Corsair Vengeance DDR5 Review (Full Analysis)

Corsair Vengeance DDR5 known as one of the initial kits for this new generation and it appears next to Alder Lake that could not be other than the Corsair Vengeance DDR5.

Along with Kingston’s will be the two options that we have used for reviewing of Intel processors. With the advantage of that Corsair will allow the management of XMP 3.0 profiles from the iCUE software.

Its most notable features will be an OC frequency of 5200 MHz at only 1.25V, CL40 latency and touches 80,000 MB/s when transferring.

Many new features are introduced in the interface that can be seeing during the analysis such as ODECC, or double 40-bit subchannels.

The design of this series does not bring lighting, but having an elegant aluminum heatsink. Before we continue, we thank Corsair for trusting us and providing RAMs for analysis.

Corsair Vengeance DDR5 Review and Analysis

Unboxing

These Corsair Vengeance DDR5 have not changed their presentation when compared to DDR4 at all, still they use a thin flexible cardboard box with the brand’s distinctive colors and basic information.

There’re having an opening in the back which is allowing us to see the product code and specification of the memories and it’s a something that does not make much sense either as it worsens the security of the packaging.

In the inside, we found a semi-rigid plastic blister pack for storage, isolating them from dirt and blows as much as possible.

Warranty information paper can be found next to the memory kit.

Sober Design for the Gaming Edition

Corsair has launched as the first consignment of new generation RAM memories. These Corsair Vengeance DDR5 are in Black and White versions without lighting and with more sober design but without giving a good construction.

But it will be the only one that offers a first edition Dominator Platinum RGB model which is in black and white. Although in both cases we will have almost the same internal specifications.

When focusing on this version that could classify as input and we can find a pure Vengeance inspiration design with a renewed aesthetic and more sophisticated style.

Low-profile package (Measurements: 35mm high, 133.35mm wide and 7mm thick) won’t give you trouble when installing large air coolers.

It is made up of aluminum and placed on both sides with the chips which are glued to the surface to provide proper heat dissipation.

The main surface has a matte finishing with a screen-printed triangle pattern which is very featured character of the brand’s new products.

The central detail of Vengeance inscription will make a difference when comparing to the DDR4 models.

Since it uses an aluminum plate independent of the encapsulation, front and both sides are finished with a brushed metal.

Quite original in our opinion, and also with a smooth upper edge with slightly slanted ends showing the union of both plates that next to the Corsair logo. It will be a matter of time to see more models with RGB.

Modules will be spaced far enough apart in adjacent slots to allow air to circulate through them and ensure heat dissipation.

The interface uses and the slot design remains the same with respect to DDR4, with 288 double-sided contacts and a central slot.

Remember that Alder Lake CPUs will be compatible with DDR5 and DDR4, although specific motherboards must be manufactured in each case.

Specifications and News in DDR5

The Corsair Vengeance DDR5 is presented to us as the first generation of DDR5 memory on the market, coinciding practically in detail in specifications with the Dominator Platinum and it direct rivals Kingston Fury.

Main points of DDR5 technology

With DDR4 modules already hitting their latency and frequency limit, it was the time to unleash the next generation DDR5 to give a new playground for the gamers.

The DDR5 modules will start at a frequency of 4800 MHz and the one who supported natively by Alder Lake CPUs, and it is intended to reach 6400 MHz or even more.

DDR5 will consume 20% less power than DDR4, and we can see significantly lower operating voltages, running at 1.1V @4800MHz and 1.25V @5200MHz.

A DDR4 module will operate at a minimum of 1.5V at this same frequency.

The new XMP 3.0 standard for JEDEC overclocking profiles were introduced which may also be present in some DDR4 modules that are certified.

This brings significant improvements in terms of management by the user with up to 3 profiles configured by the manufacturer along with another 2 configures by the user that allows frequency, voltage and latency to be adjusted.

Likewise, they incorporate the Dynamic Memory Boost function that will dynamically overclock in real time according to the needs of the system without user intervention.

One of the biggest modifications will be within the communication interface, which will come with a 50% improvement in bandwidth.

In present, each module has two independent 32-bit communication subchannels with 8 bits added to each subchannel for internal On-Die ECC (ODECC) support.

