G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 4800 (PC4-38400) Desktop Memory Model F4-4800C18D-16GTRS

Pros: This is some of the highest speed available RAM that uses Samsung’s legendary B-die, and is green-lit from the manufacturer to run 4800MT/s*. Even if you cannot run these at XMP (which is a very likely outcome), it’s expected that you have some knowledge to manually tune these to get the most out of them. You can expect some very good characteristics from tuning timings and subtimings manually out of this kit.

Cons: There are many caveats in order to get this running at 4800MT/s. You absolutely need a capable motherboard that is optimized for high frequency. An ASUS APEX board, MSI GODLIKE, or similar top end board that has been built with overclocking in mind. You also need a CPU that has been pre-qualified to run RAM at these speeds. The chances of getting any off the shelf CPU to run these RAM speeds are very slim.

On top of that, even if you do get the “silicon lottery” on your mainboard and CPU to run these at their rated speeds, you may need to run uncomfortably high supporting voltages (such as 1.5 volts or higher for Intel’s System Agent). It’s not currently known how detrimental these voltages are in the long run, so tread cautiously.

Overall Review: Don’t get me wrong, this is a fantastic RAM kit. However, you need the hardware to run these at the specced speeds. A random off the shelf set of parts will not run these at 4800. You can expect closer to 4400MT/s to 4666MT/s at the top end for a random off-the-shelf 9900K or 10700K/10900K. A CPU that has been binned specifically for RAM speed will have a higher chance of running this ram at 4800MT/s without errors. If you do not have a ram-binned CPU, then I cannot recommend getting this RAM kit, and you would be better off purchasing a kit rated between 4400MT/s and 4666MT/s if you want a high performance set of RAM.

Do NOT purchase this if you think you can just enable XMP and be running at XMP speeds. There are many other factors that could prevent success.

Another note: Since this uses Samsung B-die chips, I cannot recommend using this on AMD Ryzen platforms. There is minimal performance benefit, if any, to running RAM past the limit of the CPU’s Infinity Fabric speed, which typically caps out at 1900MHz (or 3800MT/s in terms of RAM speed). Even if you were to decouple RAM and IF speeds and run your RAM faster than your IF, the Samsung B-Die found in this kit is not a good pairing for AMD Ryzen. For that, I would recommend kits that use Micron RAM chips. If you want the most out of your Ryzen CPU with a high performance kit, instead look at G.Skill’s TridentZ Neo RAM kits, or other similar kits with a rated speed of 3800MT/s or lower.

Pros: Install was a breeze working great in XMP II mode at 4300MHZ.

Cons: MB is on the QVL list and was expecting memory to run at 4800MHZ.

Overall Review: Installed in the 2nd and 4th sockets as recommended. Increased voltage to 1.6, tried one stick and no luck, can’t get past 4200MHZ. Any recommendations to get speed up to 4800MHZ? Thanks

Pros: -Runs super fast and scales to 1.5v with ease for 24/7 usage
-Runs really well on Ryzen 3000, I could tighten to as low as 3733 CL14-14-14-14-26-40-250(tRFC) in 1:1
-Fastest retail kit you can buy to date
-Has a super premium feel, I almost didn’t want to touch them it was like getting expensive jewelry!
-A2 PCB

Cons: -Expensive (you can quite literally buy high end graphics cards for these prices)
-RGB makes the sticks run a little bit hotter, since the chips are Samsung B-die they’re temperature sensitive, so I’d recommend disabling RGB for best performance.
-QVL’d on boards to run at XMP with Ryzen 3000 but won’t do it. XMP is very CPU and motherboard dependent when it comes to super high binned kits such as this one.
-Finger print magnets

Overall Review: I’d say for your day to day PC builder these are definitely not worth it, however if you’re after every last MHz/tight timing as possible then these will be good for you if you have deep pockets. They are really spectacular in the right hands and absolutely fly given the right scenario especially if you’re pushing extreme voltage.

10/10 for performance
10/10 looks
4/10 value

Pros: Insanely fast with the ability to get stable crazy good timings that are superior to other kits even if you don’t happen to reach 4800mhz

Cons: Expensive and good chance you won’t reach the 4800mhz mark unless you have a good binned cpu chip and a 2 ram slot z390 motherboard.

