5 GHz DDR4 and Ryzen 9 3900X: the der8auer overclocker tests an unprecedented Gigabyte kit

Roman overclocker “der8auer”Hartung has tested on the X570 platform with the Ryzen 9 3900X a new Gigabyte DDR4-5000 memory kit. The company has been working on it internally for some time, so much so that at the last Gamescom in August it had promised der8auer that it would soon send him something special.

No sooner said than done. The gift has arrived and the overclocker has obviously put everything to the test in a video that you can see below. The modules have operated at 5 GHz without requiring special exotic interventions or cooling, but only setting up a simple XMP profile from the BIOS. A further sign that, if you still had doubts, the AMD platforms have come a long way from the first generation Ryzen in compatibility with the memories.

The two modules are chip based Micron, DDR4-3200 solutions that basically require 1.2 volts. To reach 5000 MHz are needed 1.55 volts, while the set timings are CL18 (18-27-27-38).

As known, the design of the new Ryzen 3000 ensures that the best performance are obtained around 3733 MHz, frequency within which the memory clock and that of the Infinity Fabric interconnection work in sync. Beyond that frequency, the two parameters work with a 2: 1 ratio and this impacts performance because latencies increase (a penalty of 8 – 12 nanoseconds according to the experience of der8auer).

So what happens with a 5000 MHz memory kit? Der8auer did some tests to find out. In the AIDA 64 reading benchmark, DDR4-5000 RAM soared over the rest of the group. The writing test also went in his favor.

The latency test was different, however, where the kit was placed in the middle of the group. There are also no major differences with Cinebench R15 and in 4K rendering with Adobe Premiere, while in 7-Zip and Corona the kit returns to the head.

The interesting aspectafter all, it's not so much about seeing how 5000 MHz DDR4s behave, how much see how the Ryzen 9 3900X and the X570 platform managed without major problems such a high memory frequency (AMD had announced it at launch, speaking of tests with air-cooled kits up to 5133 MHz).

As for Gigabyte's DDR4-5000, they will probably remain a product only for enthusiasts with a large wallet. The vast majority of users can simply do without it, without getting too upset about not having the kit with the higher frequencies. Better to focus on a more balanced DDR4-3600 / 3800 CL16 memory kit.

A 16 GB memory kit with everything you need to get your Ryzen PC flying? These Crucial Ballistix will not disappoint you.