The G.SKILL Trident Z Royal is a work of art, plain and simple. I am aware that many people don't like the RGB trend that has washed over the market in the last few years, and this kit is not for them. I personally have a soft spot for RGB and love this kit. I do think that potential buyers will have a hard time finding other components that live up to the flash of the G.SKILL Trident Z Royal, but perhaps a manufacturer can partner with G.SKILL to produce a full line of "Royal" components. I'd be on board for that.

As for performance, the G.SKILL Trident Z Royal topped most of my tests with an exception or two. This is the fastest kit I have tested so far, and it is fast indeed. The XMP profile was rock-solid stable on my ASRock Z390 Taichi, and the kit breezed through all my tests. 4000 MHz CAS 17 at 1.35 V is pretty impressive, made perhaps more so by how little headroom this kit seems to have. That can be construed as a negative since tweaking enthusiasts might be disappointed with how little extra this kit has to offer. I choose to see it as G.SKILL doing their due diligence to push their sticks as far as they reasonably can rather than relying on customers to find the limit for them.

G.SKILL Royal Lighting Control, available from the G.SKILL website, worked flawlessly with this kit and offers a huge amount of customization, although I admittedly ended up leaving the lighting with the stock effects in place even after playing with the software. The display box that was included with my sample was a very nice touch, going a step further to promote the exclusive premium aesthetic and showcasing G.SKILL's out-of-the-box thinking with marketing and product development.

The G.SKILL Trident Z Royal is a brilliant memory kit, so gorgeous you may want to keep it on your mantle instead of in your system. The glamorous design isn't for everyone, and its price tag might scare others off, but if you want a kit that stands out above all others in looks and performance, look no further than the G.SKILL Trident Z Royal.