Overall Review: On a z390 msi godlike utilizing only 2 of the 4 ram slots on the motherboard with my 9900kf I was able to do 16-17-17-36 @ 4533mhz and at command rate 1 (1T) at 1.47v in the BIOS. The trick was, regardless of cpu speed or VCCIO, it needed 1.29v for the VCCSA and 1.22v for the DMI voltage. Now it’s 100% stable even when ambient room temps hit 80F. If I had a z390 apex I am sure without a doubt I could hit 4800mhz and might even be able to do it with command rate at 1T/1N. Amazing nonetheless and If you have the cash I would buy this kit over the 5000mhz Corsair offering any day of the week. This kit is no joke.

Pros: 4600mhz cl18 22 42 dram 1.5v dram current 130% tm5a3 test pass

Cons: I have tested it in three environments.
All three environments are PCs of different users.

1. bios 0903 version (latest) Maximus xi apex z390
+ CPU 1.33v 5.1ghz (linx 20 cycle passed)
4800mhz cl18 22 42 dram 1.5v dram current 130% tm5a3 test fail….

2. bios 0903 version (latest) Maximus xi apex z390
+ CPU 1.34v 5.0ghz(linx 20 cycle passed)
4800mhz cl18 22 42 dram 1.5v dram current 130% tm5a3 test fail….

3. bios 0903 version (latest) Maximus xi apex z390
+ CPU 1.32v 5.1ghz (linx 20 cycle passed)
4800mhz cl18 22 42 dram 1.5v dram current 130% tm5a3 test fail….

gskill USA said : We test hundreds of CPUs to fine ones capable of it. It is up to the user to source parts capable of achieving it.
gskill Taiwan said : so a highly selective CPU with strong IMC is required.

You must have a very good CPU to get this RAM. It does not usually mean 9900k. 5.3ghz is a CPU running 1.3v.
As Gskill USA said, it would be one of the hundreds.

Pros: Seemed like the perfect RAM kit to get for my new 10900K Z490 build. However, upon installation, 4800Mhz XMP setting wouldn’t even POST.

This is at 1.5V

This is purely FALSE ADVERTISING and does not work! All RAM kits I’ve had (I’ve had dozens of them for my builds over the years) have worked perfectly in their XMP setting – turn XMP on, click “Save and Exit” in BIOS and BAM, it works. This is the first RAM kit that does not.

After reading online and seeing other users’ experience, it seems as if this kit is only meant for extreme overclockers who want to “break records” etc. Then it should be advertised as such!

This RAM kit can barely do 4400Mhz and still throws errors on TM5. This is with the VCCIO at 1.30V and the VCCSA at 1.35V – the daily “maximum” considered safe for 24/7 operation by enthusiasts.

BE FOREWARNED! DO NOT BUY THIS RAM IF YOU WANT 4800MHz OUT OF THE BOX! IT WILL NOT WORK!

Cons: -This does not work as advertised
-It still throws errors at 4400Mhz @ 1.5V
-False advertising

Overall Review: -Unless you are an extreme overclocker or do this for a living, DO NOT BUY THIS RAM!
-You need to be a RAM OC’ing “expert” to figure out how to run this RAM even near its advertised speed
-DO NOT BUY if you’re an average PC gamer/enthusiast/system-builder

Pros: The rotating RGB colors and polished heatsinks are certainly eye catching.

Cons: While advertised as 4800mhz, this set could not get above 3200mhz. I tried on both an older but stable Crosshair VII board, and on a brand new Crosshair VIII board, and neither would maintain 3200+, and choosing DOCP profile in BIOS is laughably crashworthy. If these modules actually ran smooth at or even near 4800 they might be considered a good option. As it is, these appear to be bargain chips slapped into a shiny wrapper. This is sad, as my B-Die 3200 modules I picked up for my original 1800X build were rock solid and still in use 3 years later. What happened, G-Skill?

Overall Review: Are the flashy lights a Bait & Switch?