G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 32GB (16GBx2) 6000 MHz Review

We love our high-end hardware here at eTeknix, and I'm sure many of you do too! The memory masters at G.Skill have a solid reputation for delivering world-record-setting memory kits and performance that's made them a big hit with overclockers, enthusiasts and gamers alike. With that in mind, I'm certainly happy to see their latest Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 memory in the office. With an impressive speed of 6000 MHz, it's one of the fastest kits we've had, so I'm expecting some pretty decent performance figures from it today. G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO Of course, G.Skill has been making fast memory for a long time, and the Trident series has long been one of their most popular too. The Z5 Neo comes in a few speeds, but with the 6000 MHz kit running tighter CL30-38-38-96 timings at 1.35V it should be very fast indeed. However, keep in mind this is a premium kit and has a larger custom heat spreader and RGB integration, so it'll likely cost a little more than some too. Features Trident Z5 Neo RGBDDR5-6000 CL30-38-38-96 1.35V32GB (2x16GB)AMD EXPO <- This may not exactly be true, more on that later. What G.Skill Had to Say "Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5 memory is designed for ultra-high overclocked performance on DDR5-enabled AMD platforms. Featuring AMD EXPO overclocking technology for easy memory overclocking on supported AMD platforms, the Trident Z5 Neo RGB series is the ideal choice for building high-performance systems." A Closer Look Now that's what I call some great-looking memory! This looks super slick and futuristic, with a design that's sure to look great in a more serious-looking build, but also in a more aggressive gaming-focused build too. The heat spreader design is by far one of the best I've ever seen, with a black brushed aluminium heatsink and some sweeping curves that have polished aluminium edges, giving it a striking contrast. From any angle, they look amazing. Of course, that larger aluminium heat spreader design isn't just all fancy looks, it's got a lot of surface area, so it should deliver some great cooling performance. However, there's a seriously big problem with this memory... It says AMD Expo on the box, it says it on the product feature list, and it's all over the place. But this is, in no way shape or form Expo memory, it doesn't have the features and was not playing ball with our AMD platform at all. However, since Expo is basically AMD's XMP, which automatically allows you to set speeds, timings and voltages, we performed this task manually and the memory posted at the claimed specifications, so we're proceeding with testing. How We Test Here at eTeknix, we endeavour to disclose vital information regarding the benchmarking process so that readers can quantify the results and attempt to replicate them using their hardware. When it comes to our benchmarks in our reviews, the benchmarks are pretty self-explanatory although there are a few exceptions. Remember that your choice of graphics card, CPU, the silicon lottery, and other factors can yield different numbers, and there's always a margin for error when using any software. Therefore, your experience may vary. Testing Your Own System Links are provided below, as well as the settings we use. We encourage you to not just look at how one product compares to any other, but how it compares to your own. If you're looking to build a new system, you should benchmark your current PC using our benchmarks and settings where possible. You should then look at the percentage improvement from your current hardware to the hardware we tested to give you a ballpark figure of how much an upgrade this will provide you with. Test System ProcessorIntel i9 12900kMotherboardMSI Z690 TOMAHAWK WiFiMemoryChanges Per ReviewGraphicsGigabyte RTX 3080 Gaming OC 10GBStorageSeagate Firecuda 520 1TBPower SupplyCorsair RM850xSoftwareWindows 10 Professional 1909DriversNVDIA GeForce 497.29 DCH Software Used CineBench R23 (download)AIDA 64 Engineer (download)WPrime (download)3DMark (download)HWMonitor (download)CPU-Z (download) Methodology In our RAM reviews, we keep things relatively simple. We put the RAM kit that is being tested into our test system and benchmark it at its first XMP profile using a variety of benchmarks and tests. Once complete, we apply a reasonable overclock where possible and benchmark the same software with the overclocked values. The CPU clock speed is set to default for both runs. AIDA64 As you can see, we're only onto our third memory kit for the new AMD test bench. However, despite the Expo issues we discussed, the performance seems to be right on the money here, read, write and copy speeds are all very good, and just behind that of the Corsair Vengeance. I was really surprised to see the latency