XPG Lancer RGB DDR5 Black RAM Kit Review

Here is a complete review of the XPG Lancer 6000 RGB DDR5 32 GB Black Kit - Featuring RGB, Benchmarks, Testing, and unboxing.

A new era of DDR5 started back in 2021 with the release of the Intel Alder Lake platform. DDR5 takes the game to the next level by providing higher bandwidth and frequencies. Though this has come at the cost of more latencies, this was sort of expected. Another key feature is the reduced voltage for 4800 MT/s (JEDEC specification) as compared to the DDR4 stock voltage. The biggest hurdle since the launch of the DDR5 kits and till present is the higher price of the kits and limited availability.

XPG Lancer DDR% was included in the Best DDR5 RAM.

Intel has provided DDR4 and DDR5 support on the 12th generation platform but the motherboard can only house either DDR4 sockets or DDR5 sockets at a time. This would mean the users opting for a DDR4-based motherboard, would already be maxed out in terms of DDR4 technology with no future upgrade. This is why DDR5-based motherboards in the Alder Lake camp make more sense with a future upgrade path.

XPG has sent us their Lancer RGB 6000 32GB Black kit for the testing and part of the test bench. This kit comes with 2x16GB modules each rated for up to 6000MHz using 40-40-40-76 timing and 1.35V voltage. These kits are available in white and black colors.

The above picture shows the speeds and capacity in which the Lancer RGB kits are available. They are available in 5200MHz and 6000MHz speed ranges and available in 16GB and 2x16GB capacities. XPG is offering a limited lifetime warranty on their memory modules. The kit we got is rated for 6000MHz frequency (Bandwidth of PC5 48000). The kit supports XMP 3.0 making it compatible with Intel Alder Lake chipsets only. These kits have a cris-cross design and elegant styling using geometric lining on the heat spreader. Least to mention these kits have RGB lighting on them.

The above table shows the salient differences between the DDR4 and DDR5 modules. Some of the keynotes include 1.1V as compared to 1.2V [JEDEC stock voltage], higher densities, more banks & bank groups, provision of on-die ECC on DDR5, and PMIC on DDR5 modules.

Among the key differences between the DDR4 and DDR5, the position of the key notch is different in both which would mean DDR5 RAM can't be installed on the DDR4 socket. This is despite having the same pin count. The DDR5 modules contain Power Management IC circuitry on the PCB which was not the case with the DDR4. The PMIC enhances power supply stability. Its lower operating voltage also makes DDR5 more power-efficient than DDR4. Also, DDR5 integrates I/O resistors with CMD/ADD resistors giving a cleaner look.

DDR5 module provides two times more capacity than DDR4 by packing in more banks and bank groups. In addition, Burst Length and Prefetch are also doubled. ECC technology is also featured for data integrity.

The DDR5 kits boast higher bandwidth and frequency when compared with the DDR kits. According to ADATA, their DDR5 memory modules deliver frequencies of up to 4800MT/s and feature a bandwidth of 38.4GB/s, which is 50% higher than the DDR4-3200. The maximum frequency is increased 1.63 times compared to DDR4.

Here are the XPG Lancer RGB 6000 Black Specifications

Let's take a closer look at the kit followed by the test results with overclocking.

The kit is shipped inside a paperboard packing box with XPG branding and style. The capacity of the kit is 32GB with a speed of 6000MHz.

Both modules are presented inside a transparent container.

The XPG Lancer RGB kits are available in multiple 16GB and 32GB modules. There is no less than 16GB module and the maximum density per module is 16GB. These kits support a maximum of 6000MHz frequency with a minimum of 5200MHz frequency. This particular series kits come in 16GB x 1, and 16GB x 2 configurations. Our kit has two modules with a capacity of each being 16GB. The XMP 3.0 has a single profile stored in it:

It is an Unbuffered DIMM with a 288-pin layout (DDR5). There are kits available in the market with tight timings on 6000MHz like the GSkill kit having 36 CL. This would reduce the latency but at a high price tag. Click here to check the compatibility of these kits with the various motherboards.

