G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO RGB DDR5-6000MT/s CL26 32GB Review

1. Introduction2. G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO RGB DDR5-6000 C26 32GB 3. Intel: Testing Methodology4. Intel: Memory Benchmarks5. Intel: Compute and Productivity Tests6. Intel: Encoding7. Intel: Office Productivity8. Intel: Gaming9. AMD: Testing Methodology10. AMD: Compute and Productivity Tests11. AMD: Encoding12. AMD: Office Productivity13. AMD Gaming14. Closing Thoughts15. View All Pages

G.Skill's Trident Z5 Neo RGB has been designed as performance DDR5 memory for PC enthusiasts and gamers, with particular attention being given to overclocking using AMD's EXPO technology, but it still works in Intel-based systems. It features customisable RGB lighting while the aluminium heatspreaders come in matt white or matt black finishes. The modules are 42.8mm high, giving a wider range of compatibility with air coolers and motherboards.

The Trident Z5 Neo RGB product line consists of five speeds: 5600 MT/s, 6000MT/s, 6400MT/s, 7200MT/s and 8000MT/s and four kit capacities. The entry-level 5200MT/s comes in 32GB (CL28 1.35V and 30 1.25V), 48GB and 96GB, both CL40 1.25V. 6000MT/s is the current sweet spot for AMD-based systems, and it has the most options of the Trident Z5 Neo RGB product line:

• 32GB (CL26 140V, CL28 1.40V, CL30 1.35V, CL32 1.35V)..
• 48GB (CL26 1.45V, CL28 1.35V, CL40 1.35V).
• 64GB (CL26 1.45V, CL26 1.40V, CL28 1.40V, CL30 1.40V, CL32 1.40V, CL36 1.35V) and 96GB (CL28 1.35V, CL30 1.35V),

6400MT/s comes in 32GB (CL30 1.40V, CL32 1.40V) and 48GB (CL32 1.35V). 7200MT/s comes in a 32GB kit (CL34, 1.40V) and the flagship 8000MT/s models come in 32GB (CL38 1.45V) and 48GB (CL40 1.40V).

The memory kit that G.Skill sent in for review was one of the matte white 32GB DDR5-6000 kits (F5-6000J2636H16GX2-TZ5NRW) comprising two 16GB single-sided modules each using eight SK Hynix A-die memory chips. It runs natively at DDR5-4800 with timings of 40-40-40-77-117 (1.10V), but the single EXPO profile bumps this up to 6000MHz at 1.45V (26-36-36-96).

The RGB system comprises eight LED segments per module. These LEDS are very bright, but they can be turned down in the software. If you want the memory to be integrated into an existing light scheme, most of the 3rd party software is catered for with support for ASRock Polychrome Sync, Asus Aura Sync, MSI Mystic Light Sync and Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0. The other option is to use G.Skill's own Trident Z Lighting Control utility, which can be downloaded from the G.Skill site. The Trident Z Lighting Control supports up to four independent profiles with their own custom light setup. The software has fourteen lightning effects and a wide colour palette, and modules can be synced or set up as individual units, so pretty much the sky is the limit when it comes to custom schemes.

We did a mild bit of overclocking on the modules, just using the EXPO settings without any voltage adjustments. At 6200MT/s, the memory was fine with the best improvements seen in Cinebench 2024 up from 1083 to 1136 points, Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail benchmark saw the average fps score in standard desktop mode go up from 178fps to 185fps, and in the Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark using low quality settings where the average fps and 1% lows rose by 18.366fps and 10.937 fps respectively. Turning the memory up to 6400 saw the system boot without any problem, but kept crashing during runs of the AIDA64 benchmark.

We found the 32GB kit of G.Skill's Trident Z5 Neo RGB 6000MT/s CL26-36-36-96 Amazon UK for around £180 HERE.

Pros

• Overall performance.
• Build quality.
• RGB.
• Limited lifetime warranty.

Cons

• Only one memory profile (EXPO).

KitGuru says: DDR5-6000 is the current sweet spot for AMD's Ryzen 7000 & 9000 series, and as you might expect, G.Skill's Trident Z5 Neo RGB has a multitude of offerings at that speed, including the low-latency CL26 version. Although designed to work on AMD platforms, it still performs well on Intel-based systems.

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