Introduction

Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith RGB 5600 CL40 DDR5
5600 MHz CL40 32 GB (2x 16 GB)

Silicon Power is a company (from Taipei) established in 2003. It’s mainly known for DRAM modules, SSDs (like XS70 1TB M.2 NVMe, which we checked last year), and USB Flash cards. We got a sample of their gaming brand (XPOWER) series, named Zenith RGB. It’s the only DDR5 model in their offer, providing frequencies up to 6000 MHz. A quick reminder - DDR5 is the newest technology to hit the market, make headlines, and break world records. DDR5 already set spectacular results in overclocking (of course, using the LN2), as even 10550 MHz.  DDR4 RAMs operate on a single 64-bit bus, while DDR5 has two 32-bit buses (plus, in both cases, an additional 8-bit for ECC). As a result, a single module is identified as Dual Channel, while two are identified as Quad Channel. However, the solution does not match the throughput of HEDT platforms with processors with a four-channel controller. The internal (A / B) channels of DDR5 RAM also share the RCD (Register Clock Driver), which provides more output signals and more extended pulse reading (8 vs. 16). The DDR5 comes with a Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) from the most important things you need to know. It’s responsible for controlling voltage changes, optimizing the energy draw, and making it less demanding for the motherboard controller. The DDR4 nominal voltage is 1.2 V; for the DDR5, it’s 1.1 V. Typical XMP voltage for the older type of memory is 1.35V (sometimes 1.45 V); now, it’s mostly 1.25 V. Speaking of the XMP, till now, it was 2.0 revision, with the introduction of the DDR5 we’ve got the rev 3.0. The main difference is that the number of profiles has increased from three to five (three for the manufacturer settings and two placeholders for the users).

 Following this brief introduction, let us present you with a comprehensive review of the XPOWER Zenith RGB series memory kit. This series offers two color variants: black and white. Our review focuses on a kit that lies in the middle of the XPOWER Zenith RGB series, which includes 5200 MHz and 6000 MHz models. The kit we reviewed operates at 5600 MHz clock, CL40-40-40-76, at 1.25V.The kit comes in a range of capacities, including 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB in a single pack, and 16GB (8GB2), 32GB (16GB2), and 64GB (32GB*2) in a dual-channel kit. Additionally, the XPOWER Zenith series offers a non-RGB lighting version, which also comes with a similar selection of frequencies. Overall, this Silicon Power memory kit seems like an excellent option for users looking for high-performance memory with aesthetically pleasing RGB lighting. The RGB lighting can be controlled via popular software applications such as Asus Aura Sync, Asrock Polychrome RGB, Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0, and MSI Mystic Light Sync. Furthermore, the series features an XMP profile and lacks AMD EXPO compatibility. The memory module has a height of 38.5mm, which makes it relatively low-profile and less likely to cause issues with (air) CPU coolers. Finally, it's worth noting that this memory kit is only compatible with Intel chipsets.

The series is equipped with RGB, so the LED enjoyers should be happy (as we mentioned earlier, there’s a variant without the lighting). We’ll check the kit on two platforms, with Z790-based motherboards (Asus Z790 Maximus Hero) combined with the Intel Core i9 13900K and the Asrock X670E Steel Legend combined with an AMD Ryzen 9 7900X. This time, the used GPU is the Nvidia Geforce RTX 4090, so it shouldn’t be a limiting factor for the memory performance. We are traditionally going to try and squeeze something more out of it, so the standard 5600 MHz probably is not the last word here (or at least we might manage to fine-tune the latencies), at least on the Intel platform. You can always stay safe and stick to the advertised frequency and latencies using XMP 3.0. The default parameters and visual aspects look superb – we must check the performance then. A limited lifetime warranty backs the XPOWER Zenith RGB series. Ok, next page, please.