We have a criss-cross sort of design pattern on the Lancer RGB modules. The heat spreaders are made of brushed aluminum material. DDR5 is printed near the top left corner. Over the lines pattern. The opposite side of the spreader is a plain surface finished in brushed aluminum with XPG branding. The diffuser for RGB lighting can be seen in the top middle having an irregular shape that is coherent with the overall layout. This gives the overall layout an aesthetically pleasing outlook.

The dimension of a module is 133.34x40x8mm. The height of the kit is 40mm. This is important information as it pertains to the clearance for the CPU cooler's fan height. Good Job XPG as we have a solid build quality at our hands with low-weight modules. The heat spreader is not fully covering the PCB which is understandable as a certain portion of the PCB has to be put in the lockers/latches of the DIMM slots on the motherboard.

The RGB LED diffuser is running across the full length of the module. There is no obstruction or design element to cut out the light pattern anywhere across the length. We have XPG branding in the middle. The heat spreader has taken over a bit on the sides of the diffuser which makes the overall design sit in harmony and well synced. The width of each module is 8mm which is usually 7mm on the other kits. This may restrict the AIO blocks with tube ends facing the DIMM slots.

The backside of the module is identical to the front side except that there is a sticker on the right side with the part number, timing, speed, and voltage of the kit printed on it. Removing the sticker would void the warranty. The serial number is also printed on the sticker. The XPG branding is on the lower left side.

The above picture shows the populated side of the module. We have 8x chips each having a 2GB capacity. The central chip is the PMIC. The XPG Lancer RGB kits are using SK Hynix chips. There is what seems to be a single thin thermal pad running across the entire length of the heat spreader on the populated. From what we have seen on the internet, it is reported that the PMIC does not have a thermal pad over it which should have been there.

The opposite side of the PCB shows that it is an unpopulated area with a thick foam padding running in two groups leaving the central side exposed.

The PCB is protruding from the sides of the heat spreader. This is to make room so that latching can be done when installing the modules in the socket. We have a thick diffuser with RGB LEDs underside for some vivid and brilliant lighting.

Speaking of the RGB Illumination, this kit is compatible with:

The kit was tested on the GIGABYTE Z690 AERO-G motherboard. The RGB Fusion app picks the kit immediately and the lighting was found to respond to the changes in modes from the RGB Fusion 2.0. We were also able to sync the RGB elements using the RGB Fusion 2.0 including the XPG Lancer RGB 6000 32GB Black kit.

The above are a few pictures of the RAM kit in action.

The above is an SPD readout as taken from the AIDA64 Engineer edition. A single module of the XPG Lancer RGB 6000 32GB kit has 32 banks featuring SK Hynix chips. The Memory Controller Voltage in XMP 3.0 is 1.20V.

We could not get any reading using the Typhoon.

Here are a few pictures of the XPG Lancer DDR5 RGB Kit on the motherboard:

The following configuration is used to test the kit:

We are thankful to our sponsors for this test bench. The following software are used for the testing:

The XMP 3.0 was loaded. The timings and DRAM frequency were manually loaded just in case to ensure the proper working of the kit. Microsoft Windows 10 was used for the testing.

The above is a CPU-Z screenshot. Looking closely, you will notice that the software is reporting the kit to be in quad-channel configuration. The reason for that is with DDR5 kits, we have two channels per module with each being a 32-bit wide. I am not sure if 32-bit is inclusive of ECC or otherwise.

Damn! These are impressive scores for the powerful DDR5 kit over the DDR4 kits we have already tested. We have a 48.22% gain in the Copy operations over the XPG Spectrix D50 which is rated at 3600MHz at 18CL. Similarly, we have a 41.40% gain in the Write operations and 46.30% gain in the Speed operations.

The latency with XMP was 68.7ns. As mentioned earlier, with DDR5 kits, the latencies are higher but compared with the listed DDR4 kits in the graphs, this latency is not that bad given the higher frequencies and the bandwidth.

Holy Moly! We have roughly doubled the performance with the XPG Lancer RGB 6000 32GB kit.

The performance boost is up to 20.4% over the XPG Spectrix D50 kit.

There was an 11.76% performance boost over the XPG Spectrix D50 kit.

