Introduction

Kingston Technology is a leading global manufacturer of memory and storage products, renowned for its high-quality offerings in the technology space. Founded in 1987, Kingston initially focused on producing memory modules to address a shortage in the market. Over the years, the company has expanded its product line to include a wide array of memory and storage solutions, such as DRAM, solid-state drives (SSD), USB flash drives, and SD cards. With its vast product lineups the company is a key player in both consumer and enterprise markets.

In 2021 Kingston sold the HyperX gaming peripherals brand to HP. But the company still continues to sell DRAM for PC gamers under the long-standing Fury series. Kingston has three memory series for DDR5. Fury Impact is developed for laptops; Fury Beast is targeting mainstream gamers and lastly, Fury Renegade offers the highest speeds currently on the market, aimed at PC Enthusiasts.


In this review, we will be taking a closer look at the Kingston Fury Renegade RGB DDR5-8000 Limited Edition memory kit. This special edition is only available in a single size and speed. Besides the different exterior aesthetics, this DDR5-8000 kit uses lower CAS (CL) value of 36 using just 1.45 V instead of CAS 38 configured in the standard Fury Renegade DDR5-8000 memory kit. This means Kingston is the only one to offer a retail 48 GB (2x24) memory kit with an CL36-48-48 8000 MT/s XMP profile. Being that DDR5-8000 is exclusively marketed for PC enthusiasts, Kingston is aiming to please with this limited edition. Let us now see how this memory kit stacks up against the competition, beginning with a look at the specifications.

Specifications

Packaging

Those who are looking to gather information about this product just from the box will be pleased to see Kingston has it all covered. The front of the packaging has the brand, series, kit size and the binned speed. The back has important information pertaining to the RGB software support, being compatible with multiple motherboard vendors' RGB software including ASUS Aura Sync, GIGABYTE RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light Sync and ASRock Polychrome Sync.


Removing the memory from the box only requires cutting some tape—the memory sticks are secured and protected from minor damage with a box inside the outer box. Inside the outer slip, you can see memory installation instructions. Though pretty hard to read without taking it apart, this seems to be a way to save money by not including paper pamphlets instead.

A Closer Look

A quick look at the Kingston Fury Renegade RGB Limited Edition after removing it from the packaging, it has no resemblance to the current Renegade or Beast series. Kingston mentions that the design is inspired by "racecars," The heatspreaders are supposed to give an "aerodynamic" look as well. That being said, it certainly looks different.


On one side is the Kingston Fury logo.


On one side of each DIMM module is the identification sticker listing the SKU and not much else. Normally these stickers have the XMP operating frequency and its corresponding voltage. Kingston does not have an easy-to-read format.


Laying the DIMMs on the side, you can see "Fury" written in black on one corner. The entire plastic strip in the middle will be illuminated when the system is powered on, and lighting can be controlled with supported ASUS Aura Sync, GIGABYTE RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light Sync, and ASRock Polychrome Sync motherboard software.


The Kingston Fury Renegade RGB LE DDR5-8000 Z-Height is 46 mm after rounding up with calipers and weighs in at 63 g on the scale.


After taking the heat spreader off, we see that these are single-sided DIMMs with eight (24 Gbit) 3 GB ICs. Included is the standard thermal pad that covers all the memory ICs. This particular kit does have coverage for the PMIC and surrounding components as well.


Currently, Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix are the three suppliers of DDR5 ICs. However, only Micron / Spectek and SK Hynix have released Non-Binary 3 GB ICs to the consumer market. Both of which may "perform" worse than their 2 GB counterparts at the same frequency due to different primary and sub-timings. So far, Micron 3 GB ICs have shown to reach at least 7000 MT/s, while SK Hynix is much higher at 8400 MT/s+.

A closer look at the ICs shows that these are SK Hynix (H5CGD8MGBD-X021). Which can be abbreviated to SK Hynix 3 GB M-Die, not to be confused with SK Hynix's first DDR5 M-Die (2 GB) in 2021. Up until the release of (24 Gbit) 3 GB ICs, the previous world record crown was held by SK Hynix A-Die (16 Gbit) 2 GB, which is still considered a good choice for high frequency overclocks paired with lower primary timings, only to be outdone by the SK Hynix 3 GB variant for highest frequency.


With DDR5, one of the major changes is how the motherboard directly provides 5 V to the memory module's PMIC, which is then stepped down and split accordingly. No longer is the motherboard responsible for regulating the voltages, as with DDR4. The PMIC has the part number "OP=AL HG1," software reports Richtek being the manufacturer.

Test System