G.Skill on Tuesday introduced its ultra-low-latency DDR5-6400 memory modules that feature a CAS latency of 30 cycles, which appears to be the most aggressive timing in the industry for DDR5-6400 memory. The modules will be available for both AMD- and Intel-based systems.
With each new generation of DDR memory, data transfer rates increase and relative latencies increase. While for the vast majority of applications the increased throughput offsets the performance impact of higher clock speeds, there are applications that prefer low latency. However, reducing latency is sometimes more difficult than increasing data transfer rates, which is why low-latency modules are rare.
Nevertheless, G. Skill apparently managed to select enough DDR5 memory chips and build the appropriate PCBs to produce DDR5-6400 modules with CL30 clock speeds, which are significantly lower than the CL46 clock speeds recommended by JEDEC for that speed range. This means that while the JEDEC-compliant modules have an absolute latency of 14.375 ns, the G. Skill modules boast a latency of just 9.375 ns – a drop of about 35%.
G.Skill’s DDR5-6400 CL30 39-39-102 modules have a capacity of 16GB and will be available in dual-channel kits with a capacity of 32GB. The company, however, is not disclosing their voltages, which are likely to be significantly higher than those standardized by JEDEC.
The company plans to make its DDR5-6400 modules available for both AMD systems with EXPO profiles (Trident Z5 Neo RGB and Trident Z5 Royal Neo) and Intel systems with XMP 3.0 profiles (Trident Z5 RGB and Trident Z5 Royal). For AMD AM5 systems, which have a practical 6000 MT/s to 6400 MT/s limit for DDR5 memory (since that’s about as fast as AMD’s Infinity Fabric can run at a 1:1 ratio), the new modules will be especially beneficial for AMD Ryzen 7000-series and Ryzen 9000-series processors.
G.Skill notes that because its modules are custom, they won’t work with all systems, but they will work on high-end motherboards with properly cooled CPUs.
The new ultra-low-latency memory kits will be available globally from G.Skill’s partners starting in late August 2024. The company has not disclosed the prices of these modules, but since we are talking about premium products that boast unique specifications, it is likely that their price will be correspondingly high.
