After all those benchmarks and overclocking, it is now time to wrap things up and get to the heart of what this memory kit has to offer consumers. As is tradition, I will start with things that are a bit off-putting and may drive potential buyers away before ending on a good note and bringing it all together for a clear idea of what you can expect from this XPG Lancer kit.

Let's first tackle the pricing and my thoughts on the subject, which I will echo in future reviews as well—DDR5 is expensive. Full stop. This unfortunate price influx is only going to increase as chip shortages continue to wreak havoc on supply chains. Thus, as long as each reviewed DDR5 memory kit is priced reasonably relative to its contemporaries, following market trends, there is no point in talking about the price being a purchasing factor. Either you are an early adopter and pay the entry fee or are still using DDR4. I highly suggest biting the bullet now as there will not be a sale on DDR5 memory for the foreseeable future.

After taking apart this Lancer kit, the thing that stood out to me the most was the lack of a thermal pad on the PMIC and over that whole area. Now, before people point out the obvious in the comments, I am aware that the operating voltage is lower, and this design should in fact not impact long-term use. My logic here is without a clear understanding of longeviety as it is better to be on the safe side. Surely ADATA knows the long-term impact this will have, and this memory kit is backed by a good warranty for those who are in doubt. In the end, it is more of a "neutral" complaint, just like the others I have.

This brings up the next talking point—DIMM height. Now, I want to put on record that I do not personally care about the height of memory. This is because I have long since moved away from air-coolers, and it really has no impact on my purchasing decisions. On this subject, I am well aware of the inconvenience tall memory can be, and the workarounds that need to occur just to make it fit. My complaint is more to do with the fact that in this instance, this kit is unnecessarily tall without adding much in terms of thermal dissipation, making its height more about aesthetics. In truth, the most logical reason these are as tall is because the tooling is used for both RGB and these, and other series are generally the same. It is easier to re-use instead of create new molds for each set.

Despite now having tested two DDR5 memory kits, some questions about the performance benefits are still unanswered. It is too early to conclude anything definite on the subject. From my personal testing, directly outside of benchmark scores, DDR5 immediately benefits from the increased bandwidth in only a handful of games at 1920x1080. DDR5-5200 is a great starting point, and at CL 38, the XPG Lancer memory is lower in latency than most, netting it a small boost over kits with slightly looser timings. This translates into more wiggle room for overclocking and tweaking the timings to tune the memory to your liking.

We are still in the early stages of DDR5—it is difficult to distinguish between the short-term benefits of higher frequency DDR5 memory kits. ADATA offers the XPG Lancer line as a solid contender among the few offerings with a stylish design that is big and bold close up, yet blends into the system when glancing at it. I am at a standstill with this memory as the performance compared to other DDR5-5200 kits is similar. I am left with a neutral opinion. I am neither overly drawn to this memory or think it is unworthy of consideration. Thus buying it may solely come down to brand loyalty and availability. It certainly is not an inferior product for that new Alder Lake system. Just be prepared to pay a premium as DDR5 is not as cheap as it predecessor, nor will it be in the near future.