The GIGABYTE Z690 AERO G motherboard supports DDR5 kits up to 6000MHz speed with the latest BIOS update (F6b). All our attempts to overclock the kit using manual settings or Auto settings were futile as the PC never boots. Hopefully, with future BIOS updates and better support for high-frequency kits or using a different motherboard, we will come back to Overclocking the XPG Lancer RGB 6000 32GB DDR5 kit.

Intel with their Alder Lake platform has one particular element of interest and that is the introduction of the DDR5 DIMM slots on the motherboards. Intel is the first one to take the benefit of the DDR5 technology. AMD with their upcoming new generation of CPU and is expected to follow the case. DDR5 has multiple advancements over the DDR4 for example we have 4 times more densities with DDR5, Data rates have jumped from 3200MHz to 4800MHz (JEDEC), the operating voltage is lowered than DDR4, two times more banks and bank groups, dual-channel per module, on-die ECC feature, and PMIC on the PCB.

The XPG Lancer RGB 6000 32GB Black is our first take on the DDR5. The kit comprises 2 modules each having a 16GB capacity. The timings are 40-40-40-76 and the voltage is 1.35V. The Lancer RGB series kits come in two speeds 5200MHz and 6000MHz. The 6000MHz is the maxed-out one at present in this series. RGB indicates that this kit packs RGB LEDs for vivid illumination. One thing that the user would now need to understand and keep in mind is that Intel is not entertaining any warranty claim coming from overclocking including the XMP profiling. If the XMP profiling crosses the JEDEC SPD speed and voltage (4800MHz at 1.1V) this would technically fall under the overclocking domain and even if the CPU is not overclocked, enabling the XMP alone void the warranty. Strange but this is what it is. So, the XPG Lancer with 5200MHz and 6000MHz are overclocked RAM kits.

XPG is using SK Hynix chips on the Lancer RGB DDR5 kits. The overall dimension of these kits is 133.34x40x8mm (LxHxW). 40mm is the height of the module excluding the pins and 8mm is the overall thickness of the module. 8mm is a bit thicker than we have usually seen in the DDR4 kits. If we measure the overall height of the module including the pin from the center of the module, the height of the module would be roughly 44mm. The 8mm width may have compatibility consideration for the water blocks of the AIO coolers with their tubes facing the DIMM slots. Using a 2 modules configuration would eliminate the last consideration.

The heat spreader is made of brushed aluminum and we have a criss-cross pattern with geometric lining in an elegant and aesthetically pleasant outlook. There is minimalistic branding on the modules which I appreciate. There is a sticker on the backside of each module removing which will void the warranty. Only one side of the PCB is populated and the PMIC chip is located in the center of the PCB on the populated side. It seems like PMIC does not have a thermal pad over it which should have been there.

There is a triangular designed cutout on the heat spreader in the center through which the RGB lighting peeks out. The XPG Lancer RGB packs a thicker diffuser and it offers vivid illumination. The diffuser on the top runs to the entire length of the PCB without any design. There is XPG branding on the center here as well. The Rainbow mode is also enabled. We have tested the kit using GIGABYTE Z690 AERO G motherboard. The RGB Fusion 2.0 picked the RAM immediately and the lighting was responding flawlessly to the changes made in the RGB Fusion.

We have tested the kit on the GIGABYTE Z690 AERO G using Intel i7 12700k. This motherboard has a RAM speed of up to 6000MHz using BIOS update F6b (the latest BIOS update at the time of this content). The kit has a fantastic performance amid the higher latency which is expected from the DDR5 with higher bandwidths and frequencies. Unfortunately, we could not overclock the kit due to the motherboard's limitation. The kit is listed at Pak Rs. 82,999/- [PC Fanatics] and USD 329.99 [NEwEgg] at the time of this review. This is a high price tag for this high-class performance from the kit. The high price tag is the overall issue with the DDR5 kits and this kit is not an exclusion. DDR5 is still in its infancy and it will take some time to mature and saturate the market. Both kits were doing at 53.8°C under load at an ambient of 34°C.

We are thankful to the XPG for the Lancer RGB 6000 32GB Black kit.

Other XPG Lancer DDR5 RGB Pictures from Our Review:

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Verdict

The XPG Lancer RGB 6000 32GB is a high-class performance kit enabling the super high 6000MHz speed with some vivid and brilliant RGB lighting all around.

Pros

Cons