It generates a total of 40 bits per subchannel or 80 bits per rank which is going up to 4 subchannels in dual-range memories.

Therefore, the 64-bit data width is maintained, but the transfer, efficiency and latency of the communication are improved.

This connection mode is similar to a Quad Channel configuration, in fact the modules will be able to double the banks from 16 to 32 and also doubling the burst length to 16 to improve communication with the CPU cache.

To correct data leaks in these faster chips and with smaller lithography we have the commented ODECC function which only works internally in the chip but not in the RAM-CPU bus as it happens in ECC modules.

Specs

All of the above will be a part of the Corsair Vengeance DDR5 modules and the manufacturer will also take the special advantage of XMP 3.0 technology.

And it is that from its iCUE software from version 4.17 and on certain boards that allows it, we can manage the profiles from the program, create by our own and load them directly.

On the day of this review, it’s the only manufacturer who already comes out with 32GB kits like this 2x16GB, 64GB in 4x16GB, and 64GB in 2x32GB which will work on Dual Rank as imagined.

Of course, all of them will have a maximum frequency of 5200 MHz which is working at 1.1 and 1.25 V

The latency set will be the aspect still to be improved in all the series, since we start from a base configuration CL 40-40-40-76 at 4800 MHz and we reach CL 38-38-38-83 at 5200 MHz as shown in AIDA64.

For now, we will not have detailed information regarding the Die used for these memories, so we will have to wait to get more information from the manufacturer or tools like Thaiphoon burner.

iCUE Software

The iCUE software acquires new configuration possibilities with these Corsair Vengeance DDR5, since it is possible, not only monitor their frequencies and voltages, but also to play the XMP profiles.

For this we must have version 4.17 or higher and a motherboard with compatible BIOS.

We won’t have this functionality on the test day, but iCUE should have an extra XMP tab where you can add custom performance profiles to load into the BIOS.

These allow you to configure parameters such as voltage, frequency, and a large part of the operating latencies.

The rest of the sections have what has already been seen in other modules of the brand, real-time monitoring of temperatures, voltage and frequency, configuration of temperature alerts and options to update the firmware of the memories.

Bench of tests and tests

We have used these Corsair Vengeance DDR5 during the review of the Intel Core i5-12600K and being tested later with the i9-12900K.

As always, we have done a benchmark with AIDA64 both in its stock and OC configuration to obtain the performance figures under Windows 11.

The obtained results will be very slightly inferior to those of the Kingston Fury and something that is only reflected in numbers, but not in performance as they are exactly the same.

The curious thing that we found out, that the performance at both 5200 MHz and 4800 MHz is extremely similar with less than 3000 MB/s and difference in measurements.

This means that we are not going to get much advantage in 5200 MHz mode and the equipment will perform similarly.

This may be because the latency results are somewhat higher than the Fury and very similar between XMP profiles of Corsair memories.

In any case, we expected a slightly more noticeable difference and slightly in better times. We are not going to have temperature or heating problems at some point, as long as the chassis is well cooled.

Conclusion

Although we are still in a bit limited in information for these initial reviews, at least we are clear about the performance of these new DDR5 memories.

The initial models are presented with a maximum of 5200 MHz and will be improved by the following generations.

These Corsair memories have the advantage or technical detail of being able to manage XMP profiles directly from the iCUE software.

An aspect that we have not been able to test first hand as the Z690 platform and the internal controller of these modules are still in the initial phase.

Perhaps this has affected performance a bit and it’s similar between 4800 and 5200 MHz modes and having slightly higher latency than Kingston’s FURY modules.

In the construction, design and temperature control section, there are no complaints of any kind as they work perfectly on the platform with always ensured compatibility.

They have all the novelties that are released such as double subchannels, ODECC or XMP 3.0. The Corsair Vengeance DDR5 will be available for an official price of $199 in this 2x 16 GB kit.

The starting price is not bad at all, because when considering a DDR4 at 4000 MHz, which easily exceeds $300.

It is true that there’re still having some aspects to be polished such as latencies, but it is something that also happened at the beginning of DDR4, so the modules will improve quickly.