was so low too, it is high-end memory for sure, but because we manually set up the memory, I expected some compatibility issues in early testing, but clearly that's not the case. Calculation Performance Remember, lower is better here, and the Neo is off to the races, wit ha speedy 5.25 seconds to 32M, very impressive stuff. The same in WPrime, with 1024M often acting as one of the better stress tests on memory due to its intensity on both the CPU and memory, but again, over a second faster than the Vulcan and two seconds ahead of Corsair. Rendering Performance Cinebench is very reliant on both the CPU and memory, so higher read speeds and low latency really make a big difference here, so its not surprisingly to see the Neo hold onto its lead with an impressive score of 28701. Render times were fractionally faster, but as you can see the overall number of rays broke the 10M mark, putting it nicely in the lead. Little explanation is needed here too, with 104.2 samples per minute, not much in the short term, but when you're rendering 24/7, that will add up. FutureMark Performance So, let's switch things to a more GPU and memory-bound scenario, and as you can see, the Neo is still putting in competitive scores, but it's the Vulcan Alpha that holds the higher score in the memory dependant physics score, however, the Neo still hold the highest overall score. It's in the lead here too, albeit buy 1 point in the overall performance, so it's a bit of a photo finish. Assassin's Creed Valhalla Gaming is a great test for memory because some games are more CPU bound, while others are storage, GPU and memory bound in very different measures from game to game. Despite being pretty much on top for rendering and calculation, the Neo is in last place for Valhalla, but only by a tiny margin. Become Eivor, a Viking raider raised to be a fearless warrior, and lead your clan from icy desolation in Norway to a new home amid the lush farmlands of ninth-century England. Find your settlement and conquer this hostile land by any means to earn a place in Valhalla. Available now on Steam. Cyberpunk 2077 The same is true in Cyberpunk, just a little behind the competition here. Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world, action-adventure RPG set in the megalopolis of Night City, where you play as a cyberpunk mercenary wrapped up in a do-or-die fight for survival. Improved and featuring all-new free additional content, customize your character and playstyle as you take on jobs, build a reputation, and unlock upgrades. The relationships you forge and the choices you make will shape the story and the world around you. Legends are made here. What will yours be? Available now on Steam. F1 2022 But then in F1, which is a game that is less demanding on the GPU, the fast memory allows the CPU to push bigger frame rates by a significant margin. Make your mark on Formula 1 in the officially licensed F1 Manager 2022. Be the boss of your chosen constructor and pick from a roster of 2022 drivers and staff. Featuring full F1 licensing and true-to-life presentation, you won’t just play F1 Manager 2022 – you’ll live it. Available now on Steam. FarCry 6 The same is true in FarCry6, pushing an impressive 160 FPS 1% lows. Welcome to Yara, a tropical paradise frozen in time. As the dictator of Yara, Antón Castillo is intent on restoring his nation to its former glory by any means necessary, with his son, Diego, following in his bloody footsteps. Their oppressive rule has ignited a revolution. Available now on Epic. Forza Horizon 5 Again, in these more GPU-optimised games, the performance is really strong, Your Ultimate Horizon Adventure awaits! Explore the vibrant and ever-evolving open-world landscapes of Mexico with limitless, fun driving action in hundreds of the world’s greatest cars. Available now on Xbox.com. Horizon Zero Dawn The 1% lows soared to 152 FPS here, and an overall average of 212, putting it firmly in the lead again! Experience Aloy’s legendary quest to unravel the mysteries of a future Earth ruled by Machines. Use devastating tactical attacks against your prey and explore a majestic open world in this award-winning action RPG! Available now on Steam. Microsoft Flight Simulator But then as we switch back to a GPU bound scenario is does drop back again, but again, only by the smallest of margins. From light planes to wide-body jets, fly highly detailed and accurate aircraft in the next generation of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Test your piloting skills against the challenges of night flying, real-time atmospheric simulation and live weather in a dynamic and living world. Create your flight plan to anywhere on the planet. The world is at your fingertips. Available now on Xbox.com. Shadow of the Tomb Raider Only a 1 FPS difference in the averages here, but again, strong 1% lows should help reduce any unwanted stutters at high frame rates. Experience Lara Croft’s defining moment as she becomes the Tomb Raider. