Josh Norem
2024-05-24 10:41:56
www.extremetech.com
G.Skill has finally given DDR5 memory the royal treatment by launching its much-anticipated Trident Z5 Royal version. The company says the Z5 Royal will represent the apex of its DDR5 lineup, offering both high capacity and blistering speeds in a “luxury-class” design, so we’re sure it will not come cheap.
The Trident Z5 Royal was always G.Skill’s most blinged-out RAM design, but it certainly falls on the classier side of the fence versus being ostentatious. Opinions will surely vary on this topic. The memory sticks feature a mirrored-finish aluminum heat-spreader available in either gold or silver, and each one is CNC-machined and electroplated. Above them is a full-length “crystalline” light bar that looks like shimmering crystals when RGB lighting is pulsing through them. G.Skill says this design embodies “high-class luxury,” making us wonder if there’s any other kind of luxury.
![Trident Z5 Royal](https://i.extremetech.com/imagery/content-types/05faEe8bY4UjLDMffXEe87u/images-1.fill.size_670x447.v1716560677.jpg)
The G.Skill Trident Z5 Royal finally returns in DDR5 trim for folks who want overclocked memory, though they’re primarily intended for Intel users only.
Credit: G.Skill
The Trident Z5 Royal will be the company’s flagship memory stick, offering “up to” DDR5-8400 CL40 memory speeds, as fast as DDR5 gets these days. G.Skill says two capacities will be offered: either 48GB (2×24) or 96GB (2×48). Unfortunately for AMD customers, the Z5 Royal only supports Intel XMP 3.0 for one-click overclocking. There’s no mention of AMD EXPO support; based on what we’ve seen online, most AMD users are wary of highly overclocked memory as it’s been known to cause issues on the AM5 platform, but perhaps that’ll change when Zen 5 is released later this year.
G.Skill says it’ll also be offering these kits “in other specifications.” Still, we’ll have to wait and see what that vague pronouncement means when the kits are available for retail purchase. The company says its Trident Z5 Royal DDR5 kits will be available in late May 2024, so they should arrive any day now.
These sticks could be an attractive option, pardon the pun, for folks looking to finally upgrade their Intel systems to Arrow Lake, which will be Intel’s first platform to jettison support for DDR4. As such, it will only support DDR5 memory, which is the same move AMD pulled when it launched AM5 in 2022. AMD was ahead of the curve, but it paid a steep price for removing DDR4 support. DDR5 memory was obscenely expensive in 2022 and most of 2023, making an AM4 upgrade a costly proposition.