G.SKILL has announced Zeta R5, a new series of high-performance, overclocked DDR5 R-DIMM memory kits. Designed for use with the latest unlocked Intel Xeon W-2400X and W-3400X series processors on respective Intel W790 chipset-based motherboards that have quad-channel and octo-channel memory support, the new kits are available in specifications of up to DDR5-6400 CL32 and in larger capacities of up to 256 GB (32 GB x8), featuring support for the latest XMP 3.0 memory profiles for easy memory overclocking. G.SKILL has confirmed that the Zeta R5 series will be available from March 2023, while a set of screenshots can confirm some of the overclocking potential that users can expect with some of these memories.
G.SKILL Zeta R5 Series DDR5 R-DIMM Memory Specifications
From a G.SKILL press release:
Bringing Memory Overclock Support to R-DIMM Memory
With the Intel W790 platform, memory overclock support to DDR5 R-DIMM memory is officially introduced, allowing workstation systems to achieve higher memory speeds than R-DIMM based on standard JEDEC specifications. Taking advantage of this new feature set, the G.SKILL Zeta R5 series DDR5 R-DIMM memory kits are equipped with Intel XMP 3.0 profiles for easy overclocking, allowing users to gain additional memory bandwidth and performance by simply enabling XMP in BIOS.
Breaking Barriers with 16GB Modules: DDR5-6400 CL32 128GB (16GBx8)
Pushing the performance limits on the latest Sapphire Rapids platform, the G.SKILL R&D team has developed ultra-fast memory specifications using 16GB DDR5 R-DIMM memory modules up to DDR5-6400 CL32-39-39-102 with large 128GB (16GBx8) kit capacity configurations. With this memory kit on the ASUS Pro WS W790E-SAGE SE motherboard in 8-channel memory and the Intel Xeon W9-3495X processor, the memory bandwidth reaches an astounding 303GB/s read, 227GB/s write, and 257GB/s copy speed in the AIDA64 memory bandwidth benchmark, as seen in the screenshot below.
Massive Capacity, High-Speed 8-Channel Memory at DDR5-6000 CL30 256GB (32GBx8)
For workstations that require high memory capacity, the G.SKILL Zeta R5 memory series also offers 32GBx8 kit capacity configurations for a total of 256GB, reaching overclocked speeds of up to DDR5-6000 CL30-38-38-96.
Demonstrating the Bandwidth Potential of R-DIMM Overclocked at DDR5-6800
Dedicated to developing the fastest possible memory, G.SKILL is also demonstrating the high bandwidth potential of overclocking R-DIMM to DDR5-6800 CL34-45-45-108 in 8-channel on the ASUS Pro WS W790E-SAGE SE motherboard and an Intel Xeon W9-3495X processor, reaching an insane 315GB/s read, 228GB/s write, and 262GB/s copy speed in the AIDA64 memory bandwidth benchmark. While the DDR5-6800 memory is not a launch specification, this shows the potential capabilities of the new Intel W790 platform.
Availability & XMP 3.0 Support
The G.SKILL Zeta R5 series high-performance, overclocked DDR5 R-DIMM memory kits support the latest Intel XMP 3.0 memory overclocking profile support for easy memory overclocking via the motherboard BIOS, and reaching the rated XMP overclock specifications would depend on the compatibility and capability of the unlocked Intel Xeon W-2400X and W-3400X series processors and the respective Intel W790 chipset motherboards. These memory kits will roll out to G.SKILL worldwide distribution partners from March 2023.
Discussion (2 replies)
Join Discussion →When they say R-DIMM, are they talking Registered ECC RAM?
If so, that is pretty awesome. I've always wanted to put ECC in my desktop, but never done so because the available ECC RAM is usually really slow and has awful timings. It would be nice to get the best of both worlds!
Yup, and they don't have stupid RGB lighting on them either!
I too found it a bit strange that there was no mention of ECC in the press release, even if its inclusion might be a reasonable assumption. And I'm not sure that it is a reasonable assumption, considering the brand. But an editor from AnandTech confirmed the ECC support with G.Skill, according to a reply in the following article's comment section: https://www.anandtech.com/show/18751/gskill-zeta-r5-ddr5-rdimms-up-to-ddr56800-for-intel-xeon-w3400x-and-w2400x
I've also seen announcements for overclocked ECC RDIMM kits from other brands, and in those cases the support has been clear. I'm not in the market for any of these kits myself, but overclocking registered DIMMs seemed strange (or unusual, at least) enough to me that I took notice.
Here's a link to the specifications of all eight unlocked Xeon W-2400 and W-3400 processors from Intel ARK: https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/compare.html?productIds=233420,233415,233421,233418,233416,233417,233419,233483
Cool... But like Threadripper Pro, there's no way I could justify spending the amount of money it'd cost to build a system with one of these new Xeons, and for most tasks I'd probably be better served by a mainstream platform such as AM5 anyway. It'd be a nice touch if the Xeons came with a "f*ck Lenovo" case badge. ;)
Unfortunately, the launch Sapphire Rapids will do nothing to help the market for unbuffered ECC DIMMs, which was not in a healthy state when I last checked. Intel and AMD need to add official support for ECC to their mainstream platforms, and they also need to make more PCIe lanes available from the CPU, because the PC has become little more than an overpriced gaming console. There may be enough total bandwidth available now that we've moved to PCIe 5.0, but the way it's allocated doesn't provide flexible expansion options. An additional eight, or even four lanes could go a long way and doesn't seem like an unreasonable demand.