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What does a thousand bucks worth of RAM look like? G.Skill has the answer

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A thousand bucks can buy a lot when it comes to computer hardware. It’s enough for an entire gaming system, a huge curved 34-inch monitor, a single Nvidia Titan X — or even G.Skill’s new RAM kit.

Wait, what?

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That’s right, memory manufacturer G.Skills is ready to show off a new RAM kit that boasts 128GB of DDR4 memory across a set of eight 16GB DIMMs. That’s the absolute maximum capacity supported by the X99 platform, and that’s not the only reason to be impressed by the new memory kit.

The setup is clocked at 3,200MHz, which is approaching the fastest currently available memory. That jump in speed provides a modest boost, but it’s the low latency that’s really impressive. The memory is rated for CL14-14-14-34 under 1.35V, the lower the better, so it beats out the old DDR3-2133MHz standard of CL15-15-15-35 by a hair.

But all that power and speed doesn’t come cheap. Far from it in fact. The whole kit will cost you $1,070, although you’ll want to make sure your motherboard has the X99 chipset with eight slots before pulling the trigger.

It might seem like a steep price, because it is, but that’s because it’s not intended for gamers or even media editing purposes. RAM like this typically ends up in home or entry-level enterprise server applications, or purpose-built machines running ultra-specific tasks, memory-heavy tasks. Still, its fun to dream about a rig with 128GB of RAM, a total unnecessary amount for everyday use, even for high-end 4K gaming. If you had that much RAM, a ridiculous storage solution like a RAM drive could be feasible.

If you’re the kind of person who always loves to go above and beyond with your rig, or an overclocking fanatic looking to beat a previous record, the G.Skills Ripjaws V 128GB kit will hit shelves in late February. Thankfully, that means you still have some time to brace your wallet for impact.

Brad Bourque
Brad Bourque is a native Portlander, devout nerd, and craft beer enthusiast. He studied creative writing at Willamette…
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