While Intel’s newest Core Ultra 200S collection of processors hasn’t been setting information for gaming efficiency, they had been the primary chips on the block to assist the latest tech within the RAM world, CUDIMMs. And now Corsair has launched its first clock driver RAM sticks, with speeds of as much as 9,600 MT/s.
If you are questioning what the distinction between UDIMMs (a ‘regular’ RAM stick) and CUDIMMs is, let me provide you with a quick rundown. Take any latest CPU from AMD and Intel, and you may discover that they assist as much as a sure RAM pace, e.g., 5,600 MT/s within the case of the Ryzen 9000 collection.
You can overclock the reminiscence controller in these CPUs to make use of even quicker RAM, both by enjoying round with reminiscence settings within the BIOS or simply by enabling XMP, DOCP, or EXPO.
Unfortunately, reminiscence controllers cannot hit the identical clock speeds as DDR5 can, so to succeed in the very highest ranges, you both need to set the reminiscence controller to half, third, or quarter of the pace of the RAM or, within the case of Intel’s Arrow Lake processors, use CUDIMMs.
These have a tiny chip on the circuit board, a so-called clock driver, that permits the CPU’s reminiscence controller to run at one fee however the RAM itself to run at a a lot greater pace.
Corsair’s new CUDIMM Vengeance lineup consists of 48 GB reminiscence kits (2 x 24 GB), beginning at 8,000 MT/s CL38 and going as much as 9,600 MT/s CL44. By comparability, the quickest UDIMM it sells solely attain 7,600 MT/s CL36.
Sounds superior, sure? Well, there’s only one teeny caveat and it is the worth. The slowest CUDIMM Vengeance package prices $267/£252, whereas the 9,600 MT/s package will set you again an extra $110/£105. A typical 32 GB DDR5-6000 CL30 set from Corsair is roughly $120 on Amazon proper now.
It’s additionally value noting that CUDIMMs aren’t supported by any AMD processor or Intel’s earlier technology of chips, similar to Raptor Lake. However, Corsair’s new Vengeance CUDIMMs can bypass the clock divider, so you need to use them on such platforms. They simply will not run at their full pace.
If you do have an AMD gaming rig, although, you are higher off simply sticking with DDR5-6000 as that is the candy spot between bandwidth, latency, and stability. So moderately than going all-out on DRAM pace, you are higher off searching for as low a CL (CAS latency) score as attainable.
Enter stage left G.Skill, with its new CL26 DDR5-6000 kits, in 32 and 64 GB variations. I’ve a set of its CL28 Trident Z5 Royal Neo (the blingiest of RAM bling units) and I can affirm that Ryzen chips do like ultra-low latency reminiscence. Unlike CUDIMMs, they are not super-expensive ($150 on Amazon, for instance), although it can save you a penny or two simply through the use of customary CL30 stuff.
Whether it is value spending the additional money on a set of Corsair’s CUDIMMs we’ll let you recognize as soon as we have examined them. I attempted some high-speed kits with a Core Ultra 9 285K, when Arrow Lake launched, however discovered they did not enhance gaming efficiency all that a lot.
That may be totally different now Intel has launched varied updates, within the type of motherboard BIOS, CPU microcode, and Windows 11 enhancements. Hopefully, the updates and Corsair’s CUDIMMs can raise Arrow Lake’s fortunes considerably.
