Corsair Vengeance DDR5-5200 C38 4x48GB Review: Every Professional's Dream Memory Kit

Corsair’s Vengeance DDR5-5200 C38 may look slow on paper, but the memory kit deserves a place on the list of the best RAM. Unlike server or HEDT platforms, which offer up to eight memory slots, consumer platforms are limited to only four. That effectively slices the maximum memory to half. Migrating to a HEDT platform can be expensive since HEDT processors certainly don’t come cheap. Therefore, the only way to increase the maximum capacity on a consumer platform is by using denser memory modules. That is where DDR5 comes into play.

Mainstream DDR4 memory modules typically max out at 32GB. However, DDR5 has brought non-standard DIMM capacities that have substantially increased the density to 48GB per memory module and soon to 64GB. As great as that sounds, you still can’t compare a mainstream segment to the enterprise segment, where it’s expected to leverage memory modules DIMMs with capacities of 256GB and upwards. Nonetheless, DDR5 represents a significant step towards higher capacity per memory module for mainstream users.

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The Vengeance memory modules use a brushed aluminum heat spreader for passive heat dissipation. The design primarily features a triangle pattern and the Vengeance branding in the middle. The Vengeance DDR5 lineup has three existing color variants: black, white, and grey. Vengeance memory modules are also available with and without RGB lighting. However, this particular SKU only comes in a matte black trim, although it does offer a choice between the regular and RGB versions.

Unlike Corsair's Dominator series, the Vengeance series has always adopted a more compact design. The regular Vengeance memory modules are 35mm (1.38 inches) in height; therefore, they're unlikely to interfere with your CPU air cooler. On the RGB version, the RGB light bar pushes the memory module's height to 44mm (1.73 inches), 25% taller than the vanilla version. Nonetheless, it's still not as towering as the Dominator Titanium, which comes in at 57mm (2.24 inches).

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Corsair bundles four 48GB DDR5 memory modules for this 192GB memory kit. The memory modules have a dual-rank design and house 16 integrated circuits (ICs), eight on each side of the black PCB. That means each IC is 3GB. The PT041-56B (B-die) ICs hail from SpecTek, a division within Micron that offers affordable products. They are Micron's B-die ICs. As for the power management IC (PMIC), Corsair went with Richtek's 0H=9E G2U unit.

For maximum compatibility, the Vengeance memory modules will run at DDR5-4800 with the timings toned down to 40-40-40-77. A single XMP 3.0 profile onboard will set the memory to DDR5-5200 and change the memory timings and DRAM voltage to 38-38-38-84 and 1.25V, respectively. See our PC Memory 101 feature and How to Shop for RAM story for more timings and frequency considerations.

Comparison Hardware

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Our Intel test system runs the Core i9-13900K on the MSI MEG Z690 Unify with 7D28v1G firmware. In contrast, the AMD system pairs the Ryzen 7 7700X with the MSI MPG X670E Carbon WiFi updated to the 7D70v1E5 firmware. The Corsair CUE H100i Elite LCD liquid cooler keeps our Raptor Lake and Zen 4 processor operating temperatures under check.

The MSI GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Gaming X Trio tackles the more graphics-intensive workloads, ensuring that there isn't a graphics bottleneck in our gaming RAM benchmarks. The Windows 11 installation, benchmarking software, and games reside on Crucial's MX500 SSDs. Meanwhile, the Corsair RM1000x Shift ATX 3.0 power supply provides our systems with clean and abundant power, directly feeding the GeForce RTX 4080 with a native 16-pin (12VHPWR) power cable. Lastly, the Streacom BC1 open-air test bench is vital to organizing our hardware.

Intel Performance

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Naturally, the Vengeance memory kit wouldn't outperform rivals binned at a higher frequency. The performance margin between Corsair's and the fastest memory kits wasn't high in overall application performance. Likewise, the Vengeance memory kit did admirably gaming - not everyone would buy a 192GB memory kit just for gaming.

AMD Performance

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The performance difference on the AMD platform between the Vengeance memory kit and the fastest performer was somewhat similar to the delta we observed on the Intel platform. However, DDR5-5200 was at a disadvantage in gaming performance as the margin between the Vengeance and the fastest memory kit was higher than what we saw on the Intel platform.

Overclocking and Latency Tuning

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Although we didn't expect the respectable overclocking margins on the Vengeance memory kit, we took it for a ride anyway. Overclocking four memory modules is challenging for any processor, even more so at very dense capacities. Nevertheless, the maximum stable frequency was at DDR5-5400 with the exact timings (38-38-38-84) as DDR5-5200, but the DRAM voltage increased slightly to 1.35V. Higher voltages didn't make a difference.

Lowest Stable Timings

The 38-38-38-84 memory timings are borderline stable for this memory kit at DDR5-5200. However, they wouldn't cooperate with us, even with a 1.35V DRAM voltage. We also used a brute-force approach and raised the voltage to no avail. At least for our sample, the advertised timings were the lowest the memory modules would operate.

Bottom Line

The Vengeance DDR5-5200 C3 is not the kind of memory kit for those who pursue the absolute highest performance. By DDR5’s standard, DDR5-5200 looks slow; however, there’s a reason for that. Modern AMD and Intel chips natively support DDR5-3600 and DDR5-4400, respectively, in a four-DIMM configuration. So, even DDR5-5200 is technically overkill. While not very speedy, the memory kit offers a huge capacity that power users will value greatly because the extra memory helps improve productivity and multitasking. 

The Vengeance DDR5-5200 C3 caters to professional users because, ultimately, that crowd with deep pockets can afford to purchase a memory kit of this caliber. The memory kit retails for $649.99, but that’s only because Corsair slashed the pricing by $75 since it came out. If you prefer RGB on your memory, the similarly-specced Vengeance RGB DDR5-5200 C32 is available for 659.99, just a meager $10 premium for the gleaming lights. Paying $650 for a memory kit is beyond what many are willing to spend. However, the memory will probably pay for itself if it's for work.

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