Skip to main content

This speedy RAM is a world’s first, but the even faster DDR5-10000 is coming

An Asgard THOR RAM stick in front of a rock.
Asgard

While some of the best RAM kits reach speeds as high as 8,400MT/s, many users stick to DDR5-6000 or less and do just fine. However, the future of RAM lies in even higher frequencies, and we’re not far from entering five-digit territory. Asgard, a company that manufactures memory and storage, just unveiled its new DDR5-9600 RAM, claiming that it’s the first consumer memory in the world to reach this kind of speed. The company also teased that it’s already working on DDR5-10000 RAM.

Asgard’s RAM isn’t your standard, run-of-the-mill dual-in-line memory module (DIMM). It’s a clocked unbuffered DIMM (CUDIMM), which might one day become the default in desktop RAM (unless another standard, such as CAMM2, takes off in a major way). At higher speeds, maintaining signal integrity becomes challenging. One of the ways manufacturers combat this problem is by adding a clock driver (CKD) chip.  The CKD handles the base clock signal, buffers and amplifies it, and then distributes it to various parts of the module.

Recommended Videos

As explained by Tom’s Hardware, Asgard was only able to reach the staggering 9,600MT/s speed by combining the CUDIMM tech with select SK hynix DRAM integrated circuits (ICs). Only the most performant chips were chosen for these kits, and no wonder — 9,600MT/s is quite a feat to achieve. Asgard beats the recently announced V-Color Xfinity DDR5-9200 RAM by an additional 400MT/s.

Asgard's two THOR RAM kits.
Asgard

The new RAM, branded Asgard Thor, will be available in two variants, including kits that come with two 16GB modules and kits that offer two 24GB modules. Both run at 1.50V. No matter the capacity, both kits also come with the same CL44-56-56-136-192 CAS timings. Unfortunately, Asgard’s Thor currently doesn’t support RAM overclocking with AMD EXPO — only Intel XMP profiles are available. Owners of AMD processors can potentially still overclock with manual adjustments in the BIOS.

It’s unclear when these DDR5-9600 RAM kits will be available, or how much they will cost. The rivaling V-Color Xfinity is also yet to receive a release date, although it would make sense for both manufacturers to release the RAM soon, what with Intel Arrow Lake right around the corner.

The leap in RAM performance is interesting, but something about the mention of DDR5-10000 is even more exciting. Of course, 10,000MT/s speeds are still far away, but Asgard says that such kits are in the works. And while it might not make much of a difference — 9,600MT/s to 10,000MT/s might run largely the same to most users — hitting that kind of frequency will still mark a milestone in consumer RAM.

Monica J. White
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the "PC building is just like expensive…
This innovation in RAM is great news for your PC
Several DDR5 sticks sitting on a table.

Non-binary memory. It might not be set to give you the same performance uplift as a new graphics card, and it's not as intriguing as AMD's X3D CPUs, but it's still an interesting new wrinkle in how you build a PC. Non-binary memory effectively allows half steps in RAM quantities, so instead of only having options for sticks of 8GB, 16GB, 32GB (and so on), you can now buy a 24GB DIMM, or a 48GB one.

That might not sound like much, but in the coming years as games demand more than 16GB -- but where 32GB would be overkill -- these new 24GB memory kits are going to be very popular for the cost-cutting they facilitate.

Read more
DDR5 can improve PC gaming performance, but it’s still a useless upgrade
DDR5 RAM installed in a PC with the ReSpec logo.

DDR5 -- it's all PC gamers can take about now that AMD Ryzen 7000 is about to launch. Although Intel has supported DDR5 since the launch of its 12th-gen Alder Lake processors, Ryzen 7000 is the catalyst that will kill last-gen DDR4 off for good. When you next upgrade your PC, you'll need DDR5, but paying up for a faster kit of memory may not translate into real-world performance gains.

One of the best DDR5 kits will still offer a great gaming experience, but the delicate balance of speed and latency puts high-end DDR5 in a precarious position. On one hand, faster DDR5 can offer practical differences in some games, but on the other, even faster kits can result in lower performance. And in some games, RAM speed doesn't matter at all.

Read more
What is AMD EXPO and should my DDR5 have it?
Four Corsair RAM sticks inside a motherboard.

Along with revealing its next generation of processors, AMD announced the new EXPO standard for DDR5 memory. Upcoming Ryzen 7000 CPUs support DDR5 exclusively, and tracking down a kit with an EXPO certification could make a big difference in how well your PC runs.

We're going to help demystify what AMD EXPO is, how it compares to Intel's own memory overclocking standard, and the best DDR5 kits you can pick up right now with EXPO support.

Read more