep in mind, like all overclocked memory kits, neither Intel nor AMD officially supports DDR5-6000 with four-DIMM configurations, so your experience may vary. But if you have the right processor and motherboard, Biwin's memory kit will make any mainstream workstation very happy.

Biwin has set the MSRP at $849 for the Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DW100 DDR5-6000 C28. While it's currently unavailable for purchase in the U.S., Biwin is actively working to make it available there soon. Interestingly, despite the global memory shortage and increasingly soaring prices, the memory kit has remained stable at €899 at Amazon Germany. Let's hope that Biwin sorts out the logistics quickly, as the Black Opal OC Lab Gold Edition DW100 DDR5-6000 C28 is a solid choice, marred only by its limited availability.