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lara must master a deadly jungle, overcome terrifying tombs, and persevere through her darkest hour. As she races to save the world from a Maya apocalypse, Lara will ultimately be forged into the Tomb Raider she is destined to be. Available now on Steam. Watch Dogs: Legion The Vengeance and Vulcan are not slow memory kits at all, so to pull out a 7 FPS lead on the Vengeance alone is very impressive indeed. Build a resistance from virtually anyone you see as you hack, infiltrate, and fight to take back a near-future London that is facing its downfall. Welcome to the Resistance. Recruit and play as anyone in the city. Everyone you see has a unique backstory, personality, and skill set. Available now on UPlay. Red Dead Redemption 2 And finally RDR2, it seems this memory is either in the lead or just 1FPS behind, making it an extremely competent set of gaming memory. Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang are outlaws on the run. With federal agents and the best bounty hunters in the nation massing on their heels, the gang must rob, steal and fight their way across the rugged heartland of America in order to survive. As deepening internal divisions threaten to tear the gang apart, Arthur must make a choice between his own ideals and loyalty to the gang who raised him. Available now on Steam. Overall Average FPS The overall averages put it ahead in 1% lows and overall averages, even if our weird chart does put it in the middle. Temperatures The heatsinks on the Neo are significant, having much more mass than either the Vengeance or the Vulcan, and also sit tall with a thinning spine that can easily dissipate heat. As a result, both the idle and the load temperatures are remarkably low. Overclocking Despite coming with no Expo profiles at all, the memory was configurable to its default 6000 MHz without too much trouble, so long as you know what you're doing. However, with a few tweaks, a modest +200 MHz overclock was applied, resulting in a nice boost in the overall read speeds, taking them to 74092. The write speeds are also boosted by over 3000 MB/s and copy by around 1500 MB/s. Often pushing the speed up can result in worse timings and latency, however, we actually saw a reduction in latency, so overall, if you can push them a little higher, it's recommended you do so. How Much Does It Cost? The G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 32GB (16GBx2) 6000 MHz Memory kit (F5-6000J3038F16GX2-TZ5N), is available now on Amazon for £139.19, a little more than some of their rivals, but as you've seen today, the performance is also pretty impressive, so paying a little extra for a lead in pretty much the majority of benchmarks seems pretty reasonable to me. Overview I absolutely love this memory, and frankly, it's hard not to when you look at the overall performance it delivered in our benchmarks. It absolutely slays in CPU and GPU-bound rendering and calculation tasks, and when it comes to gaming, it's either ahead of the competition or only 1FPS behind, but overall, it averages out the fastest of the bunch. The huge heatsinks look amazing too, and the build quality is top-tier overall. This resulted in very low memory temperatures at both stock and at load, but no doubt played a big part in the overall great performance too. The performance is certainly not in question here, and if you are comfortable with overclocking, you can even squeeze out a little more performance and lower the latency, which is great, but of course, your mileage may vary depending on your hardware configuration. Of course, you will need to be comfortable with settings memory up manually, as the heavily touted Expo features were nowhere to be seen. That's a big problem, as the ease of being able to select your memory profile in the BIOS and then boot, is something many rely on. We had to set the timings, speed and voltage ourselves and while it's not hard to type in a few numbers, it's not something we expect everyone will be eager to do. Should I Buy One? If you are an enthusiast who knows what you're doing with memory, and you're comfortable with either how to set up memory manually in the BIOS, or at least level-headed enough to google how to do it yourself, then I can strongly recommend this memory. It's extremely fast, cool, and well-made. However, if you're reliant on a plug-and-play setup and a bit of a memory noob that dares not research how to set up memory yourself (it's not overall hard, but BIOS settings can be technical), then I'd say pass on this one. However, as much as I would buy this memory, the lack of an advertised feature does prevent me from giving it our Editors Choice award, which it should have, but I will award it our Extreme Performance award, which it clearly deserves regardless.