G.Skill drops new AMD EXPO ULL RAM for Ryzen CPUs — Flare X5X brings new ULL optimized subtimings, but pricing remains a mystery

G.Skill, which makes some of the best RAM on the market, has announced the Flare X5X series of DDR5 memory kits. Like the Trident Z5 NeoX, the new Flare X5X leverages AMD's EXPO ULL (Ultra Low Latency) technology, which features optimized memory subtimings to maximize performance on Ryzen processors, especially those without 3D V-Cache.

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HBM3E vs HBM4 — (Image credit: SK Hynix)

G.Skill offers a plethora of different DDR5-6000 memory kits across its Trident, Ripjaws, and Flare lineups. It also offers variations that specifically cater to Intel and AMD processors. Historically, the Flare series targets AMD platforms.

The Flare X5X will initially launch at DDR5-6000, since many consider it the sweet spot for AMD's Ryzen chips. Like the other offerings, the Flare X5X debuts with a 32GB memory kit, made up of two 16GB memory modules.

G.Skill Flare X5X Specifications

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Memory Kit	MSRP	Part Number	Capacity	Data Rate	Primary Timings	Voltage	Warranty
Trident Z5 NeoX RGB	$529.99	F5-6000A3636F16GX2-TZ5NXRN	2 x 16GB	DDR5-6000	36-36-36-76 (2T)	1.35	Lifetime
Tident Z5 RGB	$519.99	F5-6000J3636F16GX2-TZ5RS	2 x 16GB	DDR5-6000	36-36-36-96 (2T)	1.35	Lifetime
Trident Z5 Neo RGB	$509.99	F5-6000J3636F16GX2-TZ5NR	2 x 16GB	DDR5-6000	36-36-36-96 (2T)	1.35	Lifetime
Ripjaws M5 RGB	$509.99	F5-6000J3636F16GX2-RM5RK	2 x 16GB	DDR5-6000	36-36-36-96 (2T)	1.35	Lifetime
Ripjaws M5 Neo RGB	$509.99	F5-6000J3636F16GX2-RM5NRK	2 x 16GB	DDR5-6000	36-36-36-96 (2T)	1.35	Lifetime
Flare X5X	?	?	2 x 16GB	DDR5-6000	36-36-36-96 (2T)	1.35	Lifetime
Ripjaws S5	$499.99	F5-6000J3636F16GX2-RS5K	2 x 16GB	DDR5-6000	36-36-36-96 (2T)	1.35	Lifetime
Flare X5	$499.99	F5-6000J3636F16GX2-FX5	2 x 16GB	DDR5-6000	36-36-36-96 (2T)	1.35	Lifetime

With memory timings of 36-36-36-96, the Flare X5X is not the best AMD EXPO ULL memory kit G.Skill offers. The company sells more optimized variants, including 26-36-36-32, 28-36-36-32, and 30-38-38-32 at 1.45V, 1.40V, and 1.35V, respectively. It is plausible that G.Skill will offer similar configurations for the Flare X5X down the line.

When AMD first announced it, the chipmaker confirmed that EXPO ULL memory kits would be priced similarly to regular EXPO memory kits. However, because of the memory shortage and leftover stock, the price difference was substantial. Pricing for AMD EXPO ULL memory kits has somewhat stabilized over the last few months, so the price tags are falling in line with what AMD anticipated.

G.Skill has not shared the pricing for the Flare X5X DDR5-6000 C36 32GB (2x16GB) memory kit. However, we should have a pretty good idea of what it will retail for by looking at G.Skill's other memory kits on the market. For instance, the Trident Z5 NeoX RGB DDR5-6000 C36, a less optimized version of the C30 version we have reviewed, sells for $10 more than the normal Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6000 C36. In a perfect world, the Flare X5X DDR5-6000 C36 may sell for around $509.99, $10 above the standard Flare X5 DDR5-6000 C36.

G.Skill will roll out the Flare X5X series in phases so that availability will vary by region. It should not be long before we find the Flare X5X DDR5-6000 C36 memory kit at all major U.S. retailers.

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Zhiye Liu is a news editor, memory reviewer, and SSD tester at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

11 Comments Comment from the forums

btmedic04

In a perfect world, this would be at most, a $130 kit of ram. It's extremely difficult to get excited over $500+ 32gb kits of ddr5 when when I paid $209.99 for a 64gb kit of g.skill trident z neo 6000c30 in February 2024.
Reply
daworstplaya

btmedic04 said:
In a perfect world, this would be at most, a $130 kit of ram. It's extremely difficult to get excited over $500+ 32gb kits of ddr5 when when I paid $209.99 for a 64gb kit of g.skill trident z neo 6000c30 in February 2024.
Agreed, at these price points they can keep their sticks of RAM.
Reply
scottslayer

Are these releases to keep morale up on the teams that are not attached to AI or what?
Reply
TechieTwo

IME paying a premium above basic DRAM prices for minutely faster timing DRAM is just throwing money down the toilet. Test after test after test shows no tangible system performance improvement.
Reply
usertests

If it normalizes to be $510 instead of $500, then that's utterly insignificant - a 2% premium. Not that all 32 GB DDR5-6000 RAM kits start at $500 though. You can save a whopping $40 or so on Corsair kits on Newegg.
Reply
Ricket5

btmedic04 said:
In a perfect world, this would be at most, a $130 kit of ram. It's extremely difficult to get excited over $500+ 32gb kits of ddr5 when when I paid $209.99 for a 64gb kit of g.skill trident z neo 6000c30 in February 2024.
No it wouldn't. When prices were that low Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung were losing money selling RAM. If those prices had kept up we'd be stuck with only two RAM companies. That's what gamers forget. When they liked the prices the companies were losing money with each sale.

It's fine to complain about high prices. But then to turn around and wish things go back to when the companies were losing money on each sale isn't good. It is however the most PC gamer thing ever along with stealing games!
Reply
thestryker

usertests said:
If it normalizes to be $510 instead of $500, then that's utterly insignificant - a 2% premium.
Even if we were at more rational times and it was a $10-20 (~10%) price difference it'd probably be worth it for anyone without X3D who didn't want to fuss with timings. In memory sensitive workloads the EXPO ULL CL36 kits are better than EXPO CL30 so there's a tangible benefit so long as the pricing is where it should be. I think everyone needs to remember that G.Skill has said they're not pricing ULL with a significant premium so any pricing that reflects a large premium on the market is either markup or simply that there's older regular kits still available.
Reply
helper800

thestryker said:
Even if we were at more rational times and it was a $10-20 (~10%) price difference it'd probably be worth it for anyone without X3D who didn't want to fuss with timings. In memory sensitive workloads the EXPO ULL CL36 kits are better than EXPO CL30 so there's a tangible benefit so long as the pricing is where it should be. I think everyone needs to remember that G.Skill has said they're not pricing ULL with a significant premium so any pricing that reflects a large premium on the market is either markup or simply that there's older regular kits still available.
As you say, there are no bad products, just bad prices. The kits have nice uplift for a small premium even in times like these.
Reply
btmedic04

Ricket5 said:
No it wouldn't. When prices were that low Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung were losing money selling RAM. If those prices had kept up we'd be stuck with only two RAM companies. That's what gamers forget. When they liked the prices the companies were losing money with each sale.

It's fine to complain about high prices. But then to turn around and wish things go back to when the companies were losing money on each sale isn't good. It is however the most PC gamer thing ever along with stealing games!
You're conflating the 2023 DRAM crash with prices from completely different market conditions. Yes, manufacturers lost billions during the 2023 oversupply cycle. But I bought a 32GB G.Skill 6000 CL28 Hynix A-die kit for $124.99 on 5/10/25. SK Hynix had just reported a 35% operating margin and record 2024 profit. Micron's margins had also returned positive. A $125–200 enthusiast ram kit does not require DRAM manufacturers to lose money, and there's an enormous amount of room between “selling below cost” and charging $500+ for 32GB.
Reply
helper800

btmedic04 said:
You're conflating the 2023 DRAM crash with prices from completely different market conditions. Yes, manufacturers lost billions during the 2023 oversupply cycle. But I bought a 32GB G.Skill 6000 CL28 Hynix A-die kit for $124.99 on 5/10/25. SK Hynix had just reported a 35% operating margin and record 2024 profit. Micron's margins had also returned positive. A $125–200 enthusiast ram kit does not require DRAM manufacturers to lose money, and there's an enormous amount of room between “selling below cost” and charging $500+ for 32GB.
Markets via supply and demand determine prices, so 500 dollars is where the market has determined the value of such kits. We don't have to buy if we do not like the prices. What is fueling the pricing is not the consumer sector, and so there is nothing we can do for now until the great AI bust, or oversupply of chips.
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